Speaker 1: Hi, Tao, this is Zura and I'm Jermaine and welcome
Speaker 1: back to another episode of Celebrities.
Speaker 1: Today. We've got a very special guest here with us
Speaker 1: to discuss something that I'm surprised we haven't done over
Speaker 1: like the last however many episodes, 90 plus episode 90 plus.
Speaker 1: Let's welcome Stie Lee.
Speaker 2: Hi, everyone. My name is Stie and I'm the founder
Speaker 2: and CEO of I do for you. A wedding planning
Speaker 2: and event service company. We've been in the industry for
Speaker 2: about three or so years. Must be
Speaker 1: booming industry, wedding planning, but not so much during COVID,
Speaker 1: I would think.
Speaker 2: Right. Actually, funny enough, I started this company at the
Speaker 2: start of COVID. Yeah. And we kind of like developed
Speaker 2: from there from like home civilizations,
Speaker 2: from small scale to the five packs to the 10 packs,
Speaker 2: the whole increase. You've seen it all. We
Speaker 1: saw it all. So today we are talking about happily
Speaker 1: ever after. Is it really happy to plan a wedding
Speaker 1: or is it more like, ah, pull my hair out
Speaker 1: kind of situation? Ok.
Speaker 2: Ok. Of course, some brides are more stressed out more
Speaker 2: than the men. Of course, the men are stressed out.
Speaker 2: With the money. But for the bright side is more
Speaker 2: of the aesthetics, how it looks. And of course, if
Speaker 2: they
Speaker 2: are happy,
Speaker 1: speaking of aesthetics, you also style the weddings. You have
Speaker 1: a company called I style for you. So I do
Speaker 1: for you and I style for you. So you plan
Speaker 1: the wedding and you style the wedding, correct? She's monopolizing
Speaker 1: the whole industry.
Speaker 2: I mean why I do this is because when you
Speaker 2: plan the wedding, there is a whole vision board, the
Speaker 2: whole mood board that the bride wants and it's very
Speaker 2: hard to kind of relate to someone else unless the
Speaker 2: person has been in the industry for a long time or,
Speaker 2: or I'm really good friends with the
Speaker 2: person or if the couple is comfortable with the stylist itself.
Speaker 2: So sometimes the brides come in and be like, you
Speaker 2: know what? I don't want to talk to so many people,
Speaker 2: I just want to talk to you then. Yes, I
Speaker 2: can do this for you as well. I
Speaker 1: can't wait to hear all the wicky wacky stories of
Speaker 1: planning weddings. But let's start off with this. Right? I mean,
Speaker 1: only one person here in the room has been married
Speaker 1: before who has actually had a wedding. So I think
Speaker 1: we'll have different perspectives. Who guess who?
Speaker 1: Huh? Yes, you guys
Speaker 2: are looking at her,
Speaker 1: gave it away. So coming as the perspective of wedding
Speaker 1: guests and wedding planner and also someone who's had a wedding.
Speaker 1: What is your favorite part about? Weddings? Me, everyone, you
Speaker 1: go first. Absolutely nothing. I don't do weddings anymore. Everybody.
Speaker 1: I had myself at two weddings a year. You have
Speaker 1: to be absolutely, like, really close for me to show up.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing. I used to play the violin at many, many,
Speaker 1: many weddings as well,
Speaker 1: of course. So I've seen a lot of weddings at
Speaker 1: this point and I think, right, honestly, it's the one
Speaker 1: that at least showy and are most feel that people
Speaker 1: remember it's not planned down to the minute. It's not OK.
Speaker 1: This person has to do this dance. I want to
Speaker 1: surprise performance for that person. It's not, it's not the
Speaker 1: grand romantic gesture kind of wedding. No, I think the
Speaker 1: weddings that I remember attending and the ones I've had
Speaker 1: most fun at
Speaker 1: are usually those that are just so filled with love.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just a group of a room full
Speaker 1: of people who loves the couple, crowding it out and
Speaker 1: having fun together. Have you played the violin at someone's
Speaker 1: first and then second wedding?
Speaker 1: No, no. Had a friend who hosted a wedding for
Speaker 1: the same person twice. And then did she say the
Speaker 1: second time that she started off by saying
Speaker 2: welcome again,
Speaker 1: different brides, of course, but he felt like super, super
Speaker 1: awkward about OK, favorite part of weddings. What about you stie?
Speaker 2: Uh It will be the summation time. So because that's
Speaker 2: when you see the couple together. You know, the other
Speaker 2: parts of the wedding is more of like cake cutting,
Speaker 2: champagne popping. It's very standard and you see in every
Speaker 2: single wedding so it kind of gets boring,
Speaker 2: you know, but during the summer you actually hear the
Speaker 2: vows that they say for each other. That's when a tear,
Speaker 2: the tearing factor comes in.
Speaker 1: How many percent of couples cry during their wedding vows
Speaker 1: or solemnization?
Speaker 2: Most of the time they do almost 100%.
