Hi lovelies!
If you have yet to read Part I of my review, click here!
Part II will be on the actual day (AD) essentials.
#1. Wedding Banquet – Sheraton Towers Singapore
Ratings: 4.95/5
We went for a few hotel open houses before deciding on Sheraton Towers. Some hotels had magnificent ballrooms, but the location is either not ideal, or their package isn’t very attractive. Our wedding date is on a Friday, so to us, what is most important is that it must be near an MRT station and easy to get to so that our guests could come straight from work and won’t be late. Haha. Therefore, many of the grand hotels that are ulu were immediate strikes (even though i really love Regent Hotel’s decorations).
No regrets choosing Sheraton Towers. Reasons:
- Friday dinner still counts as weekday dinner – which meant our table prices were more affordable! Some hotels now count Friday as weekend as well, so this is a MEGA PLUS PLUS PLUS!
- Super responsive coordinator – Simin was our coordinator and even though she is like this cute xmm, she is very professional, prompt with her replies, and would try her best to accede to your requests.
- Near Newton MRT – DTL + NSL somemore. Fantastic location. 95% of our guests actually reached on time!
- HOLYPEARLYAWESOME wedding favours. What do you usually get for wedding favours? Heart-shaped paper clip? Bears? Chocolates? Coasters? Most of the time i find myself not using what i received. Worse, you can’t pass it on as a gift because people will know you got it from a wedding lol. But not for ours – we got reusable cutlery sets and our guests loved it! Really super practical. Most importantly, you can’t tell that you received it from a wedding, so even if you don’t need it, it can be someone else’s christmas present!! HAHAHAHAHA
- Decent wedding themes – their decorations are up there! Not super glamorous (like Regent’s and JW Marriott), but at least still insta-worthy la. So we also saved money on stage decorations.
- Food was good – no complaints from guests, some complimented the food. Personally i loved their Pi Pa Duck and Yam Paste!
- Don’t have to share reception area with other weddings. Seriously, having to share the already small reception area was a mega turn off when we visited Fairmont and Orchard Hotel. I can only imagine it will be so confusing for both the guests and also us. Sheraton’s Grand Ballroom reception area is quite big, and best part is even if there are functions in other rooms, you don’t need to share that space as the space in front of the Grand Ballroom is reserved for you.
- AV Testing was comprehensive and everyone was just so professional! Even the AV guy went out of his way to record everything we told him.
What we didn’t like so much:
- Coordinator forgot to inform us in advance that there were events before our wedding so we could not set up our decorations earlier. Bridemaids & groomsmen were supposed to set up our decor in the reception area and solemnisation room at 3pm, but they could only do so at 4.30pm. So basically they just sat there do nothing for 1.5 hours. But at least Simin managed to somewhat salvage the situation by quickly clearing up the area and letting us set up at 4.15pm. And thank goodness my bridal party were HOLYPEARLYAMAZING and managed to finish setting up in less than an hour. (-0.05 stars for this screw up)
- The suite wasn’t very big. [BUT their service is top-notch! We got our food (that we did not eat) saved and sent to our room after the dinner and breakfast sent in to our rooms the next day. Gave us complimentary snacks, fruits and drinks as well.]
TLDR Version: Highly recommended if you are a Friday bride. Damn worth it!!!
TIP: Make sure you attend the hotel’s open house before signing with them!! You usually get better deals during their open house 🙂
#2. Bridal Studio – Odelia BridalÂ
Ratings (overall): 4.75/5
In Part I, I shared mainly about my experiences during the Prewedding Shoot with Odelia Bridal. This part will focus more on the actual day stuff like the gowns and other peripherals included in the package!
Gown selection for AD was about 2 months before my wedding! I had my bridesmaids come with me for the selection and Odelia Bridal was more than happy to accommodate all of them (+ my parents). I have heard of other bridal studios restricting the number of people during gown selection due to space constraints (cos they tend to have many people trying gowns at once) so this is definitely a plus plus point for me! I was the only bride trying out gown during my timeslot so okay la, they made do their promise the second time round! My hubs chose my white gown for me cos he “fell in love at first sight” with the gown on IG -.-
And i picked my evening gown! Mad love for it cos it is not your typical kind of gown – it is feminine, flowery (suited my theme!) and…it has PEARLS at the back. SOLD. Haha. Received A LOT OF compliments on both my gowns, so i’m a happy girl!
