Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
February 2018
Zhuoqun and Hendrian’s Intimate Clifftop Wedding in Bali
Zhuoqun and Hendrian found their dream wedding venue in Bali where they celebrated their love with their families and friends under a beautiful night sky.
Zhuoqun, 30, Business and Financial Analysis Manager, and Hendrian, 35, Commodity Market Analyst, met through friends and found love in one another as they bonded over common interests and similar life experiences. The pair flew all the way to Bali in their search for the perfect wedding venue and found it at Villa Anugrah. Read about their experience in planning an overseas wedding and the challenges they faced in their wedding planning before they embarked on their dreamy clifftop wedding in Bali on 7 May 2017.
What drew you to each other? What’s one of the things you love most about your partner?
Zhuoqun: Hendrian’s cuteness, warm-heartedness, and sincerity attracted me. But what I love most is his sincere kindness (towards colleagues, friends, family members, and animals)
Hendrian: We have many topics to talk with each other because we share common interests in travelling, photography, food and more, and have similar life experiences as we both studied and worked overseas. Also, she makes me want to become a better person every day.
What was the proposal like?
Hendrian brought me to the Singapore Botanic Garden for dinner and as we went for a walk after, he proposed with a hand-made scrapbook of our photos.
What was your wedding planning journey like?
We had our solemnisation in 2016 and planned for our wedding to be in early 2017. Thus, we went to Bali to visit different venues and planners. During our trip, we realised that we had to act quickly as many of the good venues were already booked. We heard that some couples even book the venue one or two years in advance! So, we decided on our venue shortly after that trip. However, we did not manage to find a planner whom we were happy with, until our second trip to Bali later that year.
After that, we chose some vendors such as our florist, photographer and makeup artist based on our online research. We left our wedding planning as it is due to our busy work schedules and only picked it up two months before our wedding. With time running out, we quickly outsourced some of the work to our planner, VaraWedding, and our friends as we needed help.
What were some of the challenges you faced?
One of the challenges we faced during our wedding planning was finding a trustworthy wedding planner. There are so many wedding planners in Bali! We interviewed six of them and while some of them appeared to be inexperienced or unprofessional, some actually felt like a scam, trying to charge us really high markups on the vendors we wanted to book through them! Eventually, we chose to go with VaraWedding because Astini left a very good impression and the reviews of their service were quite positive.
Another problem we faced was a tight schedule. Both of us took on new jobs shortly after our solemnisation, and since both our jobs were quite demanding, with the wedding planning going on, we felt like we were working two shifts every day by going to work in the day, and returning home to work on the wedding at night. Also, Hendrian’s family is based in Jakarta while mine resides in China. Our wedding venue was in Bali while we were in Singapore, so it was very time-consuming to get everybody aligned on the ideas. Also, arranging the logistics (hotel booking and transport) was such a nightmare that we barely finished it right before the wedding week.
What was your wedding theme?
We decided on flowers and drapery in different shades of pink and white, with light blue table cloths for the dinner. We wanted to have plenty of white in our wedding as it is really classy in our opinion. But in order to accommodate the Chinese tradition of using bright colours for auspiciousness, we paired the colour with flowers in various shades of pink and light purple as a compromise.
What was your wedding day like?
Our wedding day proceeded as per any Chinese wedding with gatecrash games, tea ceremonies with our families followed by a wedding ceremony and dinner. But, just like any other wedding, some things didn’t go quite according to plan. One of my bridesmaids pulled out at the last minute because she fell sick and I sprained my back severely two days before the wedding. To add on, my family’s flight was unexpectedly delayed by 14 hours and we had to change some of our decorations the night before the wedding.
However, everything else went smoothly, and our guests were none the less wiser about these hiccups, for which we were glad.
What did your family and friends have to say about your wedding day?
We received a lot of very positive feedback. Our families and friends thought it was really good and well-planned. Some of them even told us that it was the best and most beautiful wedding that they have ever attended. They were impressed with the clifftop venue, floral decorations, food and entertainment that night.
What was the most memorable moment of your wedding?
Zhuoqun: My parents danced so well in front of everyone at the end of the wedding. I was so impressed because it was not planned, they were not shy at all and I never knew that they could dance!!
Hendrian: The last round of an exciting game that involved my brother, Henry, and a good friend, Atilla. All guests were eyeing and feeling the competition’s great tension amid the intense rivalry between the final two competitors.
What is one lesson you’ve learned from your wedding planning that you’d like to share with other couples?
Do book your wedding venue and vendors early so you can get the good ones. Set timelines and stick to them so that you won’t panic at the last minute. Above all, an experienced and trustworthy planner is the key. You can also involve your guests or friends in your planning by giving them the task of choosing the songs, designing the games or taking photographs.
There will always be things that go wrong unexpectedly during your wedding. All you need to do is to relax and laugh it off, and enjoy this unique process.
The Size of Wedding: 75 guests
The Venue: Villa Anugrah
The Photographer: Donny from Axioo
The Videographer: H2O Videoworks
The Wedding Gown and Qun Kua: Jusere
The Wedding Shoes: Guess
The Groom’s Suit: Benjamin Barker
The Groom’s Shoes: Allen Edmonds
The Engagement Ring and Wedding Bands: Jannpaul
The Bridesmaids’ Outfits: Jusere
The Groomsmen’s Suits: Tailor-made in Jakarta
The Flower Girls’ Dresses: Tailor-made in China
The Hair and Makeup Artist: Melia Momiji
The Caterer: ABC Catering
The Wedding Cake: La Nouvelle Cake
The Florist: Flora Botanica Designs
The Event Stylist: Flora Botanica Designs
The Wedding Planner: Astini from VaraWedding
The Wedding Favours: Taobao
The Band: Akustika
The Wedding Car: BMW 320i
The Solemniser: Mr. Theofilus (referred by VaraWedding)
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