Singaporebrides | Real Weddings

November 2017

Florence and Ting Kong’s Incredible, Beautiful Taobao Wedding and Engagement Session

Super savvy Florence and Ting Kong captured their love in New York and Cologne, Germany, in a custom bridal dress from Taobao, and created a beautiful wedding with great deals on Taobao wedding items.

Florence Goh, 29, Recruitment Consultant, and Yau Ting Kong, 33, Lead Digital Web Manager met online through social media. When planning their wedding, the super savvy couple again turned to the internet, and conveniently shopped Taobao and Tmall, a business-to-consumer spin-off of Taobao, for great deals on Taobao wedding items, which they brought to New York and Cologne, Germany for stunning pre-wedding photography!

Read on to discover how this creative couple styled their wedding banquet on 13 May 2017 by sourcing for products from Taobao, Tmall, and social media. From her made-to-measure pre-wedding dress to her wedding shoes to their wedding décor, they’re sharing all the links to their amazing deals. Want great savings too? Shop for big discounts, for one day a year only, at the incredible Double 11 event by Tmall, happening on 11 November 2017!

Florence customised a bohemian chiffon dress to her measurements on Taobao Ting Kong selected various bow ties from Taobao to create different looks Florence wore a wedding veil and carried a floral bouquet from Taobao. Gown by Rico-A-Mona.

How did you meet?

Ting Kong: We met each other through Facebook. We chatted on Facebook for a while before we met up with her friends together as a group to talk about travelling and visiting different countries. Since we had a lot in common, it’s no surprise that we started going on dates after that meeting.

What’s one of the things you love most about your partner?

Florence: We are very much alike, and are each other’s best friend. We share many hobbies and interests, such as travelling, watching Korean dramas and movies, and even crying together while watching at times. We share the same vision of starting a family together. He is also someone independent and reliable who takes good care of me and who is there for me at all times.

What was the proposal like?

Florence: We were on our vacation in our favourite city Tokyo, Japan, in December 2015. One night, we went to visit the Christmas tree at Caretta Shiodome. Ting Kong told me he wanted to try taking a photo of us using his new GoPro. Instead, he set up it in video mode, and suddenly knelt down and popped the question! I was so shocked, excited, and happy, and said, “YES!” to the love of my life.

Tell us about your beautiful pre-wedding sessions.

Florence: We took our pre-wedding photos in Cologne, Germany, and New York. We took it as an opportunity to go for our honeymoon too. Our first stop was Cologne, followed by New York, Los Angeles, and Tokyo. Sourcing for a photographer overseas is not exactly easy, especially since the city you are going might not have the photographer’s style you like. Secondly, communication might be a problem if your photographer does not speak English.

Both the photographers I found in Cologne and New York are Asians who are based in those countries. They had different styles of work. Our Cologne photographer uses film, which created a very nice vintage colour and effect for the photos. He also helped me arrange for a makeup artist for the shoot. Our New York photographer used to be a Home Living magazine photographer back in Thailand. He was good at capturing beautiful expressions and portraits, and had a soft touch with his colour editing. He showed us around like a local tour guide during the shoot. Thirdly, having an overseas pre-wedding shoot arranged by yourself also involves risk. You have to make a deposit before flying down, and might worry about the photographer not turning up on the shoot day, or the photos not being delivered as promised. Therefore, reading online reviews is very important. We were blessed that the photographers we met in the two different countries were really helpful and friendly.

Overseas pre-wedding shoots can be a lot more affordable than local ones, but doing everything à la carte also means you have to arrange to bring over your heavy bridal gown, accessories, heels, suits for the groom, shoes, and not to mention props too. This involves a lot planning before heading overseas for your pre-wedding shoot. You will also need to arrange for your own transportation if your photographer does not provide it. In Cologne, I think we spent about SGD$1,400. The set we took in New York cost only USD$100 per hour, and we spent USD$300 there. Our total photography cost was below SGD$2,000.

My ball gown from Rico-A-Mona weighed about 10kg, and unfortunately my hubby had to carry the heavy dress in the luggage up flights of stairs, along with other big suitcases, as the apartment we rented did not have a lift. I would recommend brides-to-be to consider purchasing Taobao wedding gowns and accessories if you are doing an overseas pre-wedding shoot. I customised a light, bohemian chiffon dress to my measurements on Taobao for my shoot in Cologne. I also used a wedding veil and floral bouquet from Taobao. My hubby selected various bow ties to wear during our pre-wedding shoot and wedding day to create different looks.

How did you create your Taobao wedding?

