Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
September 2021
Sydney and Zachary’s Elegant and Intimate Wedding at Shisen Hanten
Sydney and Zachary toasted their union in an elegant and intimate wedding at Shisen Hanten.
Sydney Chiang, 36, Medical Device Representative, and Zachary Tay, 40, Sommelier, had three fateful encounters before they finally met and started dating. Sydney first heard of Zachary when her friend told her about a guy who was just her type. Then, a while later, Sydney ran into Zachary at a restaurant where he was working, but she was dating someone else at the time. Finally, she saw his profile on Tinder, and of course, they matched up! The couple celebrated with an intimate and elegant wedding in Shisen Hanten on 24 April 2021.
What do you love most about your partner?
Sydney: The one thing I love most about Zach is that he’s consistent. He’s not big on grand gestures but he shows his love for me in a multitude of ways, like kissing me first thing when he wakes up before he checks his phone, or when he makes a cup of coffee, he makes one for me too even without asking, or when I’ve had a terrible day, he would always ask me to talk about it and he listens to me rant.
Zachary: Syd keeps me grounded. There are days I get lazy and I go a little overboard, and she’s there to put a stop to my lordly tendencies hahaha!
What was the proposal like?
Zachary: A disaster by most accounts. The lights came on really early, like 9.30pm! It made the whole proposal very awkward and I felt even more uneasy with the spotlight on each table. My fault for not factoring the COVID-19 measures into the equation. It’ll probably haunt me for the rest of my life that I didn’t bend the knee when I proposed. The only saving grace was that we had a great champagne to celebrate with, which the service team was so kind to share with us!
Hear more from the couple themselves via this pre-wedding video by Iki Company.
Did COVID-19 affect your wedding plans?
Not really. We were lucky enough to have missed the first cluster outbreak by a weekend so there wasn’t any PET, and we managed to keep it intimate with family and close friends, where we could spend time to interact with friends as opposed to only being able to spare a few measly seconds for hellos and thank yous. In fact, the seating arrangement worked to our advantage as the restaurant allowed us to have more (but less filled) tables so we had a few tables of four or five without needing our different social circles to be seated at the same table just to have it filled to eight pax.
What was your wedding day like?
Sydney: It was like a holiday party, where I woke up early but not too early to let a professional do my hair and makeup, and basically enjoy good food, great drinks, and excellent conversations with all our guests. And like all holidays, you forget to pack something—Zach totally forgot the wedding bands.
We wanted it to be fuss-free so I spent the night before at the hotel. Zach picked me up from my room and we went for our tea ceremony. After which, I changed into my wedding gown while Zach mingled with the guests. My sister walked in with me and we had our solemnisation ceremony witnessed by all our lunch guests. Once the ceremony was over, lunch was served. We were literally drinking from 11:00 a.m.
What was the most memorable moment of your wedding?
It was in the mid afternoon, around 3:00 p.m., when the restaurant sent up our lunch portions to the room. It was the first meal we had as a newly wedded couple and it was blissfully peaceful and comfortable in our bathrobes.
The Size of the Wedding: 2 groups of 50 pax (lunch and dinner)
The Cost of the Wedding: $30,000
The Venue:Shisen Hanten
The Wedding Day Photographer: Eugene from Bottled Groove Photography
The Gown:The Ivory Bridal // Cheongsam from Shopbluebell
The Bride’s Shoes:Aquazzura
The Suit:Fashion Tailors
The Wedding Bands:SK Jewelry
The Flower Girls’ Dresses:Bloom B
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist:Cleo Chang Makeup for day // Claire Wang for night
The Wedding Cake: Sarah’s Loft
The Florist:Erin Florals
The Pre-Wedding Videographer:Iki Company
The Solemniser: Zenon Teh
Credits: Images by Bottled Groove Photography
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