Speaker 2: Yeah, almost 100%. You
Speaker 1: would you say more? The bride, the
Speaker 2: groom as well? Actually,
Speaker 1: quite a number of weddings. And my favorite part is
Speaker 1: the speech by the couple. I love that. And most
Speaker 1: of the time the groom cries very cute.
Speaker 1: I just want to shout out to my personal trainer Lucas.
Speaker 1: You know, he stands at 190 C and he is
Speaker 1: a guy cry at his wedding and then the wife
Speaker 1: gave him so petite, right? It's so cute. It's so heartfelt.
Speaker 1: It's so sincere. I love that. I think planning a
Speaker 1: wedding is so, what's yours? Oh, my favorite part of that.
Speaker 1: I think my favorite part of a wedding is,
Speaker 1: is when I don't know if this happens at all weddings,
Speaker 1: but I always think it's very sweet when the dad
Speaker 1: walks the bride down the aisle. It's like it's just
Speaker 1: such a poignant moment of giving away a girl to
Speaker 1: her future husband and things like that. I feel like
Speaker 1: that would be the pride that makes me cry. Like
Speaker 1: thinking about it. Now I want to cry
Speaker 2: already. But now a lot of people also want their
Speaker 2: moms to walk them down the aisle as well. Also,
Speaker 2: now it's done both sides actually. That's a good idea. Why?
Speaker 2: Only the, that. Yeah, because I,
Speaker 2: now a lot of people are thinking, you know, the
Speaker 2: mom nurture and raise the child also. so they want
Speaker 2: to do it together.
Speaker 1: That's a good point. Yeah. So I think planning a wedding,
Speaker 1: there's so many traditional things, but there are also a
Speaker 1: lot of things people do differently these days and also
Speaker 1: crazy stuff that I've seen. Right. It's very exciting. And
Speaker 1: it seems that apparently someone in this room is getting
Speaker 1: married soon. Oh, I want to be Jermaine.
Speaker 1: Huh?
Speaker 1: I won't reveal it just yet. Ok. But we'll tell
Speaker 1: you a bit more for now. Step being a wedding planner.
Speaker 1: Has that always been like a dream of yours? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I
Speaker 2: wanted, yeah. Yeah, I wanted to do this since I
Speaker 2: was seven.
Speaker 2: What is
Speaker 1: it about weddings that you love so
Speaker 2: much? Ok. So when I was younger, like in kindergarten,
Speaker 2: I always tell my parents that like, I want to
Speaker 2: do this, I want to do that. I want to
Speaker 2: start this. I want to start that like a bakery
Speaker 2: or fashion, you know, a lot of different types of
Speaker 2: businesses and then one day I don't know why I
Speaker 2: woke up and I was like, you know,
Speaker 2: why don't I do something that I can put everything together?
Speaker 2: Like I can do everything. Then I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: why not weddings? That was when it sparked at that
Speaker 2: point of time. And then as I go, my parents
Speaker 2: are divorced, I didn't believe in love back then. Then
Speaker 2: I was like, ok, if I cannot be happy, then
Speaker 2: I can help someone be happy. Yeah. So then I
Speaker 2: continued to like
Speaker 2: push this dream of mine until like now at what
Speaker 1: age do you actualize that dream?
Speaker 2: Honestly, after when I was 16, after I graduated from
Speaker 2: secondary four, I went to Australia to study and that
Speaker 2: was when I had to decide what's going to be
Speaker 2: my major because I did the whole foundation diploma course there.
Speaker 2: So then I went into public relations and entertainment
Speaker 2: because I looked up on the internet. What is good
Speaker 2: for a wedding planner? What is a good trade? You know,
Speaker 2: things like that? So I think since then I was like, ok,
Speaker 2: I'm really gonna make this thing, make this dream. I
Speaker 2: think so. I think that was when I really,
Speaker 1: yeah. And then at what age did you start? I
Speaker 1: do for
Speaker 2: you? I started I do for you when I was
Speaker 2: 20
Speaker 2: two.
Speaker 1: You said three years ago. So you're 25. I'm 26.
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm shook. Oh my God. In Chinese. We call
Speaker 1: this your way young and capable. There we go so
Speaker 1: much already. I think we weddings in Singapore for me.
Speaker 1: When I think of weddings in Singapore, I think of
Speaker 1: the word expensive. I don't know if you guys think
Speaker 1: the same way,
Speaker 1: of course, going to weddings, giving all the sens for sure.
Speaker 1: What is the biggest wedding you have planned? And how
Speaker 1: much did it cost?
Speaker 2: Ok. So we have planned a lot of different types
Speaker 2: of weddings. I just got to put it out there.
Speaker 2: But the biggest one, the groom actually spent about a
Speaker 2: million dollars on his wedding.
Speaker 2: A million dollars. Yeah. Who
Speaker 1: is this person? Do we know him? Where you
Speaker 2: guys might know him?
Speaker 1: We cut it out
Speaker 1: the last day,
Speaker 1: most of that money go to. Was it the the
Speaker 1: floral arrangement the biggest expense of this
Speaker 2: wedding? His vintage car that he bought? Wait,
Speaker 1: wait, wait, what? He bought a car for the wedding? Yeah.