Florence: Firstly, like many brides-to-be, I looked through Pinterest to create my mood board with the theme I wanted. Next, I visited my wedding venue to view the space and see what I needed. With that all done, I listed all of wedding decorations and essential items I needed and started sourcing them from Taobao and Tmall. I added them into my favourites and shopping cart before I compiled my orders. For my wedding day, I got a big, customised poster backdrop with a stand, a Mr and Mrs banner, a decorative bunting, an ang bao box, decorative glass bottles, copper terrariums, glass terrariums, a vintage globe, wooden glitter signage, a vintage camera prop, maid of honour dress, page boy suit, and wedding favours.

Honestly, Taobao wedding shopping been quite easy for me, as I have been shopping from Taobao and Tmall since my school days 10 years ago. Taobao has definitely evolved a lot over the years. Now, I can make direct purchases, which makes it a lot easier to speak to sellers, especially when I am looking to customise the product. A feature which helps a lot is the photo scanning function, which helps you to identify and search for the item you scanned. It comes handy especially if you do not know the product terms in Mandarin when searching Taobao.

I also got gifts for my family from Taobao, such as a tie, tie clip, and cuff link set for the fathers, an evening purse for my mother, and a purse for my mother-in-law.

The page boy wore a suit from Taobao The groomsmen wore bow ties and suspenders from Taobao

Any tips for couples also planning to get Taobao wedding items?

Florence: I bought from Taobao because I felt that the prices were a lot cheaper compared to prices in Singapore. I would highly recommend shoppers to do their homework by checking the seller’s product reviews, such as the photographs and comments by other buyers. They help a lot in reducing disappointment.

It is also important to plan the timeline from your order to delivery. As I was purchasing from different sellers, it was important for me to start making purchases early in order to get all my Taobao wedding items in time. The wedding décor items I chose could also be used as decorations in our new house!

Florence decorated the Kombi with “Just Married” bunting from Taobao Florence styled the table with a vintage camera prop from Taobao Decorative glass bottles from Taobao accented the table A globe from Tmall for a vintage touch Glass terrariums from Taobao held fairy lights Wooden glitter signage from Taobao spelled Mr & Mrs Ting Kong wore a bow tie from Taobao The maid of honour wore an evening dress from Taobao

What was your wedding like?

Ting Kong: It was definitely a tiring and hectic day for us. We’re glad we survived the day! At the wedding, all our guests were impressed with the reception set-up and happy with the food and the band.

What was the most memorable moment of your wedding?

Florence: Walking into the hall during the march-in, hand-in-hand with the love of my life, with the applause and blessings from close family and friends!

The Size of the Wedding: 18 guests during the ROM // 150 guests at the wedding banquet
The Venue: Tim Palace
The Wedding Day Photographer: Love Confetti
The Gowns: Taobao and Rico-A-Mona for pre-wedding // Rico-A-Mona for wedding day
The Veil: Taobao for pre-wedding shoot
The Bride’s Shoes: LINGYAER铃雅儿 on Taobao
The Bouquet: Taobao
The Suit: Zara
The Bowties: Taobao for pre-wedding shoot // Taobao for wedding day
The Groom’s Shoes: Adidas and Aldo
The Engagement Ring: Tiffany & Co. The Wedding Bands: House of Hung The Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Platinum Mall, Bangkok // Maid of honour evening dress from Taobao
The Groomsmen’s Suits: Bow ties and suspenders from Taobao // Khakis from Uniqlo
The Page Boy’s Suit: Xiaoxiongmaomao旗舰店 on Taobao
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Milly from Rico-A-Mona
The Nail Artist: Princess Cottage
The Caterer: Neo Garden Catering for lunch
The Florist: Wind Flower Florist for ROM hand bouquet // Rico-A-Mona for wedding banquet hand bouquet
The Pre-Wedding Photographer: Tu Nguyen Wedding for Cologne, Germany // Pratya for New York
The ROM Photography: Rickey Ong Productions
The Videographer: Aperture XXI
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: P & L Printing (M) Sdn Bhd, City Square, Johor Bahru
The Wedding Favours: Repackaged wedding favours with Taobao
The Band: Merry Music Makers
The Solemniser: Mr Tan Peng Yam
The Wedding Car Rental: Rent Mishka The Kombi via Facebook
The Paper Goods Designer: @mrsmoonforest for wedding table poster, table numbers, and menu


To snap up some incredible deals and create a beautiful wedding yourself, don’t miss the incredible Double 11 event by Tmall happening on 11 November 2017! The biggest one-day-only shopping festival in the world, the Double 11 event happens only once a year, and promises big discounts. Snap up amazing deals on beautiful Taobao wedding dresses, décor items, and more!
#happy1111 #Taobao #BiggestOneDaySale #ShopForHappiness #my1111


Credits: Cologne pre-wedding images by Tu Nguyen Wedding // New York pre-wedding images by Pratya // ROM images by Rickey Ong Productions // Wedding day images by Love Confetti


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Florence and Ting Kong’s Incredible, Beautiful Taobao Wedding and Engagement Session