It was nice meeting Aloysius and seeing what 39 East has to offer. As we were leaving the studio, we were talking about 39 East vs Feldberyl vs Gabriel Mendes. Gabriel Mendes is, in my opinion, the best in the business in Singapore today, but also the most expensive of them all. We do have a budget to keep so we did not choose him. Although we did not make a decision outright on that day, we both did have a slight preference for Feldberyl.
So it was time to move on from actual day photography to Holy Matrimony (HM) location. Hellen contacted Fort Canning and made an appointment with them. We are not going to Legends as most couples would choose but rather the other different venues for weddings that Fort Canning Park provides. The meeting was made with Lili, who is incidentally my good friend, Junhong’s future wife’s sister. Junhong will be one of my brothers for the wedding (there will be posts that honour the bridesmaids and brothers in this blog).
Fort Canning is a basically a small hill / park in the middle of the city, with a pretty storied history as the home of Sir Stamford Raffles and also a British Fort during WWII. For history buffs, refer here. We were looking for outdoor wedding venues and after surveying the different resources and websites, a particular place caught our eyes. It was Raffles House, the former residence of Mr Stamford.
Boy, were we disappointed when we saw Raffles House. The house itself was alright, cosy for a function. A wedding meal will do nicely too. The whole compound is not bad, but the garden that was reserved as the wedding spot is un-spectacular. Maybe our expectation was heightened by the pictures we found online. But the tree in the garden for the wedding is in reality smaller than expected, and the lawn coupled with the tree is not symmetrical but irregular in shape. It makes it hard to sit guests as it is too small, and quite odd in fact. As I asked the practical questions to Lili, Hellen went around snapping up pictures of the place.
After the disappointing stop, Lili told us there are other places in Fort Canning for weddings. We never really heard people talk about them, but oh well, since we are here, why not? So with her killer buggy-driving skill (which means she is extremely good), she drove us around and bring us to Fort Gate and Old Soldiers Married Quarters (OMSQ). Immediately when we reached, I can see a change in Hellen. I think she found ‘the place’. I felt good about it too. The tree near OMSQ is big, old and grand (sounds like a piano). Looked poised for a matrimony right there and then.
OK, so here I will try to explain the setting as well as I possibly could, with an amateurish diagram:
…..
On second thought, forget it. I think I will take some photos and repost it another time.
We think we found the place because:
1. The tree setting is cool (as in hip, not the weather. I foresee it being hot).
2. The little swing is cute and the gravel ground prevents rain from spoiling the ground and making it mushy for people when they walk on it during heavy rain.
3. The OMSQ can accommodate seating and food. We will prefer the guests to walk outside and eat though.
4. There is great potential for DIY decoration.
All in all, this seems to be the place for the HM. We will post the photos of our site visits another time. Although we liked the place, our day is far from over, as we have 2 more locations to recce. Next stop: Burkill Hall!
Countdown to Wedding Day (19-06-10): 329 days