While the selection of gowns are not as good as other more established brands like digio and Rico, i think the quality of the gowns more than makes up for it. However, i must be honest and state that the range of style and colour of their evening gowns isn’t that wide at the moment. Hence, if you are a bride who likes boomz and statement-making evening gowns, then maybe Odelia isn’t for you.
In case you are wondering, Odelia Bridal does include tea ceremony dresses in their package – they have TWO (yes, 2, lol) kuas, and a collection of red dresses and cheongsams. I opted for the kua, but didn’t get to wear it at all cos really no time to change into it 
My hubs review of their men’s suits collection -> Like that lor. Haha. Think he is used to the fact that guys in general don’t have much choice. Men’s suits are limited to your standard few colours (i.e. black, blue, white, grey) and a few more outstanding ones (e.g. green checkered, blue patterned, wine red). My hubs is pretty vain, so the fact that he actually didn’t complain about their suits should mean that if your hubs isn’t too fussy, he should be fine with the suits collection. But would just like to highlight that some of their suit pairing is weird though. For example, the green checkered blazer is paired with black pants – which looks odd to me. My hubs wore it for the PWS because the oddity wasn’t so obvious, but definitely not for actual day.
Hubs and I went back for gown and suit fitting the week before our wedding! Everything was altered really nicely and we were satisfied! We also picked the accessories we wanted – bowties, necklaces, earrings, hair accessories, veils, etc. All included FOC! They then packed it in a box for you, to be collected together with the gowns and suits the day before!
My flower bouquet and wedding car decor was also provided by Odelia. My bouquet was GORGEOUS. Couldn’t stop admiring it! I got to choose the style that i wanted from a comprehensive catalog, and i must say that they really delivered! Look how chio it is:
The car decor though…Okay firstly, must really thank the two girls Eunice and Wei Ting for taking up the challenge to decorate our vintage car haha. Not easy but i think they did a pretty decent job. BUT. The car decor must return though. Haha. So take note ya~ Don’t be a dumb dumb like my hubs and forget to tell your car driver lol.
The only qualm i had was that there is no reminders on appointments. This led to a miscommunication for our photo selection appointment – Ben told us our appointment was 5pm that day, but in actual fact it was 12.30pm. So at 12.40pm, we received a call from Wei Ting asking where we are (at home, duh), and she told us it was 12.30pm. We were shocked and i told her that Ben told us it was 5pm??? But in any case, we rushed down and everything was fine after. I then saw in another review on Budget Brides that Ben tended to give different info from the 2 girls, so it is better to just double, triple check if you are dealing with him. Other than that, i think they did fulfill their mission of giving you “a perfect wedding” 🙂
TLDR summary: I had a fantastic experience with Odelia during my PWS, everything was done swee swee for you, and they made us a pretty bride and handsome groom. 4.75 stars! Men’s suits collection could be improved, and miscomm can be reduced! I guess a simple “See you tomorrow at Xpm!” message would be greatly appreciated the day before my appointment – at least i know my appointment is confirmed and that you are expecting me, and at the same time, you reduce the likelihood of a no-show, so why not?Â
#3. AD Photography – Lawrence (The Louvre Bridal)
Ratings: 5/5
OMG, where do i start for this? Long story as to how I hired a photographer from a bridal studio instead of someone specialising in photography, but I must say I was most surprised by this particular vendor!
Honestly, I was very worried about my AD photographer because: 1) Not my first choice, 2) I didn’t know who I was going to get (as the studio will assign), and 3) I didn’t meet him at all before my wedding day. INSANE I KNOW. But well, if it is of any consolation, Lawrence did call me a few days before the wedding though, to confirm my address and check if i have any particular likes or dislikes. And that’s it. It is do or die on my wedding day. LOL.
So Lawrence arrived on time (+++) and I met him for the first time in my life. HAHAHA. First impression: Pretty nice, friendly. My videographers arrived before him and had pretty much set up everything, so Lawrence got to work pretty quickly. I think there is a standard list of things that he must shoot though. So in the morning when i was doing my makeup, he would tell my MUA to repeat certain actions so that he can tick off his list LOL. Sometimes he would also be a bit kan chiong when there is conflicting events happening as i think he wants to take everything but he cannot LOL. But i must say he did a decent job capturing the morning events though:
He even took this photo of our bridal car while travelling on the road!!