Speaker 1: Why not just rent a car? I
Speaker 2: don't know like because he can, he can, he can,
Speaker 2: he can
Speaker 1: we forgot about that because he can, he can. Wow. Ok.
Speaker 1: On the converse side, right? What is the lowest
Speaker 1: budget wedding you've planned? I want to know
Speaker 2: this home summations, but it's very intimate and honestly it
Speaker 2: has a lot of feely feely to that also because
Speaker 2: it's all like close friends, like close family members. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So that's very nice.
Speaker 1: How much would that cost like a home. So
Speaker 2: to be honest, for home. So all you got to
Speaker 2: do is to decorate your house and you don't really
Speaker 2: need much. You just need flowers here and there. Yes,
Speaker 2: you got to bring in catering,
Speaker 2: you got to bring tables and chairs, but it's going
Speaker 2: to cost way less than hiring a venue, like five
Speaker 1: K less than that really way less than that. I'm
Speaker 2: sure about it. Depends how extra extravagant you want your floor,
Speaker 2: the call to be ok. Right. So if you want
Speaker 2: like a whole back job, something, if your house is
Speaker 2: like landed, you have stairs, you want to do something
Speaker 2: in the stairs, then I would say floral itself would
Speaker 2: cost maybe 5 to 6 K.
Speaker 1: I should be a florist.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's a lot of work.
Speaker 1: Right. You know, my sister just rented this place at
Speaker 1: a civil service club somewhere near to our place to
Speaker 1: hold her solemnization and then invited less than 20 people
Speaker 1: over and then we just got catering and I don't
Speaker 1: think it cost a lot honestly, but that's what she wanted. Exactly.
Speaker 1: Something small, homely comfortable and she even did the decorations
Speaker 1: herself because she wanted to do everything according to how
Speaker 1: she liked it to be and not a fan of
Speaker 1: like big parties and stuff. I have a
Speaker 1: close family friend who is planning her wedding and she's
Speaker 1: about your age actually. And she is a big foodie. So,
Speaker 1: one of her first requirements is there must be good
Speaker 1: food and I must be able to eat it. Right.
Speaker 1: That's like her only thing. So she's looking at a
Speaker 1: restaurant to hold a wedding instead of like a banquet or,
Speaker 1: or a venue because she knows the restaurants, food will
Speaker 1: be good. That's her requirement. Honestly, don't you think like,
Speaker 1: banquets are so expensive these days? It is the other day.
Speaker 1: Can I just say I went to
Speaker 1: one and, and then I looked up right. There's a
Speaker 1: website called What Singapore brides.com where you can see how
Speaker 1: much it costs, right? So why are you checking? Because
Speaker 1: that's one of the places my like family friend is
Speaker 1: looking at. Ok. I just thought it's so expensive honestly.
Speaker 1: And the food was in my humble opinion, girl, I
Speaker 1: need to tell her right now. I gotta call her. Actually,
Speaker 1: she's a big listener. Listen to this.
Speaker 2: Ok? I'm from the wedding industry. So like you guys
Speaker 2: better fuck up.
Speaker 1: Ok? You know what I think has good food. My
Speaker 1: ideal wedding place mcdonald's not really, but it starts with
Speaker 1: an M AJ W Marriott.
Speaker 1: I love that place, the dome shaped ceiling and then
Speaker 1: I like the sound system. There's something that's so important
Speaker 1: for me as oppose the sound systems that and there's
Speaker 1: this a guy working there. He's so good that asking
Speaker 1: for his name. Eugene, I show the panels and the
Speaker 1: food is good but I think it also can be
Speaker 1: a bit pricey.
Speaker 1: Her head is about 2 8300. Yeah, I did a
Speaker 1: lot of research when I thought I was going to
Speaker 1: get married. JW married was one of the places I
Speaker 1: wanted to get married. You were quite a capella. Noel
Speaker 1: is a bit small, very, very, very price also. Very,
Speaker 1: but ok. Is there such a thing as like,
Speaker 1: you know, when you're planning? Right? Especially for a wedding,
Speaker 1: they always say you have to book the venue two
Speaker 1: years ahead, you have to get your dress like at
Speaker 1: least a year. It's so stressful. Is there a timeline
Speaker 1: for these things as a wedding planner? You're like you
Speaker 1: have to do
Speaker 2: this. I won't like do it like that like you
Speaker 2: have to do this but like yes, there is a
Speaker 2: whole timeline that you should consider doing. Ok. So I
Speaker 2: would say why people start looking two years in advance?
Speaker 2: Like for example, they just got proposed, then they immediately
Speaker 2: want to gram
Speaker 2: of things. One is because of the price in 2024
Speaker 2: there is the 1% extra GST which is the 9% right?
Speaker 2: So then a lot of people start planning in either
Speaker 2: 2022 or 2023. How this works is for example, some
Speaker 2: vendors allow clients to pay in full before the year end, ok?
Speaker 2: If you get what I mean? So in 2020 some
Speaker 2: vendors allow their clients to pay 8% in December. Ok.
