Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
June 2024
Gwendolyne and Jerome’s Pastel Wedding at Mandarin Oriental, Singapore
Gwendolyne and Jerome wed in a pastel wedding at Mandarin Oriental, Singapore, filled with the joy and blessings of their family and friends.
Gwendolyne, 28, Human Resources, and Jerome, 30, Strategic Planning, had so much to say to each other when they started dating that they needed two different chat groups for their conversations. After a surprise proposal in Taiwan, the couple tied the knot in a pastel wedding in Mandarin Oriental Singapore on 23 March 2024, bringing back fond memories of their very first staycation together.
How did the two of you first meet?
Jerome: During the COVID-19 Circuit Breaker, I had nothing to do at home so I downloaded a dating app and started swiping. I matched with Gwendolyne and we started chatting with one message a day. When the lockdown eventually ended, we met up at East Coast Park for a cycling date.
Gwendolyne: We were actually both anti-dating apps people but I guess the Circuit Breaker changed us. I need to clarify on the “one message a day”. The thing is that we were texting so much, literally in huge chunks (we called them essays), that it took us almost one day to completely reply to one another. The essays were so long, we had two chat groups – one for daily conversation and one reserved for the essays.
What was the proposal like?
Jerome: It was in Taiwan and I had no idea where to propose. So I carried the ring box around the whole day while we were sightseeing in Qingjing Farm and eventually we arrived at Xin She castle where it is very quaint and quiet. After walking around I found a nice spot to propose in front of the castle.
Gwendolyne: He decided to use his average Mandarin vocabulary to propose, which had me laughing throughout. The good news is that I didn’t cry or tear because I was too busy laughing at him trying to think of the right words.
How did you plan your wedding and what was your wedding theme?
Gwendolyne: I joined the 2023 and 2024 SingaporeBrides Telegram groups and I have benefitted a lot from other brides’ experiences and reviews. I even managed to get some Guo Da Li items from other brides in the chat groups.
Our wedding theme revolved around pastel colours like champagne, peach, pink, yellow, and a pop of blue. I like that the pastel colours created a soft ambience and they are colours that will never run out of style in years to come.
Where did you hold your wedding?
Gwendolyn and Jerome: Fun fact: We were actually looking at restaurants beforehand as we wanted an intimate and cosy wedding. We visited so many but none fulfilled our criteria. It was usually missing a certain something or a feel that we wanted to go for. Furthermore, we eventually realised that the cost of a small wedding in a restaurant can be very similar to that of a hotel’s after all the additional costs. We then thought of Mandarin Oriental, Singapore as it was the first hotel where we had a staycation in back in 2021. We had such a memorable experience then, and we thought about the possibility of holding our wedding at a place filled with great memories.
We met Wen En for our first visit and we immediately clicked. Wen En was so accommodating and patient and it was a breeze working with him. We even agreed that we were very lucky to have met Wen En as our wedding coordinator as he played a huge role in helping us decide on Mandarin Oriental as our wedding venue. Whenever we told our friends that we engaged Mandarin Oriental without being able to do a site visit to the ballroom (since Mandarin Oriental was under renovations at that time), they always looked shocked. However it was easily the best decision we made.
Our whole wedding went according to plan and the staff were attentive to us and our guests. My guests were all praising the food and service, which, of course, left us very relieved and happy. That is possibly one of the best things to hear after months of planning. The staff also made an effort to learn and understand our wedding itinerary and were so prepared in terms of execution and hiccups.
We would like to also give a shout out to Jeggan, our banquet manager. He handled the whole banquet so smoothly and was there to assist and guide us throughout. Belle, our bridal assistant, was there to help and comfort us before our walk-ins. She was very attentive and ensured we were looking good 100% of the time. Sulaiman was our AV in-charge and even though we didn’t personally talk to him that day, our bridal party had a breeze coordinating with him and everything was smoothly executed. We even received compliments from our guests that all the service staff had such a positive attitude and everyone was so service-oriented. We are so thankful to have met these people who helped us execute our wedding so smoothly.
What was your wedding day like?
Gwendolyne: Our wedding day was filled with so much laughter and love. I woke up at 3 a.m. and was basically running on adrenaline the whole day. Everything passed by so quickly and before I knew it, I was saying goodbye to all my guests. My guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves and I received so many positive comments from people of different age groups.
What was the most memorable moment of your wedding?
Gwendolyne: The most memorable moment for me would be that we had grand plans for eight confetti poppers to pop for our second march-in, but only six did. The six poppers didn’t even pop consecutively as planned. It was such a funny moment because Jerome and I were trying to cheer our bridal party on as we walked down the aisle. Whenever one popped, we would be so happy laughing while walking down the aisle.
Jerome: For me, it’s probably the surprise video from my brother who was away studying in the United States and could not make it back for the wedding. His video had all our guests laughing.
The Size of the Wedding: 235 guests
The Cost of the Wedding: ~$70,000
The Venue: Mandarin Oriental, Singapore
The Wedding Day Photographer: Depair
The Emcee: Amanda Lee
The Gown: Rico-A-Mona
The Suit: Rico-A-Mona and Van Heusen
The Engagement Ring: JannPaul
The Wedding Bands: Felice Jewellery
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Annie from Dear Muse
The Florist: Sanwraps
The Venue Flower Stylist: Ace’s of Vase
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: WforWedding
The Wedding Favours: WforWedding
The Solemniser: Dr Shirley Low
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