Our Covid Wedding
A magical day -in the midst of a pandemic.
06.02.21: I married my best friend. Jeroen Develter, you’re stuck with me forever!
A girl always dreams about her wedding day. But a Covid wedding, what was that going to look like?
I wanted my father to walk me down the aisle, to hug my new in-laws, to have our friends and family from Europe and Australia present. But love (and a party within social distancing rules) doesn’t have time to wait! So we decided to have a small wedding in Singapore; and save the ‘big’ one for 2023.
Our Covid Wedding was nothing short of magical… and hot. Tears and sweat were in full force.
In less than 2 months we planned our wedding. It was stressful, exciting and stressful (100% worth it in the end!). In this post, I hope to share any learnings from my experience and some tips for anyone else getting married in Singapore.
BEST OF LUCK xx
Things to do now:
Lock in your date, venue and solemniser.
Book Mike Chen as your wedding photographer.
Determine your budget (plus 15% more).
If live streaming to overseas, book with Kactus.
Book your wedding day hair with Xtiano.
Set up a Pinterest board (ie. wedding invitations, dress inspo, flowers etc.)
Don’t crash diet. Eat a bueno to kill the stress.
Venue: Capella Hotel
Book your venue and date first, as there are so many logistics to follow.
We chose Capella because it’s our favourite hotel in Singapore; it was also the first place we went to as an ‘official’ couple!
However, it was never our first choice because we thought it would be way over budget. I assumed Capella only hosted big stadium weddings with over 300 pax.
Thankfully, we were able to curate our own ‘covid’ intimate wedding of 36 pax. Here’s what we did:
Pre-ceremony Aperols @ Bob’s Bar
Wedding Ceremony @ Horizon’s Verge
Wedding Drinks @ Bob’s Bar
Wedding Party Dinner @ The Knolls (18 pax).
When choosing a venue, we wanted something outdoors (risky, as in Singapore it often rains), a relaxing yet sophisticated ambiance, good food and a dining room for 18 pax. At the time of our wedding, Singapore allowed up to 20 people on one table -this was classified at the ‘Wedding Party’. We were down to two venues which catered for all the above, Capella was the overall better choice, especially as it was the perfect backdrop for many photos.
Venue Tips:
View venues at the same time of your wedding day. Get a sense of the light and heat.
Decide on what to prioritise -and compromise. Outdoor ceremony/ function hall? Do you need all those flowers or would you rather serve more alcohol? etc.
If possible, ask to meet with more than one wedding planner at the venue (so you can work with someone who is the right fit for you).
Work with a photographer/ videographer who is familiar with the venue.
Dress: Teresa Valentine
Teresa: My Wedding-Dress-Fairy-Godmother!
As this was our ‘small wedding’, I was conscious of not going overboard with style and budget. I searched HIGH AND LOW across AUS/US websites, Instagram designers etc. but nothing was truly me.
Teresa was recommended by a colleague (also a bride to be). Upon meeting her I randomly went next door to look at fabric. I ended up buying this beautiful lace which became the inspo for my dress. Teresa and I designed my dress through reference Pinterest images, then off she went.
I had 3 dress fittings and on the last one I cried. It was beautiful. Thousands of miles away from home, in a little shop on Arab St, I was seeing myself for the first time in all white. I wished my mum was there, but just seeing how fulfilled Teresa was more than enough!
Dress Tips:
Contact Teresa if you want a custom dress. She has over 20 years experience in couture dresses. Some of my friends have already gone to her since my wedding!
Find a dress style which makes you feel beautiful and confident. For me that meant no strapless or ball gowns.
You can choose a dress independently. I didn’t have anyone with me but Teresa. I get easily swayed with opinion, so I wanted to have complete control over the dress. IT’S YOUR BIG DAY!
Don’t crash diet. I worked out 4 -5 times a week and ate a lot of soups… the week of the wedding, I just said Que Sera, Sera and ate Buenos most of the week.
Outfit details:
Fascinator from My Art Deco on Etsy.
Earrings and Clutch from ASOS.
Shoes from Guess (it’s SO HARD to find plain white points, I ended up finding mine on YOOX).
