After our honeymoon in Bali, we still had a week to rest and relax in Singapore before starting with work. We decided that we should visit some local places of interest that we liked and won't be too crowded on a weekday. One of them was NMS. Didn't realize it was more than a year since our last visit... Well, still very enjoyable.

Where do I even begin with this...

May I urge all upcoming brides and grooms to think twice before penning your signature on the contract with Sattine Bridal Couture, Singapore. We signed up with them and things went all merry and well until the crunch time, the night before the wedding, when they revealed how they truly "care" for their customers...

Sorry, if you don't want to read about me bitch, please move on to another post. This... is going to be the Ugly Truth.

On the evening before the wedding, I was in-charge of picking up the bridal bouquet from Sattine. Upon arrival at 7pm, which was the time suggested by my coordinator 凤姐, I had a look at the bouquet. At first sight, I could already tell the flowers were not at all fresh and there were visible signs of aging, like how the edges of the rose petals were outlined in brown, and the petals look all crumpled and wrinkled. Of course, I had to express my displeasure and pointed out to them the flaws in the bouquet. 凤姐 concurred with the issues I had and highlighted it to her colleague, who goes by the name of Keanu. The immediate response that Keanu had was a defensive one, who responded by saying that it is the nature of the flower. "这种花是这样的." Goodness... his nonchalance to the substandard product Sattine had to offer definitely amazed me. If it is the nature of the flower to wilt before the day of the wedding, please let it be highlighted so that no couple will ever choose that bouquet for their wedding!

I gave him my 2 cents worth of thoughts and then, he decided to blame his colleague, my poor coordinator 凤姐, for asking us to come and collect the flowers at too late an hour (7pm). This already proves that he agrees that the flowers have wilted, and then he goes on to blame someone else. In front of the customer, he says, "凤姐你为什么叫顾客那么迟才来, 等一下给我个交代!" As if this drama attitude will solve the real issue here.

So again, I gave him my 2 cents worth and he after conversing with the flower supplier via telephone, he tells me I can get the flowers replaced, but I had to choose another bouquet type because the florist has ran out of the flower type that we picked (essentially white roses). So fine, I picked one that was of the closest resemblance.

Then, Keanu goes on to tell me that I have to go and pick it up from the florist myself. The location of the florist shop is in a very very ulu flatted factory building, but it was already late and I still had things to do and so, very eager to get it settled and done with. When I wanted to leave with the flowers, wilted as they are, he stopped me. He said that the flowers, since rejected, are to be kept with him so that he can do a 1-to-1 exchange with the florist.

The reason I wanted to take the rejected bouquet along too was simply because it was an assurance to me. What if... the newly prepared one isn't up to the mark too? I explained my concerns to that guy but all he said was "我们从来没有这样做生意过的." Amazing. What has the fact that there are no such precedence got to do with my concerns? The product was already substandard, what is to give the customer a guarantee that the replacement will be up to the mark? I didn't want to argue with him so I decided to call Chet and ask her opinion on which flower to get.

Till today I'm not sure if it was the right move to have called Chet to get her all upset and worried about the flowers, the night before the wedding. Anyway, the decision was unanimous to take both bouquets. So I went back to Keanu and told him "Look, we understand that it is how you run your business, to keep the rejected flowers for a 1-to-1 exchange. But we chose Bouquet A, and your replacement is Bouquet B. They are not the same and thus, not 1-to-1. So, unless you can offer us Bouquet A as a replacement, you jolly well let us have both bouquets, so as to ease your customer's concerns. It is the eve of the wedding for god's sake!"

Finally, he relented and called the florist to make the arrangements. Then Chet called and asked to speak with Keanu. Again, wrong move, cause Keanu picked up the phone and didn't want to talk to a customer, the bride, in a proper and polite manner and just shoved the phone back to me saying that the matter has already been settled. He just shoved the phone back to me, and I passed it to 凤姐 as Chet wanted to speak with her. Apparently, Chet asked to speak with the manager of Sattine Bridal Couture, and guess what Keanu said, "事情都以经解决了为什么还要来讲这么多? 还说要找老板!? 跟她讲我就是老板! 无聊!"

Needless to say, that was the boiling point for me. At that point, I lost it and raised my voice at him.

"喂! 你这样是对你的顾客应该有的态度吗!? 你知道你在跟我太太说话吗? 在我面前你可以说她无聊吗? 你的顾客要跟你谈话你可以说她无聊然后把电话挂上吗? 你必需向我和我太太道歉!"

