2 Months to the wedding!

It's 2 months to the wedding!!!

We started the planning way back in February last year, went full-steam ahead, got distracted a little (by the house) and now it's back to full-steam mode again!

Here's a summarised update (+ implicit table of contents) on what's done and what's not (in no particular order):

• Set the wedding date -- DONE
• Book a wedding venue -- DONE (Extra article)
• Book a bridal package -- DONE
• Select the bridal gowns and groom's suit -- DONE
• Shop for accessories (shoes, shirt) -- DONE
• Pre-wedding photoshoot (& photo selection) -- DONE 
• Buy wedding bands -- DONE
• Recruit brothers & jie meis -- DONE
• Confirm the Solemnizer -- DONE
• E-File your marriage -- DONE
• Plan/Book your honeymoon -- DONE
• Print invitation cards
• Send out invitation cards
• Confirm menu details & food-tasting
• Select wedding favours
• Final fitting of gowns
• Traditional customaries -- DONE
• Book actual day photographer/videographer
• Pick wedding music
• Plan banquet program
• Confirm guestlist

The checklist still seems daunting although it has been trimmed down for a non-picky bride.
The venue deco items (flowers, colour theme, etc) and wedding items (cake, wedding favours, invitation cards) are taken care by the hotel and there are also limited selections to choose from. The bridal package, on the other hand, takes care of matters concerning the couple (e.g. makeup, hairdo, bouquet, car deco).

With exactly 2 months left till the wedding, we will shift our focus back to the items currently marked not done to ensure that family and friends feel welcomed and blessed when they join us in our celebration.

Selecting our wedding banquet venue

Starring: "The Architect" & "The Freebie-Hunter"

My dear architect refuses to hold his wedding in a room with pillars.

This eliminated about half of the hotels in Singapore. Adding to our difficulty were the number of tables we wanted as well as the budget. In the end, we were left with only 4 hotels to choose from.

We decided on Pan Pacific because
a) It has no pillars in its ballroom.
b) The wedding coordinator gave out a lot of freebies.
c) Price was reasonable.
d) The ballroom was of an acceptable size.

*This image is directly linked from the Pan Pacific Website. If you do not see an image, it means that the image has been removed from its original location. 

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The following hotels* came close, but were not selected because of the following reasons:
* Hotel names are fictional to protect their reputations and to cover our asses

Hotel I:
- Offered lots of freebies (including free-flow of alcohol!!)
- "The Architect" lamented that the orientation of the ballroom would require us and the guests to navigate through a very complicated & tedious obstacle course (comprising of 1xbig big pillar, 3xtables, 2xright turns, etc).
- "The Architect" claimed that the "fat" wedding coordinator was rude to him (Note: The "Freebie-Hunter" did not notice any of this as she was too smitten by the many freebies offered)

Hotel II:
- To the dismay of "Freebie-Hunter", there were no freebies offered!
- "The Architect" approved the orientation & design of the ballroom. (Note: This decision was made based on the floor plans provided. We did not manage to visit it as the room was under renovation at that time)
-  Most importantly, the wedding coordinator was late for our appointment!

Hotel III:
- We LOVE IT! The ballroom, wedding deco, freebies, etc were great!
- But it was way above our budget...

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To couples who are sourcing for their wedding venues, please book early!
We booked our venue 1 1/2 years earlier and some hotels even told us that our dates were taken up already.

Please contact us if you wish to have a copy of our spreadsheet that we created for this purpose. Details include estimated cost, potential freebies, existence of pillars, etc.