Singaporebrides | Fine Dining
October 2016
Lynn and Yan Da’s Botanical Wedding at Hotel Fort Canning
Lynn and Yan Da wed in a beautiful botanical wedding in Hotel Fort Canning’s lush greenery, surrounded by the joy and warmth of their closest family and friends.
Yan Da, 30, Analyst, fell in love with Lynn, 28, Assistant Project Manager, when he first heard her sing, and she sealed their vows of love with a surprise rendition of “You and Me” at their celebration on 9 July 2016. With the love and support of family and creative friends, Lynn and Yan Da tied the knot in a joyful wedding at Hotel Fort Canning filled with fun touches like LEGO boutonnieres, personalised succulent wedding favours, and handmade wedding invitations.
How did the two of you meet?
Yan Da: We were from the same church and were both serving in the youth ministry – she was a singer, and I, a musician. One Sunday during rehearsal, she was singing on stage and I was sitting in the hall, totally mesmerised by her voice. I decided to text her the next day on the pretext of telling her how well she sang. And that’s how it all started.
What was the proposal like?
Lynn: It was after our church service on a Sunday that Yan Da told me he had to do a recce for his team building event. We had plans to head home earlier as he was scheduled for a business trip in the next few days, but he insisted that we had to do the recce at that very moment. It was out of the blue, and I was trying my hardest to talk him out of it.
When we arrived at Keppel Bay, he continued his story about how he intended to organise the team building by pointing out locations for station games. It was only when we had walked towards the end of the pier that I saw my friends with balloons spelling out “Marry Me”. I was so surprised! It was such a precious moment seeing him propose, having my friends there to celebrate with us, and the beautiful sunset that created the perfect backdrop.
How did you prepare for your wedding?
Yan Da: We knew the style and theme that we wanted from the start, and so even for our engagement shoot, we kept it rustic yet simple, real and casual. We enjoyed just being ourselves and so happy we got our friend, Tze Hern, to shoot for us. He’s so artistic and very easy to work with.
For our actual day, we wanted it to be cosy, and therefore invited our closer friends, and guests who were close to our parents as well as our families. We wanted to make our wedding memorable not just for us, but for them as well. So we tried including some elements to make each one of them feel special and appreciated. One of the things we did was to put up pictures of ourselves with our friends and families who were present at the wedding, to show the journey we took with them.
Lynn: We are so thankful to have our friend, Valerie, bring our garden rustic theme to fruition. She conceptualised the decorations, set up our reception area, and created my bridal bouquet. She is superbly amazing! We were also very glad to have the Grand Marquee at Hotel Fort Canning as our wedding venue. Being surrounded with greenery in a colonial building totally complimented our rustic theme. It was exactly what we had in mind. To immerse ourselves deeper into the theme, we gifted cute succulents as our wedding favours to each guest. We handmade the tags, personalising each one of them, and placed them on each respective table. We also injected some fun, with Valerie’s help, by adding Lego superhero characters onto the corsages for Yan Da and his groomsmen.
For our wedding invites, we also kept to the rustic look and feel by getting our friend, Sharon, to design them. Sharon was an excellent help and she hand-drew and watercoloured the invites all within such a short time. We’ve been so blessed to have so much help from our talented friends!
Tell us about your wedding day.
Yan Da: It was really fun! When my groomsmen started arriving at my place in the morning, I felt a “THIS IS IT” moment – and that’s when my adrenaline went into overdrive. Thank God for their presence and jokes; they really helped calm my nerves. Our groomsmen and bridesbabes helped settle so many things for us, that we were able to take a step back and savour the moment with each other and with them.
The wedding itself was filled with many happy moments with our friends and families. For our speech, we decided to make it fun and special by walking down the aisle and thanking our guests as we walked up to each table.
When I close my eyes and look back, all I can think of is the fun times together with our groomsmen and bridesbabes, and of course, the very first time I see Lynn in her wedding gown. Truly unforgettable.
Lynn: It was such a blast! I truly enjoyed every moment and started missing our wedding the following day. It was an incredible day and my heart was bursting with so much joy. I was so happy wearing my gowns, walking down the aisle with my dad, seeing my favourite people all in one place celebrating with me, my bridesbabes rejoicing over our union, being in that lovely garden rustic place and knowing that I am entering a new season with the man that God has provided as an extension of His love.
Sounds like a beautiful day! What was one moment that stands out in your memory?
Yan Da: Just before we stepped into the hall for our second march-in, I realised that the music was not what we’d prepared. I was caught off guard, hesitated to continue, and told Lynn that it’s the wrong song. To my surprise, she said “It’s ok, let’s just walk in.” The next thing I knew, she had a microphone in her hand and started singing Olivia Ong’s “You and Me”. She’d secretly prepared a song for our second march-in, complete with a live band made up of her cell group members from church! I found out later that she’d been planning this for weeks, and had chosen a fake march-in song as a decoy. Her singing for me was such a surprise and it’s definitely my most memorable moment.
Lynn: One of the most beautiful moments to me was walking down the aisle with my dad. It was special because he has been such a good father to me, providing all that he can for me all these years, and being a wonderful husband to my mum. I look up to him and envision Yan Da to be like him. There is no one else who fits the role of walking me down the aisle, besides my dad.
Another memorable moment was the alone time with Yan Da in our room, just before he went down to the marquee to welcome the guests before the event. Despite all that was going on, we had a quiet moment to ourselves and had the chance to soak in all that we were feeling. Yan Da used that private moment to look me in the eye and recite his vows to me. We both teared. It was a precious moment as I felt his heart and heard him mean every word he said.
The Gown: Digio Bridal
The Bride’s Shoes: Martina Pink and sneakers from Taobao
The Suit: Digio Bridal
The Groom’s Shoes: Rad Russel and sneakers from Taobao
The Engagement Ring: Les Precieux
The Wedding Bands: Meyson Jewellery
The Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Thread Theory
The Groomsmen’s Suits: Vests from Bugis Street
The Flower Girls’ Dresses: Platinum Mall, Bangkok
The Venues: Grand Marquee, Hotel Fort Canning
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Digio Bridal
The Florists: Starflorist, @shesawildrose
The Event Stylist: @shesawildrose
The Photographers: @zhrent for engagement session // Bam Visuals for actual day
The Videographer: Joshua, Victor
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: @sharonthoughts
The Wedding Favours: G.G Fresh Flower
The Solemniser: Pastor Gabriel, New Creation Church
Credits: Images by Bam Visuals.
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