Speaker 2: Then the whole service is paid for. So then technically
Speaker 2: it's cheaper if you think about it in the whole
Speaker 2: grand scheme. Yeah. And also because now it's 2024. If
Speaker 2: they signed the package this year, the prices have changed,
Speaker 2: it has increased. So, for example, venues, right, every year
Speaker 2: there is a change in price. All
Speaker 1: right, I forgot about that. Not just the GST he
Speaker 1: oh my God, this like Chanel bags, you know, I
Speaker 1: know that usually when you inquire for services, like they'll
Speaker 1: tell you like which year then they give you like
Speaker 1: this are the 2024 prices, but this is like the
Speaker 1: 2025 prices, you know, of course. Ok. Is it, can
Speaker 1: I ask, ask how much did you spend on your wedding?
Speaker 1: Ok. First of all, I managed to save maybe about 30%
Speaker 1: of my spendings because those were sponsored,
Speaker 1: but I still did spend about 120 I think $120,000.
Speaker 1: Is that, is
Speaker 2: that a lot? That's a lot. I mean, that's a
Speaker 2: lot because she said that she's also sponsor,
Speaker 1: but she also had like 1000 people at her wedding.
Speaker 1: How 2000, 2000, 2000? Ok.
Speaker 2: Then that makes sense when you buy your wedding at Expo. No,
Speaker 1: but after all the p came in, how much cannot
Speaker 1: cover it? Really cannot cover? And recently as well
Speaker 1: had friends who got married and these are like smaller weddings,
Speaker 1: 200 over people, 300 people. You would think that possible
Speaker 1: to cover. It's not possible. People are not covering anymore.
Speaker 1: Apparently it's really hard right now because the prices are
Speaker 1: so expensive. It's true. Like, if, let's say you go,
Speaker 1: that's why people don't bring kids to a wedding. If
Speaker 1: you bring a family of four and you have to
Speaker 1: cover everyone. You're paying over $1000 to cover each head.
Speaker 1: It's not possible. Yeah, like, OK, out of everything you
Speaker 1: spend on a wedding, right? Maybe it is Z or step.
Speaker 1: You would know
Speaker 1: what is the one thing that you shouldn't be scrimping
Speaker 1: and saving on. You should actually spend that money. I
Speaker 1: will see a
Speaker 2: photographer and videographer,
Speaker 1: makeup.
Speaker 2: OK. So honestly it's the big three, right? The photographer,
Speaker 2: videographer and your hair, makeup because photos and videos are
Speaker 2: the thing that you keep after your we forever. So
Speaker 2: you don't want it to be like 10 years down
Speaker 2: the road and then you, you're looking at your wedding
Speaker 2: photos and be like, why do we
Speaker 2: choose this photographer or like this style? You, you want
Speaker 2: it to be timeless. You want something that can hang
Speaker 2: on your wall or something like that, right? Or
Speaker 1: burn in a fire of things. Go to no, but
Speaker 1: we have a photographer, videographer, friend in the wedding industry.
Speaker 1: He used to get paid 50 grand to fly to
Speaker 1: China just to videographer, wedding or photograph a wedding. Like
Speaker 1: that is a
Speaker 1: yes, that's an expense that they are willing to splurge on.
Speaker 1: It's crazy. But people in China, their culture is different
Speaker 1: for the bridesmaids. They each get a Chanel bag. No,
Speaker 1: I'm serious. I was born in the wrong country. Chanel bags.
Speaker 1: They see these kind of things as face. You know,
Speaker 1: this is very prominent in the Chinese society, Chinese rights
Speaker 1: in China call us.
Speaker 1: Yes. You know what's one thing you should be on
Speaker 1: on your wedding? But a good host.
Speaker 1: It's true. It's true. But your choice is here, hair
Speaker 1: and makeup as well. So on that note as well, right?
Speaker 1: What is it that people maybe sometimes place too much
Speaker 1: importance on that. You really shouldn't be spending so much
Speaker 1: money on it.
Speaker 2: Table centerpieces
Speaker 2: as
Speaker 1: in the floral, on the table, centerpiece on the table, right?
Speaker 1: Waste of space. How much money can you spend on
Speaker 1: a floral centerpiece expensive? Really? For one table it can
Speaker 1: be like ok, but multiply by 20 tables.
Speaker 2: So one table can go from $30 all the way
Speaker 2: to 100 and 80 for the centerpiece for the center.
Speaker 1: So if you have like 30 tables, there's gotta be
Speaker 1: like roughly 1000 that's about $6000 for the most expensive
Speaker 1: just on the
Speaker 2: which if you get like the sharing table, the one
Speaker 2: that can spin, right lady Susan kind they're going to
Speaker 2: remove it when the dishes are served. That's true. So,
Speaker 2: there's no point. Right. You also
Speaker 1: can't not have one. You can, I would, you can,
Speaker 1: I would just put a bowl of candy there. I
Speaker 1: think it would be more hot than having
Speaker 2: candles. You know, you can, yeah, you can put candles
Speaker 2: and some venues. If you're talking about hotels, they already
Speaker 2: have something in their standard package. So, why not use
Speaker 1: that? Yeah. And even like my friend, he had his
Speaker 1: wedding recently and he catered like this floral arch thing.
