Up early in the Friday morning of the 8th of August at 7:30 a.m., I told myself that "Today is my big day!". It was good weather for a morning jog, after a rain the night before. After my morning jog, at around 8 a.m., I took some time to enjoy a cup of kopi-o, before collecting my flowers from the florist. Laurens, my 'bro' rose as early to meet me at my place while we wait for Elizabeth to pick us up from my place. We then made our way to Fiona's and arrived at New Majestic Hotel around 9:30 a.m..
Getting ourselves prepared was a breeze if it wasn't with the help of Elizabeth and Laurens. Thanks to Benny, my photographer buddy for coming down earlier for some photo-taking.
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"untitled" is the name and theme of "Lifestyle Designer" Room 307 at New Majestic Hotel designed by Furniture Designer, Patrick Chia. Patrick creates space and beauty through white and emptiness. Since White has been the new "in", such a minimalist concept makes this room all the more attractive.
The simple furnishing and white wash is what gives "untitled" its style. A luxurious king-size bed with thick fluffy padded white quilt with white pillows, stands in-between the 'fish-tank' shower and TV console.
"Stylish & Serene, the cement-clad room styled by Patrick Chia is designed to be a space that an international traveler would wish to live in. With Patrick's Signature whimsy and detail, this is a room that pays tribute to modern Classic European design."
Schematic layout of "untitled" (not drawn to scale).
Interestingly, the toilet is inside a full-length glass panel but it is semi-frosted to strategically shield out the person inside. On the TV console, there is a mini-music player connected to an iPod dock. On the other end of the TV console, there is a wind-up music player like those found in musical boxes.
The above is a view from the main door. It looks through the shower "fish-tank" and into the living space.The shower area is a raised platform to accommodate the bath tub which is recessed into the platform. The sliding glass panels can then shield the shower area. The roller blinds can be drawn to cover the whole entrance into the shower area in case of any unexpected intrusion via the main door. However, the glass panel separating the shower area and the living area has got no blinds. Hence, I have given the name of "fish-tank". It is a nice kinky touch to this otherwise simple room. Though the bay window and balcony doors with glass panels seems to expose the room and the "fish-tank", but the glass actually appear shaded from the outside. To feel more secure, one can draw the blinds.
When I was preparing myself in the morning, I had thought of taking another shower in the hotel room prior the solemnization. But upon realising that the shower area is a "fish-tank", furthermore with Benny, Laurens and Elizabeth around in the room, I felt so exposed to strip, hence forgoing the shower.
Fiona has been trying to find the right posies to match her made-to-measure dress. She then decided to go for Calla Lilies. Calla lilies are very lasting flowers when cut, hence we need not worry about it wilting shortly after collection. We then sourced for various popular florists in town and were put off by the expensive price, when they realised that it was meant for wedding solemnization. Nevertheless, we realized that my neighbourhood florists makes beautiful bouquets at a huge fraction of the cost of those quoted earlier. The florist did not have an impressive photo-catalogue, but her sample convinced us that neighbourhood florists can just be as good as well-marketed florists. Most importantly, our posy was probably the cheapest among most florists (based on quotes and online references). We had initially wanted white calla lilies, but was advised that the flowers do not open up wide, and hence will only look suitable on tall ladies. We were then advised on choosing the pinkish-violet instead of the green and yellow ones. These pinkish-violet calla lilies open up wider and when matched cleverly with white freesia, makes the final posy an attractive and elegant piece.
In every series of wedding portfolios, there must be shots of the wedding bands. For those who did not get to catch a close-up look at our wedding bands, these are our bands from "Love & Co.". Each band is actually designed such that it represents a strip of ribbon that encircles the finger and ends with a tail hanging out. At the end of the tail, a Soo Kee diamond can be found embedded within. Since diamonds are "Forever" and "Eternity", having the diamond at the end of the ribbon symbolizes that this ribbon continues forever and for eternity. We started scouting for our wedding bands quite early and took our time to look through the collections in every popular jewellers. We wanted something non-conventional, and hence filtered out the uniformly-round bands. We then unanimously decided that this pair from "Love & Co.", is inexpensive and most beautiful. The male design of the pair had either an awkwardly huge diamond or no diamonds. I love the right portions of the crafting of the female design. Hence, I picked an identical piece from the female design but in a larger size. (Yes! I do have thin delicate fingers!)
We hired Sandy from "Making Faces & Dress Me Up" to doll Fiona up pretty.
Elizabeth did us a great favour by fetching me and Laurens from my place and the picking Fiona up from hers. During the preparation period, she was so hardworking that she brought her Marketing books to study. Elizabeth and Fiona flaunts their engagement diamond rings. Elizabeth had her diamond ring on top of her wedding band. Fiona had to wait before she got hers... ha-ha! Fiona's engagement ring was given to her a few years ago during an informal proposal. I would only allow her to put it on during important events. I had always admired a Brilliant Rose from Soo Kee Jewellery for its cutting (but of course one can only examine under a magnifying glass). When they marketed it with a slogan stating "The cut of Ultimate Brilliance", it really isn't a scam. A Brilliant Rose diamond glitters and sparkles even in a dark room as long as they is one ray of light! I was 'sold' by it when I saw it with my own eyes. Since I had only bought Fiona roses only once, I felt that the Brilliant Rose should be the "ultimate" rose from me.
Our greatest appreciation to Elizabeth for being there to accompany Fiona through her preparations.
Elizabeth is a very good friend of Fiona since their Secondary school. Both of them, with Vivien and Xiao Yun, belongs to the same click.
And you did not make me a cup of coffee from the Nespresso machine!
Finally, after getting ourselves dolled up. We had a few photos taken in the room before we proceed to the New Majestic Bar. My lovely bride looked fabulously stunning! I can only pale in comparison.
Putting the finishing touches to myself in my "budget" outfit. Many people were curious if I had my suit tailored but my answer was "No". I am not shy to say that my blazer was from a G2000 sale a few years ago, at less than S$100. Laurens even had a chance to loan it for his graduation ceremony. Hence, it is not new. My pink Van Heusen shirt is bought with vouchers at also less than S$100 from Robinsons. My black pants and white tie were from Bangkok and total less than S$30. My Renoma: Paris black leather shoes (not shown) were from a warehouse sale at S$69.
Friends of mine had probably noticed that I had done a 'slight' image-makeover: two ear-piercings, coloured-haired and funky new spectacles. Yes! I plucked my eyebrows as well and I am sure getting addicted to it! All thanks to my wife!
Fiona's closest friends, Agnes (left) and Michele (centre), joined her in the room while the rest were already at the bar. These three lovely trio has been close friends since Secondary school. Even till today, they would still meet up every week and I believe for one purpose: To Take Over GG<5!
Thanks to Agnes for helping us get the wines at cost price.
Thanks to Michele and husband Puay Sim who joined us in our post-solemnization photo-shoot outing.
I am personally very grateful to Michele and Agnes for being there for Fiona through 'thick-and-thin' over, taking care of her when she needed to.
I must also thank them for passing the 'baton' to me now and let me take care of her.
Since day one, as I have promised, I will take care of her in everyday that I can still breathe. Meanwhile, please continue to treasure this exceptional friendship and may you girls keep this bond till we all grow old. This is one friendship that I truly admire and envy.
Written by William Tan
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Next up: The Solemnization