Hair by Xtiano.
Make-up by Monina.
Suit: Edit Suits
Jeroen didn’t want to wear black, navy or grey. He chose green because it was something new, different and summery to match Singapore.
Edit Suits makes made to measure suits. The level of detail and fit was amazing, I loved the little touch of ‘L&J’ on his shirt too!
It would be bias of me to say Jeroen was the best dressed groom, but Edit Suits never fails (full disclosure Edit Suits is also his company 😊).
Suit, Shirt, Tie & Pocket Square: Edit Suits
Shoes: Why & Co.
Wedding Ceremony
The beauty and stress of putting together your Wedding Ceremony… welcome to #WedMin (Wedding Admin). Here’s some things to consider:
Flowers
Flowers somehow have the ‘wedding tax’. Everything is so expensive! I did a bit of DIY and designed the aisle and stair flowers. Foliage from Candy Floriculture and flameless candles from Shopee. For my bouquet, I stalked many accounts and found an affordable and beautiful florist from Instagram @petal.weddings.
Supplier: (Bouquets & Boutonnières by Petal Weddings, Arch by Capella)
Background Entrance Music
We went for classical versions of modern songs, here’s the playlist.
Live Streaming for Overseas
Supplier: Kactus
Order of Service Cards
Supplier: Kraft Elfs Invitations. Yogi is the best, he helps designs and prints everything you need!
Bride Walk-in Song
Latch by Carla Hurtado (originally by Sam Smith). I contacted Clara on IG, got the backing track recreated on Air Gigs by Diego, then Clara recorded the vocals from her bedroom in the UK! It was a bit of an effort but so perfect on the day.
Vows
I tried to write mine 2 weeks prior to the wedding. Jeroen did his 3 days before and out-vowed me lol. Lots of waterworks!
Cultural Traditions
Filipino Traditions
13 Arras: Filipino tradition where each coin represents the groom’s promise to the bride and their future family.
Unity Candle: Maid of Honour and Best Man light up each candle and the Bride and Groom light up the middle candle.
Cultural Traditions
Filipino Traditions
13 Arras: Filipino tradition where each coin represents the groom’s promise to the bride and their future family.
Unity Candle: Maid of Honour and Best Man light up each candle and the Bride and Groom light up the middle candle.
Maid of Honour and Best Man Speeches.
2 minute speeches from our leading woman and man.
Walk-out song.
We choose Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay and had our guests throw confetti down the aisle.
GIF by Mike Photography
Ceremony Tips
Create an Excel Sheet. Plan out the whole agenda and timings.
Start writing vows 3 weeks before. It’s going to take a couple of versions! Add some personal stories to share.
DIY Flowers where/if possible. My gfs and I did a few flower arrangements ourselves (eg. on the stairs and aisle floor). This saved us close to $1000.
Full Vendor List:
I try to support as much local and small businesses as possible. Here’s our Wedding vendor list:
Invitations and Wedding Cards/Signage: Kraft Elfs (Ask for Yogi)
Photographer: Mike Chen
Live Stream: Kactus
Solemniser: Francis Ng (francis.ncf@gmail.com)
Dress: Teresa Valentine (Message me for her phone number)
Fascinator: My Art Deco (Etsy)
Hair: Xtiano
MUA: Monina Monisha
Suit: Edit Suits
Shoes: Why & Co
Bridal Bouquet & Boutonnière: Petal Weddings
Cake: Zee & Elle
Wedding Guestbook: Luna Paper Company (Etsy)
Random Decorative Items (eg. Rose Petal Confetti, Flameless Candles etc): Shopee
Also a big special thanks to my Maid of Honour, Hanna, for being the backbone of the wedding!
I loved our ‘small’ Covid wedding and will cherish these memories forever. It was a lot to pull together in 2 months whilst working full time, however absolutely worth it! Hopefully by 2023 we can have the ‘bigger’ wedding we initially planned for. Until then, Mr & Mrs Develter shall continue their story.
Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck planning your own wedding xx
“It seems to me we have a lot of story left to tell.”
-Walt Disney
Happily Ever After!