Speaker 1: It was not a table centerpiece but it was there
Speaker 1: and he didn't want to waste it. So he told
Speaker 1: the guests no, before you leave, feel free to just
Speaker 1: pick the flowers that you love so everybody can take
Speaker 1: something back to us. We wouldn't be wasted. If not,
Speaker 1: it's just gonna be thrown away. How much does one
Speaker 1: floral arch cost 1000? Over 2000
Speaker 2: bucks? Yes, it starts from 2000. You in
Speaker 1: the wrong industry business.
Speaker 1: To be honest, right through my life, I have not
Speaker 1: really attended any weddings, any unconventional weddings. I've attended weddings
Speaker 1: where you basically know what's coming up next. Ok. Now
Speaker 1: it's going to be the brights coming out. 1st March in,
Speaker 1: everybody stand up through the flowers, eat few courses. 2nd
Speaker 1: March in cut the cake. The cake is fake. By
Speaker 1: the way, the cake is fake. Most of the time
Speaker 1: it's only like that first layer or not even, sometimes
Speaker 1: it's styrofoam and then the knife just goes in, there's
Speaker 1: a slit there already, but there is an option to
Speaker 1: get a real cake. But
Speaker 1: many couples go for it. Like such a big cake.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you about one of the smartest things
Speaker 1: I've heard of when you've got a real cake, right?
Speaker 1: And it's real and then after that you got to
Speaker 1: cut it up packing for people, that sort of thing, right?
Speaker 1: One of the smartest things I've seen is that they
Speaker 1: make that cake that you want for you. It's all
Speaker 1: star from, except for one little part that you're supposed
Speaker 1: to cut. But that same amount of cake has been packed,
Speaker 1: cut and packed for your guests ready.
Speaker 1: So you don't actually have to do it after the
Speaker 1: cake cutting, but that means they have to make two cakes.
Speaker 1: One real, one fake a little was one of the
Speaker 1: smartest things I've seen because after that it's just done,
Speaker 1: I guess you could do that. Why not just make
Speaker 1: the real agree?
Speaker 2: Ok. I,
Speaker 2: I do have to say it because if you make
Speaker 2: the whole cake, right? Some hotels you actually got to
Speaker 2: pay for this thing called C
Speaker 1: fee
Speaker 2: fee. So they were the chef will actually help you
Speaker 2: cut the cake up
Speaker 1: and then they charge you for helping the
Speaker 2: correct. You do that.
Speaker 2: Well, a lot of people do like cupcakes and cakes now. Yeah. So,
Speaker 2: it's kind of like a wedding favor in a way
Speaker 2: as well. But that works. So,
Speaker 1: these are very, like, obviously conventional weddings, you know what's
Speaker 1: gonna happen? Right. As a host, you know, it to death, right.
Speaker 1: What are some unconventional weddings that you guys have been to? Right.
Speaker 1: Or like elopements or? I don't know, married in Vegas.
Speaker 1: I don't know, because I've never seen them. Right.
Speaker 2: Actually, we do a lot of expat weddings. So expat
Speaker 2: weddings are more unconventional and more unorthodox. We actually build
Speaker 2: a venue from scratch. Yeah, we built a venue from scratch.
Speaker 2: So basically the couple rented this grass patch out of
Speaker 2: nowhere and then we brought in like planking and tents
Speaker 2: and everything that is so
Speaker 1: smart. By the way,
Speaker 2: everything is from. Yeah, in a way you could say that.
Speaker 2: But if you kind of like calculate everything, it's still
Speaker 2: somewhat cheaper than doing it in the hotel
Speaker 1: because then you get the venue that you actually want.
Speaker 1: I think sometimes when you look for venues, this has
Speaker 1: this is lacking this, I like this but this this
Speaker 2: problem. But doing it outdoors also has its own problem
Speaker 2: because Singapore,
Speaker 2: right? Like it's either rain or shine. So we have
Speaker 2: to stand by a lot of different problems that might arise. Contingency. Yeah,
Speaker 2: a lot of contingent. Yeah. So we will stand by
Speaker 2: like umbrellas. A lot of like standing fans air con
Speaker 2: we also need to stand by a chef. And for
Speaker 2: that chef, we need to build another 10 for that
Speaker 2: chef just to prepare the food. Oh my God. Ok.
Speaker 1: Sounds like a lot of work. It
Speaker 2: is a lot of people
Speaker 1: unconventional for sure. So some of the weddings that I've
Speaker 1: hosted the couple during the 2nd March in, they walked in,
Speaker 1: in mascots, like costume, the costumes do on and then
Speaker 1: they just march down the ale, which I thought was really,
Speaker 1: really cute. And like my personal trainer Lucas, when he
Speaker 1: got married to his wife shy, because they were both dancers.
