Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
November 2015
Yvonne and Royce’s Vintage Glam Flower Field Hall Wedding at Gardens by the Bay
Yvonne and Royce’s stunning wedding at Flower Field Hall in Gardens by the Bay was glittering with Mad Men style, vintage glamour, and a good dose of fun!
Yvonne Cheung, 30, Finance Manager, and Royce Liao, 32, Finance Manager, celebrated their love for each other and for Mad Men-esque vintage glam in a gorgeous wedding on 11 July 2015, at Flower Field Hall in Gardens by the Bay. Decked out in glittery dresses and dashing suits, they and their bridesmaids and groomsmen played out one of the most fun wedding gatecrashes we’ve ever seen on SingaporeBrides, with a sexy mafia-themed storyline!
How did the two of you meet?
Yvonne: We met 11 years ago in NTU when our mutual friend Eugene introduced us. Eugene was my hall mate and he was Royce’s JC friend. The group of us attended the CCA recruitment fair together and that was when I first met Royce.
When did you realise that this was the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?
Yvonne: I actually did not realise at all he would be the person I will spend the rest of my life with when we got together. Royce being the brilliant talker and with me being the practical one, he actually managed to convince me that we are compatible for each other given our personalities and that we would last for the long run. So I decided to give it a shot and try. Soon into our relationship, I slowly liked him and our love blossomed until now. That’s why I tell some of my friends who are currently still looking out not to think so much and go for it, as you may never know who you want and who is suitable for you.
How did Royce propose?
Yvonne: The proposal was on 18 September 2013, and was in Venice, Italy. I actually knew before the trip that he was going to propose during the trip! He went to my father to make the engagement ring before the trip (my dad’s a jeweler) and my father blurted it out accidentally. However, I told Royce blatantly that I wouldn’t mind him proposing in Italy as I would have liked the proposal to be a private affair where nobody knows us, and Italy would be perfect for that. So I brought all my pretty clothes and did my manicure in preparation for the proposal trip.
Then in Italy, my birthday (9 September) came, and our dating anniversary (11 September) came, but nothing happened ☹. I got bored of anticipating and thought it may never happen during the trip. Then we went to Venice and I totally loved the place. I guess Royce knew I loved the place and decided to propose to me late at night when we reached our B&B after drinking a few glasses of wine, when the whole street just belonged to us alone. I was digging into my bag for our B&B keys, he offered to find the keys for me, and then out came the ring from my bag and he knelt down and proposed (the ring was already in his hands when he offered to find the keys). I was very ecstatic that it finally happened. The alcohol of course had some effect as well. After all we had already been together for 9 years at that time.
Did you have a theme for your wedding?
We were thinking along vintage glam (along the styles of the dramas Mad Men or Boardwalk Empire set in the 1950s). Our pre-wedding photoshoot was also in that style. Our groomsmen were dressed in grey suits with fedoras, hamburg hats, and bow ties, and I bought whisky flasks from online for them as accessories, also given that they love to drink! My bridesmaids were dressed in different glittery vintage dresses each, and also wore a vintage lace headpiece.
For the dinner banquet, the colour theme was more of gold/white/black. The venue was decorated with golden and white Tiffany chairs, the table linen was folded into a tux-like setting, with black bowtie-shaped paper. My wedding favour was mints in black and white paper, customised from Etsy, as I wanted something my guests would be able to eat instead of another item that my guests may not need at all. I also had a white and gold paper floral backdrop handmade by my wedding decorator Pei Li from 8december which I totally loved!
Watch their Mafia-themed gatecrash story, shot by Reddot Studio!
It all looks incredible! Was any of your wedding décor handmade?
Yvonne: I DIY-ed a couple of things, such as my angbao box which was made from three wooden boxes bought from Art Friend, spray-painted with gold paint, and decorated with paper flowers. Each box is labelled ‘Baby’, ‘Booze,’ or ‘Bank’ so guests can choose which box to put their angbao into. I heard from my friends that night that the ‘Baby’ box was full to the brim (scary). I sourced cylinder vases from eBay for my table setting for floating candles, as it was too expensive to rent them from local vendors. I personally sprayed the cylinder vases with golden glitter to match with my theme. My beloved bridesmaids were the ones who did the floating candles in the cylinder vases on my wedding day. I really appreciated the help as it was tough work decorating. I also had fun facts laid out on the guests’ tables in white IKEA photo frames which I did myself.
Tell us about your wedding day.
Yvonne: My wedding day was actually quite hectic. We had planned a storyline for our pick-up-the-bride ceremony in the morning. In short, I (mafia boss’ girl) was kidnapped by the Flower Clan (my bridesmaids), and Royce being the mafia boss came with his gang to rescue me. The storyline had to be acted out in the morning itself so my videographer could capture it and have enough time for editing. The hectic-ness was all worth it as the final video played during the night was produced with such high quality, and exactly in line with what we wanted.
Also, all things that could go wrong went wrong too! My little flower girl refused to walk down the aisle and stopped halfway because her dress was too long and was preventing her from walking properly. So she was giving a grumpy face (which was very cute!). In the end, her elder sister had to help pull her along☺. My first and second march-in songs were wrong! The food in the buffet dinner ran out sooner than expected (guess everyone was hungry?).
However there were also many splendid moments as well, such as me watching Royce’s handmade video montage of us for the first time when it was played that night (it was meant to be a surprise for me until the first time it’s played in front of the audience); the fireworks from the NDP rehearsal was lighted in the background at the exact moment when we cut our wedding cake which really wow-ed the audience, making them believe either I planned the fireworks myself or I timed it so perfectly, but of course neither was the case. Also, our best man was supposed to give a speech, however he got dead drunk and was suddenly nowhere to be found. One of our groomsmen actually had to go out and look for him. When he was found drunk, Royce had to make the hard decision of whether to send him up to stage to give the speech. In the end, Royce decided to take the risk and let him go up, however he had to go up accompanied by another fellow groomsmen – the outcome? He gave the most awesome speech ever in a drunken, hilarious manner. That had to be the highlight of my wedding. Many of my guests also thought his speech was awesome.
Also at the end of the night, because we had Taiwanese visitors who came (Royce is half Taiwanese aboriginal – 原住民), they changed into their traditional costumes and they danced around the hall holding hands, with aboriginal music playing in the background. This was very memorable too.
Can you tell us the cost of your wedding?
We spent around $60K gross in total including cost of rental of Flower Field Hall, food catering, pre-wedding photoshoot, gowns/suits etc.
The Gown: Thomson Wedding Collection
The Bride’s Shoes: Valentino
The Suit: Thomson Wedding Collection
The Engagement Ring: Kat & Dan Jewellery (by Yvonne’s dad)
The Wedding Bands: Kat & Dan Jewellery (by Yvonne’s dad)
The Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Sourced online
The Groomsmen’s Suits: Groomsmen’s own
The Flower Girls’ Dresses: Flower girls’ own
The Wedding Venue: Flower Field Hall at Gardens by the Bay
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Marilyn from Thomson Wedding Collection
The Caterer: Paradise Group
The Wedding Cake: Paradise Group
The Florists: Floral Magic
The Event Stylist: 8december
The Photographers: Dawn from Thomson Wedding Collection for pre-wedding, Daniel Beh Photography for actual day
The Videographer: Reddot Studio
The Photobooth: Hotshotz Photobooth
The Invitations and Paper Goods: D’Invite
The Wedding Favours: Wedding mints, from Etsy
The Solemniser: Chan Chee Keong
Credits: Photography by Daniel Beh Photography.
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