Down the Rabbit Hole with Boo - The Beginning 😍

As some of you might have heard... I'm getting married! 💍😍

After much discussion with Ben, we've decided to get solemnized in 2018 and hold our wedding banquet in 2019! It's just a more economically viable option for us right now and it allows me to really have my dream wedding 💕 To explain a little more, our wedding banquet will have more than 300 guests and that's just gonna blow whatever budget we had in mind... if we stick to my dream wedding. That's why we made a decision to hold two events separately so that I can have my ideal wedding with people I care about the most! Not only will it give us more time to save for the wedding banquet, it also gives us more leeway to make it more 'budget' 😉 Makes more sense isn't it!

So here we go! Let me talk about my DREAM wedding!

First of all, I've always loved Alice in Wonderland and wanted a wedding of that theme but in a rustic style. Think lots of flowers, greenery, and pastel colours! Second, I've always wanted to be able to bring my cat along as she has become an important part of my life and I want to be able to capture my biggest moment with her (so the place has to be pet friendly!) Thirdly, even if it's an intimate solemnization, my family is still pretty huge and Ben has a huge clique so... it has to be able to fit 55 of us comfortably, within my budget ($3000-$4000).

So let's go hunting!

My first choice has always been The White Rabbit:

I mean, come on, the place is named The White Rabbit! It even has The Rabbit Hole feature in their restaurant and it's a former chapel! How much more perfect can it get for an Alice in Wonderland themed wedding?!

You can have your ideal garden solemnization outdoors and then enjoy a sumptuous lunch/dinner indoors!

There's even a romantic tunnel with fairy lights for your walk-in 😍

I guess I will never stop gushing about The White Rabbit for their setting cause it's just too romantic and gorgeous ❤️️ However, it is wayyy out of our budget and I'll just have to find alternatives. Check out their prices (as of 2017/2018) below:

LUNCH Solemnization (more info here)

20pax Package – $2,888++ | 40pax Package – $5,288++ | 60pax Package – $7,688++ (for non-exclusive bookings)

The booking hours are from 11am-3pm.

DINNER Solemnization (more info here)

20pax Package – $3,088++ | 40pax Package – $5,488++ | 60pax Package – $7,888++ (for non-exclusive bookings)

The booking hours are from 6:30pm-10:30pm.

You'll get exclusive usage of their outdoor area (The Rabbit Hole) but your meal will be with other patrons indoors. You can click the links above to see their menu and what else they've included! If you think you wanna just get canapes only, take a look at the prices below:

CANAPES only (min. $4000 for exclusive use of The Rabbit Hole, more info here)

Menu A $85++/pax | Menu B $120++/pax

Free Flow Beverages for 3 hours - $98++/pax for Spirits, Wines, Beer, Soft Drinks & Juices

Free Flow Beverages for 3 hours - $88++/pax for Wines, Beer, Soft Drinks & Juices

Free Flow Beverages for 3 hours - $78++/pax for Beer, Soft Drinks & Juices

Free Flow Beverages for 3 hours - $25++/pax for Soft Drinks & Juices

Soooo yeaaaa, it's gonna be almost $6k for just the venue, food and drinks! Imagine adding on the cost of his suit, my gown, etc... it's gonna cost us a bomb and that's just not within our budget. I mean, as much as it's my ideal wedding, I'm sure I'm able to find alternatives!

That's why here's option 2: Skyve Bistro:

I chanced upon them when I was browsing Hitcheed's website and they were offering just $900++ for solemnization?! I had to find out more! These are beautiful photos of weddings held at their space and it's really close to what we're looking for!

From them, "For the $900++, it would be a min spending required to have the space of our alfresco area to have the ceremony for 3 hours exclusively. This min spending is to be exhausted with the event food and drinks and not a rental service."

If you love what you've seen, then you'll just be as shocked as me to learn that it's so affordable! However, I was then told that for my number of guests of 55... I'll have to book 2 spaces as the alfresco area only fits 20 pax :(

Here are the details (as of 2017/2018):

Alfresco area (outdoor, good for 20 pax) and Lounge area (indoor, good for 40 pax) This arrangement would require a min spending of $2,700++ and this is to be exhausted with pre-ordered food and drinks from Skyve.

BUFFET menu (menu here)

$60++/pax with min. order quantity of 30 pax - includes 2 cold selections, 3 hot selections, 1 soup or salad, 1 side & 2 desserts

CANAPES menu (menu here)

$45++/pax with min. order quantity of 20 pax - includes 2 gourmet canapes, 1 premium canape, 1 bar snack, 1 pizza & 2 desserts

DRINKS menu (menu here)

Recommended to be ordered on an ala carte basis; can restrict to certain drinks only

"With the commitment of min spending $2,700++, you would enjoy the exclusive usage of the suggested area for 3 hours. (10-1pm, 11-2pm, 12-3pm, 2-5pm or 3-6pm) You can also reach one hour in advance of your event timing to set up any DIY decoration or conduct simple sound check and even speech rehearsal."

Just a note: decoration to be done at additional expenses of $780 (more info of what it includes here) Or you can always DIY!

Again, with the amount of guests we're inviting... we're looking at close to $4k for the buffet menu (no choice but buffet menu since min. spending of $2700++) and this isn't even including our expenses for decor and other stuff!

So once again, I continued my search...

And found option 3: Raffles House @ Fort Canning Park!

Have a lovely garden solemnisation with lots of greenery 😍

The Raffles House is just beside! Designed in a colonial style, it's really suitable for western-styled weddings ❤️️ Exactly what we're looking for!

What I LOVE about this space is that you can do almost anything you want with it! As you pay for just the venue rental, you have the flexibility of choosing whatever food, drinks, decor and activities you want! But this also means you'll have to coordinate everything on your own... which isn't suitable for everyone.

Here are the prices of the different venues in Fort Canning Park (as of 2017/2018):

We initially wanted OMSQ as it's affordable and it has an outdoor and indoor space but we decided against it as it might be too small and stuffy for the amount of guests we're inviting! It has a much lower ceiling than Raffles House and frankly, it reminded us of a chalet 😂

Back to Raffles House, at $1926, you'll get the entire venue (outdoors and indoors) from 8am to 10pm (subject to bookings) and also, 4 hours on the day before for setup and 4 hours the next day for teardown! That's SUPER worth it. Plus, it can fit 60-80 pax indoors and up to 100pax including outdoors so if you've got a bigger crowd, fret not!

Perks of doing it with Fort Canning Park:

1. SO. MUCH. FREEDOM. It's great for people like me who like to plan every single detail!

2. No corkage fees so you can bring any amount of alcohol!

3. You can choose your own caterer! This means you have control over your budget and the quality of food!

4. Blast your own music! Even have performances from your guests! Just don't make it ticketed, you'll need a permit for that 😂

5. PET FRIENDLY. Yes, you can bring your dogs, cats, turtles, birds, whatever animal you want man.

Only downside is that you can't stick anything on their walls or hang anything around their trees as the buildings and trees are under preservation (trees are more than 100 years old and buildings are around 200 years old man)! Also, the toilet is a little far away so it'll be troublesome for the elderly. Get a portable toilet if you can!

SO YAY! We've got a winner! Now I'm off to planning all the other details and I'm just sooo excited 😍 Will update with another post on how to DIY your wedding/solemnisation soon!

With much love,

Boo 💕