Speaker 1: They did this entire segment where they dance and he
Speaker 1: picked up his wife turned her, spun her around and
Speaker 1: I caught her that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: It's cute. It's cute. I think the craziest thing I've
Speaker 1: seen at a wedding is a new as well. When
Speaker 1: the groom got so drunk that he started smoking a
Speaker 1: cigarette in the ballroom. I'll tell you something. When I
Speaker 1: saw it, I stood up to block him.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my God, smoke coming up. It's
Speaker 1: an indoor ball. But hey, I mean, it's there one night,
Speaker 1: you know, let them happen, let them be.
Speaker 2: Wow! Ok.
Speaker 1: I'll give you a precursor to the incident because earlier
Speaker 1: before the wedding started, I had gone to a room
Speaker 1: and then this groom opens the door with a flat hand.
Speaker 1: I saw you drinking already. It's like three. I was like, yes,
Speaker 1: my wedding day then. What am I supposed to do?
Speaker 1: I mean, those, I mean, these are weddings that, you know,
Speaker 1: I think they're special, right? Especially like with Lucas and
Speaker 1: shaky because they won't dance and all of that. What
Speaker 1: about weddings that maybe did not go so well. Wedding
Speaker 1: horror stories,
Speaker 2: horror stories. I mean, I've never experienced that. At least
Speaker 2: a bright seller. Bright. Definitely, there will always be some
Speaker 2: problems with the, if anything else you need. Eugene from
Speaker 2: G
Speaker 1: we
Speaker 1: groom Zilla.
Speaker 2: Yes. Oh wow. Yes, you'll be surprised. Yes. Ok. For groomers,
Speaker 2: they are usually not quite as crazy as like bright
Speaker 2: dealers are they are more worried about needing to spend more. Ok. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Ok. So the groom is worried about spending money. The
Speaker 1: bride obviously
Speaker 1: so much money has been spent. You want it to
Speaker 1: be absolute perfection worthwhile. Here's a horror story of a
Speaker 1: wedding that we actually saw from a wedding coordinator. So
Speaker 1: as a wedding coordinator, I usually handle the final details
Speaker 1: to ensure a smooth wedding, right?
Speaker 1: I once faced a situation where the couple had paid
Speaker 1: the deposit but failed to pay the remaining amount before
Speaker 1: the wedding. About half of the total cost around $30,000.
Speaker 1: And on that day, this is the day of the wedding,
Speaker 1: the catering hall refused to proceed without the cash. The
Speaker 1: bank was closed because of a holiday, right? So they
Speaker 1: couldn't get any cash out. They tried to get money
Speaker 1: from relatives on the wedding
Speaker 1: day to pay the remaining. And at this point, guests
Speaker 1: were already arriving to the wedding and the wedding coordinator
Speaker 1: is like FML like, what am I gonna do? No, no, no,
Speaker 1: there's no wedding to be had, right? And she's like
Speaker 1: freaking out there. They actually took the money box, gave
Speaker 1: it to the wedding coordinator to try and pay off
Speaker 1: everyone that they could. And when the couple arrived, they
Speaker 1: were able to basically hold whatever amount they had as
Speaker 1: ransom and go ahead with the event. But this was
Speaker 1: like the last moment this was a guest were already there.
Speaker 1: That's so stressful. I think the coordinator almost had a
Speaker 1: heart attack that I'm sure. But I feel like this
Speaker 1: is on the couple. It really is. You should have
Speaker 1: made sure you paid everything in due time.
Speaker 2: Right. Actually, yes, that's also one point. But in a
Speaker 2: wedding planner perspective, you
Speaker 2: usually, when, if you're talking about a wedding coordinator, that
Speaker 2: means that the wedding coordinator didn't plan the wedding, right?
Speaker 2: The wedding coordinator is only there to help on the
Speaker 2: act itself. Ok. Right. So then usually they come in
Speaker 2: two months before the wedding day. I'm not sure about
Speaker 2: other planners. But what we do is we get all
Speaker 2: the invoices that you have with all your other vendors. So,
Speaker 2: meaning venue, other vendors and stuff like that. And then
Speaker 2: we have, we
Speaker 2: are the ones who prompt the couples to pay them
Speaker 2: if the couple cannot pay, you know, we at least
Speaker 2: we will know first. Ok. And we'll try and sort
Speaker 2: that out before the wedding. Not on the day off, right.
Speaker 1: So that's planners duty, not the coordinators. Yeah. Ok. And
Speaker 1: also the bride and groom spend beyond your means. You
Speaker 1: spend what you can and if anything, maybe you can
Speaker 1: take consolation in a PD story during COVID. Her wedding
Speaker 1: caterer disappeared
Speaker 1: with the deposit money of $4000. Are you serious? Yeah,
Speaker 1: name and shame, name and shame. So she had planned
Speaker 1: everything venue was booked and then COVID hit and the
Speaker 1: caterer was like, oh no, just delay the wedding, just
Speaker 1: delay the wedding. And they were like, no, we just
Speaker 1: want to go ahead however way that we can because
Speaker 1: we just want to get it over and done with.