After tea ceremony at my hubs place, we went to Hort Park for photoshoot with our band of brothers and sisters! (OMG I MUST THANK THE HEAVENS THAT IT STOPPED RAINING!! We are really, really lucky with weather throughout our entire wedding planning cycle! Our first PWS, second PWS and now AD!)
Lawrence was pretty good in directing the shots (although our videographers were the ones giving ideas). Another +++ point was that even though we returned to my hubs place later than expected, he was still really professional to entertain my MIL request for more photos. Damn paiseh sia, so i told my hubs that I will bao more angpow for him lol.
He arrived earlier for solemnisation as well – when i reached down to my solemnisation room, he was already there taking photos with my videographers! Thumbs up!
All throughout the cocktail reception and banquet, he was taking photos non-stop. I really felt damn guilty cos hubs and I forgot to inform them about their seats (just nice got 3 persons flew aeroplane that day) and the videographers and him did not eat dinner at all mans!!! If this is not professional, i don’t know what is!
And again, my MIL made him stay overtime to take this mega family photo. Can tell he a bit buay song la (cos already close to 11pm which is 30 min past his stipulated time), but he still did his best to grant my MIL the photo. My hubs and I really jin paiseh and just kept thanking him.
[Serious note, if you know that your mothers like taking photos, do inform them beforehand that your photographers are hired from Time A to Time B so the photographers are not obliged to stay past Time B to entertain weird photo requests from them.]
But the main reason why I am giving him a 5/5 stars rating is because…guess how long after my wedding did i receive the photos? 1 month? Nah. 3 weeks? Nah. Less than 2 weeks!!!! OMG. To be exact, 12 days!!! MADNESS!!! I was still on my honeymoon!!
12 days and i got all soft copies (900+ photos) burned into a CD PLUS 120 selected photos printed out and slotted in an album!!!
How HOLYPEARLYAWESOME is that?? Seriously, i think it pays to have low expectations of things sometimes, because then you will be easily surprised. HAHAHA.
TLDR summary: No complaints at all. He was professional, he arrived on time, did what he was supposed to do, and went out of his way even though it was past his working hours. I love the photos, and especially how fast i got them – TWELVE DAYS! A note that this rating could be skewed because i had absolutely zero confidence and expectations before my wedding day lol.Â
#4. AD Videography – Aldrick & Xianrong (1stJournal Productions)
Ratings: 4.75/5 (for now; will update when i receive my full video)
Because of our uncertainty with our AD photographer, hubs and I knew we wanted two videographers for our wedding just in case. HAHA. At least if our PG cui, got 2 VGs to capture more moments for us. But as you know, not many vendors offer affordable rates for 2 videographers (most priced $2200 and above). It took us a lot of searching and visits to wedding fairs before we found 1stJournal! Their package was also $2000+, but during the Hitcheed event, there was a $500 rebate, which made their package damn affordable! Plus Aldrick was very earnest and yet liked to crack lame jokes, so hubs and i felt comfortable talking to him.
Aldrick & XR initiated a meeting a few weeks before the wedding to go through the AD schedule (+) and came to our convenience (+++)! They also shared some advice with us and we chatted a little so they got to know us better.
They arrived supeerrrr early at my house on the day to set up and they did not add an early morning surcharge, which is really a big PLUS. Both of them are damn cute la and tried to make me laugh so i wouldn’t be so nervous. They also “self-serviced” (e.g. cleaned my mirror, took my shoes out of my shelves) so i did not need to move out of my chair. Haha.
During our outdoor shoot at Hort Park, they seemed more excited than us and whacked a lot of ideas. So we just followed their directions only. Which is nice because my hubs was practically like a zombie that day and had no brains to think. As with the photographer, they also stayed longer than they should but did not complain. Really thankful!
They arrived early as well for the solemnisation at the hotel and was already busy filming when I arrived. Another thing I appreciated about them (and the photog) was that they worked well together even though they didn’t know each other before our wedding day. And maybe because they are mainly photographers rather than VGs, whenever Aldrick has an idea for a photo he will let Lawrence know about it, i think? Cos i saw them communicating a lot, which is fab.