That was probably my $2 worth of thoughts. I could tell he was kinda taken aback as I was very calm and composed throughout the whole ordeal, and even let him throw his tantrums. After I raised my voice at him with stern looking eyes, he said "SORRY LOR~". WTF. His apology wasn't even sincere.

Point to note, the difference between 凤姐 and Keanu was, when 凤姐 took Chet's call, all she did was to comfort and apologize to Chet, asked her to calm down and rest for tomorrow, that everything was fine. For that, I respect and appreciate all that 凤姐 has done for us. She was definitely more experienced than this Keanu character, so much that I didn't understand why Keanu was employed, and furthermore, as a superior to 凤姐. Amazing.

Anyway, long story short, we got the flowers. My parents were so kind and patient to have driven me all the way to another end of Singapore to have the flowers picked up... The flowers definitely were much much more fresh than the rejected one, so I was glad we made the right decision. I returned the rejected bouquet to Sattine on the same day after the wedding banquet, to allow his 1-to-1 exchange.

After that day, I found out that Keanu isn't even the boss of Sattine Bridal Couture. What a thing to say to the client, feigning authority and all... Again, amazing.

So... sop story's over. This is our feedback for the services by Sattine. It's too bad that we probably won't be able to post our feedback directly onto Singaporebrides.com to caution other couples-to-be. This blog entry only comes up on page 3 under a Google search... sigh.

My advise, say "NO" to Sattine Bridal Couture.

Before the professional photographs from Chris Woon and Mike are released, please bear with un-pro some shots that were taken on the actual day :)















Our experience being a couple with Intercontinental didn't turn out as great as we'd hoped. Basically there was a screw up by the Intercontinental Hotel Singapore, in that we were not given our executive suite when we checked-in in the morning. The reason: some Thai politicians are stranded in the hotel and decided to extend their stay without notice, due to the unstable situation in Thailand. Well, not our problem.

We were quite unhappy about the shophouse suite that was offered as an alternative. Basically it was a clear breach of contract for not offering what was paid for. And what's worse, the corridor leading from the suite to the ballroom is under severe maintenance. Read this: wet paint on the walls.

Shockingly, and ironically, there was nothing the hotel can do.

So... we were offered some terms of compensation. Our wedding coordinator, Stephanie Chua, suggested some terms which we considered and settled for. Alas, the terms suggested by Intercon couldn't even be fulfilled themselves!!! One term was a free upgrade from a normal room to a suite in Intercontinental Bali, where we will be staying for a couple of nights during our honeymoon. The second term was a complimentary stay in the executive suite that we should've been check-ed into, of 1 year validity. Alas, Bali Intercon was fully booked, and we were told that Intercontinental Hotel Singapore will be undergoing some renovations, which will only limit the complimentary stay voucher to end of 2010.

Since it was so, we decided to change the terms to complimentary stay for executive suite until end of 2010 (which was the best they can do), and complimentary stay for shophouse suite until mid 2011 (so that we can return for our anniversary). Alas, the management still thinks that we were overdemanding. True, we were transferred back to the executive suite late afternoon after the event, but our photographer has already left and we missed alot of good photography opportunities and the whole experience of having to walk through the corridor under maintenance really painted a hideous picture in our minds every time we recall our experience during the banquet.

To be honest, the hotel really really managed our case very poorly. For a start, it was extremely miserly of them to be unable to offer us better deals, when we were gracious enough to drop their breach of contract in the first place. In the end, we decided not to pursue the matter further as it was really getting ugly and draggy. Just had to keep our graciousness and dignity in place, rather than to keep begging for better compensation, however justified we feel it is.

We did fall in love with the ballroom and the banquet and events ran rather smoothly, but sorry to say this: if a hotel can screw up big time on your wedding day, do think twice before signing your contract for your wedding with Intercontinental Hotel Singapore.

Our wedding in Penang was really something like a rehearsal for the wedding in Singapore which'll happen two weeks after. The good thing is Chet's parents were kind enough to help organize everything on our behalf. All we need to do was... be present? So we had a simplified version of a wedding, starting with the customary tea ceremony in the morning, to the banquet at night. Just cake cutting and champagne pouring, no speeches :)






































All in all, we had an enjoyable time, almost completely lost in our own world and oblivious to the friends and relatives around us, who, hopefully, were also having a blast. The most memorable part of the day was probably popping the champagne, as the stopper flew and landed on Guan's godfather's shiny head. I saw it, Chet saw it, and we couldn't stop giggling all through the champagne pouring >.<