Speaker 1: We already put the deposit down
Speaker 1: on everything and this cater really wanted to push for
Speaker 1: a postponement and they were like, why this is our wedding?
Speaker 1: Let us do what we want and then they ghosted
Speaker 1: our PD, our producer with the money. When did you
Speaker 1: get the money back? No, they tried legal action. There
Speaker 1: is no way to find this person. This person just disappear.
Speaker 1: Oh man, that's unfortunate
Speaker 2: sucks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you experience that during COVID.
Speaker 2: No, not at all.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So earlier on we said that there's someone here
Speaker 1: that's getting married. Not me. No. Ring on my finger.
Speaker 1: It's not Azura. She's been there, done that. Definitely not me.
Speaker 1: Not a single a, it's definitely,
Speaker 2: who is a lucky guy? Am I to say his name?
Speaker 2: I don't know. You know?
Speaker 2: Ok. His name is, w why? But we call him Jake.
Speaker 2: We are actually primary school friends but we've been only
Speaker 2: been together for four years. Are
Speaker 1: you planning your own wedding? Is it like, how does
Speaker 1: it work?
Speaker 2: Ok. I plan the timeline the next day after my proposal. Wow.
Speaker 1: She was like, I got a spreadsheet out. She was like,
Speaker 1: I have been prepared my entire life. So you plan
Speaker 1: your own wedding
Speaker 2: all done? Ok. So I have the whole skeleton of
Speaker 2: the timeline. I just left the venue and the vendors
Speaker 1: but you can't coordinate the wedding because you are the right. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So girl, I once thought about hosting my own wedding
Speaker 1: and then I just thought that it was impossible. So
Speaker 1: let me do it
Speaker 1: for free. You get you jeans. I make sure to
Speaker 1: find them. Oh my God. It's gonna be tough running
Speaker 1: your own show. Honestly, it is on that day, there's
Speaker 1: going to be certain responsibilities that you have to convince
Speaker 1: yourself to let go of and like not be so
Speaker 1: stressed out over certain details,
Speaker 2: right? Yeah, like you have to trust whoever that you assign. Exactly.
Speaker 2: Good luck with that girl. Thanks.
Speaker 1: So exciting g question. Just wondering because we've spoken about
Speaker 1: this many, many times. But at this point right now
Speaker 1: because a lot of things have changed. I'm scared that
Speaker 1: of me. What is your ideal wedding like you now?
Speaker 1: Because I feel like it has changed. Not in Singapore. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think, I don't know if I would have a
Speaker 1: wedding here because my boyfriend's family is not really here
Speaker 1: if we do end up getting married. Ha ha. You know,
Speaker 1: I make God laugh telling me your plans, right? But
Speaker 1: it's true. But I would, I envision I really like
Speaker 1: the ocean and the sea I envisioned like in Bali,
Speaker 1: I knew there was. Yeah. So I don't know. That's
Speaker 1: why I thought but we promised him a Backstreet boys dance. Sure. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Let him do whatever he wants.
Speaker 1: But to be honest, I don't want to think anymore.
Speaker 1: You know, I mean, I had like grand plans many
Speaker 1: times over the many years and it has never come
Speaker 1: to fruition. So at this point, I'm like just, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see, we'll see when the time comes. But sometimes
Speaker 1: some questions are unavoidable. Like after you plan your wedding,
Speaker 1: I've heard of so many brides telling me the same thing.
Speaker 1: The toughest part about any wedding is the wedding guest list,
Speaker 1: who to invite, who to sit with, who this two person.
Speaker 1: For example, these two people used to be together, but
Speaker 1: they have now broken up them
Speaker 2: together. But in the same friend group.
Speaker 1: Exactly. Right. And that's why I wouldn't hold my wedding
Speaker 1: here because then you, everyone in your family has to
Speaker 1: be invited. Whereas if you hold your wedding overseas, only
Speaker 1: the people close,
Speaker 1: you would actually fly and make that expense. Right. I've
Speaker 1: been saying this recently, like, the best way to do
Speaker 1: this is to go as far away as possible, as
Speaker 1: remote as possible. I'm thinking like Barbados or something. I
Speaker 1: don't know if I'll, I'll try. You have to think
Speaker 1: of some fun. All right. But then right, you eliminate
Speaker 1: this problem because if they really make it there, it's
Speaker 1: really the people who should be there. That's it.
Speaker 1: Um I have this very drama story. I'll make it
Speaker 1: the Barbados for you. Thank you. Thank you. I won't
Speaker 1: be there
Speaker 1: a very drama story of a couple who's planning their
Speaker 1: wedding and they're sorting out the guest list, right? OK.
Speaker 1: The groom, his dad has had two wives. So two families, right?
Speaker 1: One family, two families, not at the same time, but obviously, right?
Speaker 1: So he has a whole other set of step brothers
Speaker 1: and sisters at the previous family wedding.
