Moving on to the next three important vendors....

Food Catering 

Puteri Wedding Services

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I first blogged about them here.

What's there NOT to love about PWS? Their service, presentation and quality of their food deserve all the thumbs up! I also like how professional their staff looked, both the kendarat and the servers behind the buffet line. Oh and I just found out the boss and my dad were kampong neighbours. Small world!

There are three packages to choose from and we chose the Tiara.

What we have on the menu:

Nasi Putih (Plain Rice)

Nasi Minyak

Daging Lembu Masak Briyani

Ayam Masak Merah

Black Pepper Prawn

Sambal Goreng Pengantin

Dhal Char

Rojak Petis

Live Station : Mee Soto & Roti Jala

Hot Drinks : Coffee & Tea

Cold Drinks : Ice Water & Fruit Punch

15 Types of Assorted Desserts

Refreshment - Ice Jelly & Cheng Teng

Fruits

Best kan the quantity of food! Yang tak best is the pengantin didn't have a chance to enjoy them all! :(

Price wise they're on the steeper side (> $20 per person cos washing and cooking not allowed on site) but was it worth every single moolah? Definitely!!!

Wedding Vendor Reviews - The Venue

It took the danna and I two years of detailed planning, together with teams of dedicated people working hand in hand with us to make our dream wedding come true. So happy to report that we have nothing but positive reviews for all our vendors + venue! The full list of vendors can be found here.

So let's start this long series of reviews with the most important part of the wedding - my venue.

If you've been following my monthly wedding prep updates in the past, you'd know how major of a problem our venue was for us  Believe it or not, ALL the venues on our list were already booked by Feb 2016! Here are our top few choices together with the rental charges. Please bear in mind I received all their replies late 2015/early last year so I'm not sure if they are still valid or not hokayyyyy~  

In order of our preference.....

1) Ulu Pandan CC

6 Hours of Usage (inclusive 4 hrs Air-Con):

$2100 (Non-Passion Card Members) / $1600 (Passion Card Members)

Preparation: $200 / hr

Cleaning Fee: $200

Others: $200 Water Basin, On site cooking is allowed outside the hall

This was our numero uno choice. It's a walking distance from the Buona Vista MRT station and the space I tell ya, is huge. First blogged about it here. When I first found out they were booked for an event on my wedding date, I WAS HEARTBROKEN. I continued to call them many times in the upcoming months to confirm its availability(heh freak much) but as they say, no rezeki lor....

2) The Grassroots' Club

Event Proper from 10am to 6pm = $7597  

Pre-event set-up one day before from 8pm onwards (subject to availability or after 12mn – able to do overnight décor.  On site cooking is strictly prohibited but you can do warm up only.

I've been here before and I love the space and its location. I called them immediately after I ended my disappointing phone call with UP CC. Sadly, they informed me they're not available on my date too!!!

Literally me after putting down the phone :(

3) Punggol 21 CC

$850 (for 4 hrs with air con) / $650 (for 4 hrs without air con)

Subsequent hr: $200 (with air con) / $150 non air-con

Preparation: $25 / hr

Cleaning Fee: $200

Others: Washing and cooking not allowed. Food preparation area is $200.

Space isn't as spacious as compared to Ulu Pandan CC but for a very obvious reason, this goes into the list. Unfortunately, we can only book it in June and I don't think I can deal with the disappointment if  I can't secure this venue. Also, we had to let it go cos my mom didn't like its location. Secretly thankful she didn't like it cos I didn't like the location either hehe.

4) Silat Federation 

$2500 for 11 hrs of usage including tear down and 6-7 hours of setting up a day before

I don't really like this place mainly cos there's no aircon and the markings on the floor (hahaha insignificant to others but major no to me!) but my parents were the ones who asked us to check it out. When the danna & I went down for site visit, my oh my it looks smaller than I imagined it to be. The staff we talked to gave a different $ from the one we received via email. Not friendly also layan nak tak nak. Turned off, so bye TTYN.

5. Begonia Ballroom

$11 500 from 9am-10pm  (including setup and tear down)

Usage of the main venue for 4 hours the day before event for pre set-up

Provision of 1 Bridal Room & Prayer Room

I got to know about this place through an email sent by a kind reader. Yes, it's insanely expensive but there's a lot of things included in the package which I feel is worth it. My parents were in love with it as much as I do but just like Ulu Pandan CC & TGC, it's not available on my date bleargh!

6) Aranda Country Club

$4,280 for full-day rental from 11am-9pm

Cooking and washing strictly not allowed

Since my parents loveeeeeee the location of the Begonia Ballroom so much, we thought that maybe we can find a hall around its location, and so this venue made it to the list. We were excited to hear that the hall is available on our date so we quickly set not one but two dates for a site visit. Lovely place next to the poolside, only problem with it is that in an event of wet weather there's no shelter for my poor guests but the hall isn't as big as it seems in pictures. So, no choice but to say bye to this one.

