Kent Kong and Daphne Chua chose Gardenasia farmstay resort in Lim Chu Kang, far from the maddening noise and bustle of the city. "We chose it because we wanted a place that had a garden setting and was small enough to host a dinner for 60," says Daphne.
The makeup artist bride left her tools at home and entrusted the role to a freelancer friend who made her look like a woodland princess to suit the back-to-nature theme. They booked a pool villa for the day to do hair and makeup, as well as to conduct the tea ceremony.
The bride's favourite moment was walking toward her handsome groom who stood in front of a beautiful cobblestone structure called The Shamrock Chapel. First featured during the Singapore Garden Festival in 2008, this cosy corner is now a popular hotspot for solemnisations. Surrounded by lush greenery, pebbled walkways and a man-made pond, Daphne and Kent took their vows with their mothers beside them, and sealed it a kiss.
That evening, they held a catered dinner in the quaint Country Rose function room filled with vintage furniture, precious china and picture frames with old-school sepia prints. The reception area outside the dining hall had numerous photo albums, a hand-made red-packet box, decorative bird cages and bunting, all displaying their favourite pre-wedding snaps.
The buffet format of the meal encouraged guests to roam freely around the venue and mingle, and drink many yum seng toasts to them. Dressed in her favorite sea-foam colour, Daphne sparkled as crystal embellishments on her gown and headpiece caught the lights.
To entertain the children, the couple rented a candy floss machine and to finish off the evening, they gave out hand-towel "lollipops" as favours.
