Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
October 2024
Anne and Darren’s Elegant and Cosy Wedding at Raffles Singapore
All Anne and Darren wanted for their wedding was to celebrate their new beginning with their loved ones, and that’s exactly how their wedding at Raffles Singapore turned out.
Anne Hwarng, 29, User Researcher, and Darren Leong, 29, Software Developer, met in junior college. Not only were they in the same class, they were also in the school band. Being in the same CCA meant that they had to spend a lot of time together during practice and bus rides home. Soon, sparks flew between the pair and love blossomed. After a surprise proposal, Anne and Darren searched for the perfect wedding venue that would bring their wedding dreams to life, and found it serendipitously in Raffles Singapore, where they celebrated their union in an elegant and intimate affair with their close families and friends.
Share with us your story. How did the two of you meet?
Anne: We met way back in junior college when we were in the same class and also in the same CCA. Darren was a drummer and I played the flute in the school band, and we had practices thrice a week. It meant that we would unwittingly spend a lot of time together, especially during our bus rides home together.
What drew you to each other? What is it about your partner that you love the most?
Anne: Darren’s calm and collected energy complements my indecisive and buzzy personality. I’ve always been drawn to the way he lives differently and intentionally, and doesn’t pin his value on the things this world often values.
Darren: Anne is great with people. She has so much empathy and love to give those around her, which coupled with her warm personality, makes her an extremely likeable person to be around. Most importantly, she doesn’t shy away from pointing me to what truly matters when I’m prone to falter, continually challenging me to be a better person.
What was the proposal like?
Anne: Darren caught me on a sleepy weekend (lucky for him!). Though I’d usually be the assertive one about where we should head for our picnics, I was too sleepy to weigh in on any decisions that day, which bode well for Darren’s plans. My family booked a dummy dinner appointment, and we had some time to kill before it, so Darren said we could have a picnic. This wasn’t suspicious for us at all because we typically do have low-prep picnics, where we take our chairs out for a chill few hours with good music and our own books, and Darren brews coffee. So, he did just that. I didn’t suspect a thing, didn’t even dress up or wear makeup that weekend.
Darren: While training for the 2XU run a couple of years back, I ran past this big open field with beautiful coniferous trees behind Methodist Girls’ School, and at that moment, I knew that this would be my proposal site for the future. It was quite frankly a mesmerising sight.
On that day, I brought Anne to that same location with much ease, and had one of our usual low maintenance picnics. All this time, our families were waiting a distance away, waiting to join us in our celebrations. I started brewing coffee while Anne read. Not long after, a police car stopped along the road right in front of us and I was worried, “Are we not supposed to picnic here? Am I not supposed to brew coffee here? Is this protected state land?” I confidently continued to brew my coffee as if it was perfectly within my right to do so, but of course, much fear was brewing beneath. This wasn’t part of the plan. Thankfully, the policemen were merely taking a break, taking in some beautiful sights, and drove off after a while.
I thought the worst was over, but soon Anne said that she wanted to take a nap. This wasn’t part of the plan either. There was no choice, I had to accelerate. I stopped her and passed her an envelope containing some important artifacts of our relationship, before beginning my speech. I got on my knees, but faltered terribly with my words, before breaking the all important question. Anne said “Yes”.
We hugged, and turned around, expecting to see our families there to share in our joy. But nobody was around, except a head peeking from behind the trees. That was my friend, who was supposed to give our families the cue to come over when I got on my knees. Alas, he couldn’t tell if I was kneeling or not, and decided to simply enjoy the show. We rang our families then and soon, they joined us with flowers and champagne. It was a joyous occasion, which ended on a high at a Spanish restaurant we love with people we hold dear to.
Tell us about your wedding. Where was your wedding venue and why did you choose it as the place to wed?
Both: We had envisioned an intimate restaurant wedding, where we can celebrate our union with close friends and families over some good Chinese food. Chinese food is important to us, especially for Anne because she sees food as a reflection of her Taiwanese heritage. We spent quite some time going down the restaurant route, visiting a few different Chinese restaurants but many were not designed in a way that suited our purposes.
Ultimately, we decided to have our wedding at Raffles Singapore but this was frankly speaking a serendipitous find. We were headed to visit Yi by Jereme Leung (a Chinese restaurant at the hotel), which unfortunately was unable to hold all our friends and family due to space constraints, though we really liked their menu. That was when Raffles Singapore spontaneously offered to bring us to view a few of their ballrooms, including Palm Ballroom, which had a capacity that was suitable for our guest list. The moment we stepped into Palm Ballroom, we loved how it didn’t feel like a hotel ballroom, because of its elaborate golden upholstery of Chinese paintings on the walls, and the warm glow of its ambient lighting. We were also informed that the food would be served from Yi, which was a huge plus. The space was also small enough for people to walk around and have conversations, which suited our primary aim of celebrating our wedding with close friends and families.
Throughout the process, Raffles Singapore was extremely accommodating with our requests. In particular, we were able to come up with a layout that allowed us to have long tables as opposed to the usual round tables for our banquet. Raffles Singapore also allowed us to remove the stage and replace it with a makeshift dance floor, which fitted the vibe we were going for. At the end of the day, we were well pleased with the entire planning process with Raffles Singapore, whose top-notch service made everything so easy for us.
Take us back to your wedding day. What was the day like and how were you feeling?
Both: We were filled with excitement on our wedding day for many reasons. Excitement to see the other person in our wedding fits, excitement to hear each other’s speeches/vows, excitement to hang out with our friends and families, and excitement to see their reactions when they receive these cards with personalised illustrations and notes that we prepared (with the help of our talented friend).
Of course, there was also our excitement to work with our photographer and videographers to capture the significant moments of the day. And certainly, excitement to finally join hearts with the person we love. Strangely, there were not many nerves to speak of – mainly because we had outstanding and trustworthy friends who moved the day’s programme along so effectively without any hiccup.
What did your family/friends have to say about your wedding day?
Both: We heard from our friends and families that our wedding was one of the more warm and personal weddings they have ever attended, and that everyone who came knew that there was a reason why they were invited. We were glad that our guests came away from our wedding feeling this way because we set out hoping that people who came would know why they are significant to us and how they have played a meaningful role in our growth, be it individually or as a couple.
Share with us the most memorable moment of your wedding?
Both: The most memorable moment of our wedding had to be when we finally got to present personalised cards that we prepared for our friends and families, and hearing about how much they appreciated this gesture.
What is one lesson you’ve learned from your wedding planning that you’d like to share with other couples?
Both: We were incredibly blessed to have had the help and support of very talented friends throughout our wedding planning. The one lesson we’d share is for couples not to try to do too many things on their own, but to rope in friends and families in the process, and trust them to perform their tasks well.
The Wedding Venue: Mt Carmel Bible-Presbyterian Church and Raffles Singapore
Cost of Wedding: Approximately $$100,000
Size of Wedding: 350 pax (Mt Carmel BP Church) and 148 (Raffles Singapore)
The Bride’s Outfit: Truly Enamoured and Subrosa Studio
The Groom’s Outfit: SuitYourself
The Wedding Bands: Poh Kim Jewellery
The Wedding Photographer: Bottled Groove Photography
The Wedding Videographers: Sloth Creatives Weddings
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Victoria Han
The Florist: Bombora Haus
The Wedding Stationery: Thamco_ (personalised cards to dinner guests)
The Caterer: Grain
The Wedding Favours: Raffles Singapore
The Band: A Little Dream
The Solemniser: Pastor Oh Boon Leong (Mt Carmel BP Church)
The Wedding Resource: SingaporeBrides
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