Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
September 2017
Doreen and Daryl’s Unique Indoor Garden Solemnisation at Picnic Singapore
Take a peek at Doreen and Daryl’s botanic themed solemnisation at the newly opened Picnic Singapore.
It was love at first sight when Daryl Tay, 29, Recruitment Consultant, met Doreen Low, 26, Civil Servant, at a mutual friend’s solemnisation. After a romantic surprise proposal, the sweet pair searched for the perfect venue to tie the knot and became the first to get married at the recently opened Picnic Singapore, an urban food park with a botanic themed interior and rustic furnishings. Sneak a look at the highlights of their solemnisation beautifully photographed by Andri Tei Photography!
What drew you to each other? What is it about your partner that you love the most?
Daryl: It was love at first sight. My heart was racing when I first saw her and I thought “This lady is really beautiful!” and I couldn’t get my eyes off her. However, I thought it was rude to stare at someone for long, so I took all chances I had just to steal glances of her.
Doreen: His honest, kind, caring and understanding character. I like that he is very honest about everything because it gives me a sense of assurance. He is also meticulous when it comes to taking care of me. As I’m careless, I tend to hurt myself quite often. With him around, I’ll feel very safe, secured and loved. Whenever I’m down, he will crack jokes to lighten my mood. Most importantly, I feel happy when we are together! The feeling is just right.
What was the proposal like?
Daryl: I wanted to keep it intimate and personal. Therefore, I planned it like our usual date. So right after dinner, I suggested we grab a drink at one of our usual hangout, Keppel by the bay. At the same time, my friends were already there to set up the venue. But luck wasn’t on my side, as we were not allowed to set up anything without the management approval, as the Keppel island was a private establishment. Immediately, my friends went to our secondary proposal location at Henderson Wave. After my friends were done with the set up, they texted me. That was when I knew it was time for me to carry out what was planned. I asked if she trusted me and I pulled out an eye mask for her to put on. I drove us to Henderson wave and led her up the bridge.
Doreen: It was on our usual Saturdate – we went shopping, eating and chilling at a café. When I thought that the evening was coming to an end, all of the sudden, Daryl asked if I trusted him, and if I did, I should put on the eye mask which he already prepared. It felt like a long drive, probably because I was blind-folded. When we arrived at the destination, Daryl held my hands as we walked up the bridge. It was already close to midnight by that time, and not to mention again that I was blind-folded, I was so nervous! I vividly heard that there were sounds of footsteps as we walked up a hill, but Daryl insisted that there wasn’t. So naughty of him! It was actually his buddy who helped to film down the entire proposal process. The proposal location was at Henderson Wave. It was romantically decorated with fairy lights, Instax photos of our memories and my fave K-drama soundtrack as background music. In the presence of both of his buddies and some passerbys, and a bouquet of 99 roses in his hands, Daryl popped the question on one knee, and of course, I said yes.
Walk us through your solemnisation planning journey. What was the look/theme you were aiming for your solemnisation? Were there any challenges you had to tackle and how did you overcome it?
Doreen: We enjoyed the process of planning for our solemnisation. Initially, I had an outdoor theme in mind, as I wanted it to be either by the beach or at a place with nice greenery. We shortlisted many places, but one of the main consideration was the weather. What if it rains? That’s the issue that we faced with outdoor venues. Then one day, we stumbled upon this beautiful restaurant, Picnic @ Wisma Atria. We went in and was totally awed by the decoration of the restaurant. A sudden thought struck me – why not consider hosting our solemnisation at this place? It fits my preference for a garden theme and we need not worry about the weather too as it is an indoor restaurant. The location was perfectly situated too. We discussed our plans with their friendly & helpful outlet manager, Cristina, and they expressed that they were more than willing to host our solemnisation in their restaurant as it will be their first solemnisation event. They were very accommodating with our requests and both of us were very satisfied with their service.
Although the initial planning was pretty tough – we were ambitious in wanting to do the decorations for our solemnisation ourselves instead of engaging external vendors to do so. It wasn’t all that easy to find suitable decorations to fit our theme, but we managed to do so after some research. We found most of our decorating ideas on Pinterest and Instagram. We are also blessed to have wonderful friends who helped us with the decorations.
The search for a Justice of peace also wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be. After many rejections, we were lucky enough to have Mr Zenon Teh as our JP, who was punctual and humorous, as he conducted the entire ceremony in a fun and lively manner. Through friend’s recommendation, we had Andri from Andri Tei Photography to capture moments of our event and both of us thought he was professional.
Take us back to the day you said “I do”. What was the day like and how were you feeling?
Daryl: I was really energetic and looking forward to the afternoon, despite the lack of sleep the night before due to the setting up of the venue. We were there early as my beautiful wife needed to do her makeup and I needed to do up the flower petal aisle with the help of my friends who arrived early too. I was grateful that Doreen and I have some great friends around helping out with the solemisation. I was getting rather excited yet nervous as the day progressed. It felt like I was longing for the moment, yet in the blink of an eye, we exchanged our vows and became husband and wife.
Doreen: Initially, I felt that I could handle it with ease – reading out the vows aloud shouldn’t be an issue for me. However, upon the arrival of the guests, I felt increasingly nervous. There wasn’t much time for me to calm my emotions down as I spent two hours doing my makeup and by the time it was done, I was ushered to standby for the ceremony to begin. I almost forgot my hand bouquet! But Daryl held my hand over his arms and it helped to ease my jitters.
What did your family/friends have to say about your wedding day and the unique location/celebration?
Doreen: My family and friends were pretty amazed by my makeup, as they thought my eye make up were well elaborated yet natural. They were also all praises about the decorations too. (Yeah! Our efforts paid off!)
Daryl: Our family and friends loved Picnic and our decorations!
What was the most memorable moment from your solemnisation day?
Daryl and Doreen: It definitely had to be the exchanging of our personally written vows.
What is one lesson you’ve learnt from your planning that you’d like to share with other couples?
Doreen: I would recommend starting your planning early, especially if you are hosting your solemnisation outside the Registry of Marriage. Read up on some online reviews on the Justice of Peace and determine which style suits you and what language you prefer it to be conducted in. If you are decorating the venue yourselves, it is good to have a few friends who are able to help you out with it. Oh yes! Sufficient sleep is really important! Sleep early and put on a facial mask to ensure that your skin will be in the best condition on your big day. On a side note, do not travel when it is closer to your big day because I put on weight and was not able to shed it off before that. Haha! Hopefully, these heartfelt pieces of advice help!
The Size of Wedding: 70 Guests
The Cost of Wedding: Approximately $4,500
The Venue: Picnic Urban Food Park
The Photographer: Andri Tei Photography
The Wedding Gown: Love Potion
The Wedding Shoes: Melissa
The Groom’s Suit: Oscar Tailor
The Groom’s Shoes: Domanchi
The Wedding Bands: Love & Co.
Hair and Makeup: Hisa from Mrs Fish Bridal Makeup & Hair
The Florist: 花妈妈 from Carousell
The Wedding Stationery: DIY-ed by Doreen
The Photobooth: Cloud Booth
The Solemniser: Mr Zenon Teh
Wedding Resource: SingaporeBrides
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