Can’t fault their professionalism and their dedication. So why 4.75 instead of 5 stars? Ultimately, they are VGs and their deliverable for the day is the Same-Day Edit (SDE). Hubs and I were slightly disappointed with how it turned out though – we had a pretty interesting gatecrash but somehow it didn’t translate on screen. And our solemnisation cuts didn’t make it in to the video, which many of my friends and relatives were looking forward to see. That said, it wasn’t a terrible video – there were some laughter from the guests, we just felt that it could be better.
This is a tentative rating though, it might change as we have yet to receive our final video. Will update when it comes!
TLDR version: Professional, friendly VGs who try their best to humour you with lame jokes. They are directive and often communicate with the PG and the couple to ensure that they get good shots. Went out of their way even though it was past their working hours. No early morning surcharge. SDE can be improved though.
#5. Makeup Artist – Iman LishiÂ
Ratings: 4.5/5
As shared in Part I of my review posts, Lishi was assigned to me by Odelia Bridal, but she is also available for freelance booking.
She is friendly, easy to talk to, and arrived early on my AD. So early that i was taken aback and was not ready to start my makeup, LOL. She also brought along her assistant, who helped with my hair, which made the process much faster. She reached around 5am and I was done by 7am! Odelia Bridal kindly gave me extra flowers and Lishi made use of it for my hair!
She does airbrushing, but i did not opt for it as she charged extra. Even so, she did a wonderful job. I really like my look and hairstyle! Much much better than my PWS look, haha!
Basically, she is very good at what she does and all. But the thing i was disappointed about was how she made me feel guilty about not hiring her assistant to do my mothers’ makeup. During the evening make up session, she told me that her assistant had reserved the date for me / rejected bookings (even though i had told her i will get back to her as my MIL has her own MUA that she prefers). Ok fine, to be fair it might not be intentional, but I just felt upset hearing that. Another thing was how i texted her a few weeks before my actual day asking if she will be doing light makeup for groom. She replied “Yes” – so i assumed she will be doing it for my hubs. But on the AD, she told me that there will be additional charges?!?!?! Tbh, I was a bit angry but I did not want it to spoil my night so i just REN. Plus i felt guilty from all that she said, so whatever la, i just paid her. Now thinking back though, I felt I should have approached it differently?
TLDR version: She is awesome at what she does, but clarify additional charges with her before the wedding so you don’t get a shock on the AD.
#6. Solemniser / JP – Teo Chong Tee
Okay, technically, he is not a vendor. But i know this is still a big concern to many brides out there as we all want a JP who is friendly and nice. Plus points if he is humourous!
So…I started emailing JPs four months before the wedding, which is early according to ROM website, but really, in actual fact, I’m quite late in the game. A few of them have had commitments already, and my wedding is on a Friday! So i cannot imagine if my wedding is on a Saturday…But in any case, Mr Teo came back pretty promptly to us (after we got a few rejections from others). As we were starting to worry we will not get a JP, we immediately replied to say we would like him to be our JP.
[Side story: But then…after we replied him, other JPs whom we emailed started coming back one by one to say they were available…oh wells.]
He is quite advanced in his method of doing things though. We totally did not meet him f2f before the wedding, but only through email conversations. From other reviews i read, other JPs will request to meet and schedule a timing with you to endorse the documents required and brief you. But for Mr Teo, he requested us to endorse the documents and scan it to him, which he then promptly endorsed and scanned it back to us.
This, if you ask me, is actually more convenient, especially if you are bogged down by work and stuff. But to each his/her own – some couples might feel more relieved meeting f2f?
Oh, he also has this pdf handbook that he created with all the information you need to know compiled inside. Super cute.
He arrived promptly on the AD, and proceeded to do the necessary paperwork.
What we liked: Very fatherly, calming and assuring. No nonsense.
What we didn’t like: Too long-winded, repeated things over and over again. Pronounced by hubs name wrongly (he didn’t clarify with us before the ceremony started). Both of us actually started zoning out midway through his speech, oops xD
TLDR version: Recommended for busy couples who have no time to meet your JP before the wedding. He has a very fatherly and calming vibe, but tended to be long-winded. Not the humourous kind – so if you are looking for a humourous JP, look elsewhere.
Onwards to Part III >>>
Oh, Pearls! 