7) Joyden Hall

Another place suggested by a blog reader. I called them immediately and was attended by a rude staff whose only words to me were: "your date?" Not even a hello -_- The moment she said it's already booked, I put down the phone and went...

..in my head. T_T

Then somewhere in May, I got an email from someone who suggested UE Convention Centre...........

#nynaenzo - The Reception

Done with the nikah ceremony, we now move on to the fun part of the wedding - the reception!

We were very humbled to have Ustaz Abd Hakeem and his qasidah team at our wedding. Very saddened by the news of him leaving Masjid Sultan late last year. That place hold a special place in me and danna's heart so not having him as the imam there anymore feels so different. In fact I was there last night and the bilal sang the selawat without him. I didn't enjoy it as much as I used to :(

Anyhoots, totally regret not taking a pic with him. Boo hooo

Walking into the hall with more eyes on me this time round turned me into a bundle of nerves!

Danna making his entrance with his entourage and the kompang boys from @akrabservices.

First hadang was from my brother and cousins. Standard lah my paternal family kalau tak hadang pengantin with pantun tak sah! I've been warned like a hundred times by the danna before the wedding that he doesn't want to be told to dance or sing, which is okay for me cos it's not my thing also. Not forgetting the fact that our favourite Ustaz is watching from the side so a bit paiseh also hor.

Sesi berpantun pun bermula. How I wish I was able to witness all this but..........

.....I mampu senyum belakang kipas je guise. & yup, I have both Ilah and Nora wimme on the dais!

Second hadang of the day - my girls! Sesi balas-balas pantun also.

The part when my girls asked for money and Naz said that they will have to dance first. CHET

 

Dapat $$ happy la dia...

Last but not least, hadang from mak andams!

 
Mak andam tak puas hati cos $ was given in a Peti Solek envelope lololol ish(q) ish(q), tak patot!

Shy shy cat part two hehe

Silat by the kompang boys.

Budak tak betul hahaha

Bro fist the halal version LOL

Next up was Akrab's performance..

..AND I ENJOYED IT SOOOO MUCH! I bagi dorang 5 bintang!

 
Ustaz Hakeem recited a few prayers for us.

& right after we did the whole salam with my parents and his grandmother, it's photo taking time!

Family of six now.  ♥

BLISS x ISHQ

So you know how I designed my own wedding invites, right? Well my dad has this collection of invites from my cousins dated since 2011 so one day I randomly took one to take a look. Coincidentally, the one I picked was from Azmi's wedding.(Azmi is danna's friend) It was then I realized we are second cousins! & Azmi only learned about this when he bumped into his parents at the wedding. I was there at their wedding back in 2012, and guess who the photographer was - my danna! Funny, huh!

Actually there were many other instances, like how my cousin and danna's cousin are actually BFFs. Just like our grandparents, which I mentioned about here. Many of my parents' friends are also friends with my FIL. Even my own friends informed me they spotted many familiar faces there.

Small world right!!

Poly girlfriends!

At last, the moment I've been waiting for ever since I walked into the hall!

As always, @puteri_wedding never disappoints but the only thing that I was disappointed with was the fact that we had less than 15 mins to enjoy our food. It was a mad rush and I had to get my girls to stand in front of the table to stop guests from coming up to us to take photo.

Details of my songket. Once again, I was the first bride to put this gorgeous piece on. Love it!

& before we know it, it's already time for my final outfit.

One last touch up.

One getting ready for the reception, the other looks like he's ready to nikah again hahaha

Fizi Woo on me, Benjamin Barker him.

We entered the hall together for the last time to the piano & cello cover of "A Thousand Years" and headed straight for the most redundant part of the wedding reception -  cake cutting.

 Yes this is that ONE & ONLY macaron I get to eat :')

With the paternal cousins.

My ibu(s) and ayah together with my best friends' siblings.

   

 The group of people who make you look good in picture and in person on your big day!

NAWWW ❤❤❤

 Erm who is that why are your arms around him and not me? -___-

Details of my Fizi Woo dress.

We went to a few tables to say our goodbyes and thanks to our guests before leaving for our short photoshoot just outside the hall.

    

Behind the scene shot. Shy cat no more :p

And with that,  the wedding is over!! Nov 19th 2016 was perfect to me and of cos, it won't be possible without the all the great people working hard preparing for it. Once again, I’d like to thank our darling family and friends who spared some time for us to celebrate our big day. Your presence, wishes, help and ang pow$ mean a lot to us and we truly appreciate them a lot.

Much love!

xoxo, N