Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
December 2021
Phoebe and Paul’s Bright and Colourful Garden Wedding at Raffles Singapore
Phoebe and Paul celebrated their love in a colourful, summery garden wedding at Raffles Singapore.
Hailing from Taiwan and England, Phoebe Huang, 33, and Paul Tuddenham, 32, met in Singapore, and proved that opposites attract. The couple dated for eight years and tied the knot in Raffles Singapore on 28 June 2021, in a bright and colourful spring garden wedding filled with pretty coral, white, and blue florals.
How did you first meet each other?
Phoebe: Paul is from England and I’m from Taiwan. We both coincidentally arrived in Singapore about 8.5 years ago. We actually met in a club called Attica (it was pretty popular at that time for foreigners hahaha). When we met I had been in Singapore for two months already, and he had only been in the country three weeks (not sure if it’s called fate). We dated for about five months before deciding to commit to a more serious relationship, and it’s now been more than eight years since we first met.
Our relationship hasn’t always been smooth because we come from very different backgrounds, and we have very different personalities. I am a more easygoing and fun person whereas Paul is a relatively more calm and introverted person. It took a very long time for us to adapt to our different perspectives and to find a balance in how we compromise with each other in our relationship, whilst at the same time trying not to lose our individual personalities.
What do you love most about your partner?
Phoebe: Paul is the most honest man I have ever met. He doesn’t make any promises or commitments if he thinks there is any doubt he can come through. Sometimes him being too honest might hurt my feelings, but I do prefer him being his true self rather than telling beautiful lies. At the same time, he is a very disciplined guy that I can learn a lot from, and living together with him has helped me become a better person too. Most importantly, he has a simple heart, he doesn’t talk behind people’s backs, and he treats his friends with great sincerity as well.
Paul: What I love most about Phoebe is her strong will of character. She is exceptionally assertive and always willing to stand up for right things when she has a strong belief in it. She speaks with a keen sincereness and does not shy away from talking about her honest opinions. My love for Phoebe has been sustained due to her deep level of compassion and care that she has always and still continues to show towards me and our relationship together.
What was the proposal like?
Paul: I noticed the venue whilst running around Gardens by the Bay in the morning. The Meadow is a perfectly peaceful area where you can enjoy a serene atmosphere with wide, unobstructed views of the open sky, whilst being surrounded by grass and trees.The location is private, but not enclosed or hidden away; it is quiet and away from most of the day-to-day traffic and commotion that we deal with during our typical day.
I arranged for a simple and quaint picnic during the golden hour of the afternoon. Most of all I wanted to include our good friends for an additional surprise during the proposal. They were also instrumental in the whole planning and arrangement, despite the added challenges of venue setup under the hot and humid conditions. The final preparation took a much longer time than I had originally anticipated, and in the end was incredibly stressful due to the unexpected weather change. Fortunately everything went well and Phoebe was surprised and said yes!
Did COVID-19 affect your wedding plans?
Phoebe: Originally we wanted to have a wedding in Europe, but we couldn’t do it and still don’t know when we can actually go overseas. Instead, we decided to hold a small one with our close friends in Singapore. COVID-19 really annoyed us during our wedding planning since government restrictions changed three to four times in a month. Our initial plan was to have a ceremony and reception; however, it was a very uncertain period and every week we had to change our wedding plans, from reducing the guest count to having no reception at all. None of our family members could fly to Singapore and attend the wedding.
Honestly, we almost postponed our wedding until the end of the year. After many discussions, we decided to go ahead with only the solemnisation, because we couldn’t be certain of the future. We decided to just do it when we still could, and ended up using a livestreaming service in order to let all our family enjoy our important moments and share our happiness together!
What was your wedding theme and how did you create it?
Phoebe: We browsed most of the photographers and florists on SingaporeBrides to get ideas of what kind of vibes and style we wanted our wedding to have. It was towards the end of April when we decided to have a wedding in Singapore, so we actually didn’t have much time to look at many places or visit the venues. Luckily, Paul and I had quite a clear idea that we both wanted to have an outdoor wedding, and he particularly wanted to hold the wedding somewhere memorable. Raffles Singapore was the best choice since it is a memorable monument, and the building itself is so stunning and stylish. Plus, the wedding organiser was very helpful and understanding during the uncertain period.
I wanted to have garden, vintage, and summer vibes without being too tacky. The location of the lawn at Raffles Singapore with green grass and white buildings was already the perfect venue for us. I was quite particular with the venue decoration, as I didn’t want it to be boring and classic looking, so the colour scheme was one of the most important aspects in our wedding. I spent many nights looking for wedding ideas on Pinterest and looked at tons of florists’ work as well on Instagram.
Finally I decided to have a coral pink theme with a little blue and white touch. In the beginning, I was quite worried that the florist couldn’t meet my expectations because it is a colour scheme which not many people use in Singapore. But 85 Flowers was really patient and always so responsive when I texted her about what I wanted. We discussed so many possible ideas on how to make the venue look beautiful but not too tacky, and she delivered exactly what I wanted for my wedding. I really appreciated her hard work.
What was your wedding day like?
Phoebe: It was MAGICAL. Since we chose to have our wedding at an outdoor venue, we really had to depend on the weather which was out of our control. The week before our wedding day, it actually rained every day, and I was so worried that we would have to change to the backup venue which was not as ideal. We still remember so clearly that on the morning of the wedding day, it was still raining… my heart sank and I was praying to God, hoping he could give us beautiful weather in the afternoon.
Magically, the rain stopped around noontime and we had a really sunny day for our outdoor wedding. Our guests couldn’t even really open their eyes at some points. It was truly a blessed day. Everything went very well and smoothly, but I personally cried a lot during the whole wedding because I still wished that our families could be there in person with us… I guess this was the only thing we felt was a bit imperfect. We can’t wait to go back to our countries and share our happiness with them!
What was the most memorable moment of your wedding?
Phoebe: I would say it’s the WHOLE wedding, from when we decided to do it until the wedding ended. As we didn’t hire any wedding planner nor buy any wedding package, I had to arrange everything on my own. Endless nights of browsing Instagram until 3am, asking for quotations, trying gowns with friends, doing handcraft for gifts, rehearsal rundown with friends etc., it was a very unforgettable experience for me personally.
As none of our families could attend or help, we were very grateful that our friends were there for us. From setting up, decorating the venue, being our witnesses, being our wedding emcees, to liaising with all the vendors on the wedding day while I was getting made up; our wedding couldn’t be done without them, and we can never forget how tiring it was to prepare a wedding and how wonderful it was on the wedding day. All the efforts became our memories , and it’s all worth it!
The Size of the Wedding: 48 guests
The Venue: Raffles Singapore
The Wedding Day Photographer: Arture Photography
Live steaming: Senica Photos
The Gown: Rico-A-Mona
The Suit: Suitsupply
The Groom’s Shoes: Loake
The Engagement Ring: Graff
The Wedding Bands: Tiffany & Co.
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Queenie Cong Makeover
The Florist: 85 Flowers
The Solemniser: Ms Joanna Portilla
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