Speaker 1: They got so drunk. They started fighting with each other
Speaker 1: like literally screaming across the room, throwing things, fighting during
Speaker 1: the wedding. And this group has said I don't want
Speaker 1: any of y'all at my wedding. I don't give a
Speaker 1: rat's ass. You're not coming. So they have
Speaker 1: been disqualified from the based on previous bad behavior. I
Speaker 1: love that. I love that. I know. But is it
Speaker 1: political as his family after all? Yeah. But it's my wedding.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, sometimes you feel like
Speaker 1: obligated to invite certain people. But at the end of
Speaker 1: the day you do. You boo,
Speaker 1: I have a friend who doesn't want to invite her
Speaker 1: own brother to the wedding just because they are not
Speaker 1: on close terms. And that's tough. I don't know, but
Speaker 1: I know, I know but she really doesn't enjoy the
Speaker 1: thought of him being there. Is it the wedding planner's
Speaker 1: job to help plan the seating arrangement?
Speaker 2: Ok. First of all, the wedding planners obviously do not
Speaker 2: know your guests
Speaker 2: and we obviously don't know like what relationship who and
Speaker 2: who has or who and who does not, but we
Speaker 2: can help you arrange them so you can be like, ok,
Speaker 2: put this and this together, then we'll put this and
Speaker 2: this together. Ok? Never mind. Just put this here that
Speaker 2: we will put it there. So we are like your
Speaker 2: pa la. So are they very
Speaker 1: like troublesome couples change? We didn't want change again and change.
Speaker 1: We change again
Speaker 2: to be
Speaker 2: unless for the guest list, right? The whole table seating thing.
Speaker 2: Some of our clients they actually only pass it to
Speaker 2: us the day before the wedding. Oh my nice. So
Speaker 2: they don't have time to change. Yes. But food restrictions,
Speaker 2: we need it two weeks before. Right. Of course. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So as long as the whole guest list, right, stays
Speaker 2: the same, the same,
Speaker 2: the same number of whatever food restrictions and stuff you
Speaker 2: can do whatever you want with that. But I need
Speaker 2: the food restrictions two weeks prior. Ok.
Speaker 1: Understand. I mean, that's reasonable. I think, you know, with the,
Speaker 1: especially with the guest list. Right. It's so stressful because
Speaker 1: sometimes when you're holding a very big wedding, let's say
Speaker 1: you have a very big family or you come from
Speaker 1: a well to do family, your parents are likely the
Speaker 1: ones
Speaker 1: that fork out money to pay for your wedding. And
Speaker 1: in that sense, I've seen some weddings where the parents
Speaker 1: get to do as they please because they fork out
Speaker 1: the money for the wedding and then they have complete
Speaker 1: power over the guest list and I invite all my
Speaker 1: friends and then you go to the wedding and then
Speaker 1: the bride and groom be like, yeah, I don't know
Speaker 1: half the people here. It's not my parents friends that happens.
Speaker 1: That's
Speaker 2: gonna be my wedding. By the way,
Speaker 1: how many guests are you
Speaker 2: looking to have? Ok. Currently we are looking at 300
Speaker 2: to 350. Ok. Ok. I don't have much friends because
Speaker 2: I wasn't in Singapore for a good period of time.
Speaker 2: And of course, a lot of my friends are from
Speaker 2: the wedding industry, so I'm pretty sure they might not
Speaker 2: be free on a day. You get what I mean, like,
Speaker 2: it just doesn't make sense. But my fiance, he is
Speaker 2: the firstborn son. The first son, not first born but
Speaker 2: first son. And in Chinese culture,
Speaker 2: the first son is like everything. Yeah. So traditionally we
Speaker 2: just got to invite like the whole kampong the father
Speaker 2: got will want to invite like all the friends and
Speaker 2: stuff like that, which we don't agree with. Ok. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't mind. Ok. I mean, if you ask me personally,
Speaker 2: of course, I would like, like a small intimate wedding
Speaker 2: because I, I've done so much. Right. I just wanna
Speaker 2: be with my family and I know and have fun.
Speaker 2: But also me being in the industry,
Speaker 2: it doesn't matter to me if I do it big,
Speaker 2: but if I'm going to do it big, I want
Speaker 2: to do it the way I envision it to be. Yes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's nice. At least you've had enough experience to know
Speaker 1: what kind of a big wedding you can go to it.
Speaker 1: But she also knows realistically, you have to balance out
Speaker 1: everyone's wishes for the wedding. A wedding planner. You've seen
Speaker 1: the ugly, you've seen the bad but you see a
Speaker 1: good side. It is, of course. So what are some
Speaker 1: words of advice? You have a harsh listeners here
Speaker 1: who are looking to get married or are going to
Speaker 1: get married
Speaker 2: soon, start planning your tentative guest list now? Yes, because
Speaker 2: I'm doing this myself as well. And we just put
Speaker 2: a list down for the bright side and then the
Speaker 2: groom side. So roughly how many people you wanna invite?
Speaker 2: Who do you want to invite most of the time
Speaker 2: the guest list will go down by 10 to 20%.
Speaker 2: That's the most. But this is your max number of guests.
Speaker 2: So then when you start looking for venues, because venue
Speaker 2: is the most important thing you start looking at
Speaker 2: with this guest list. I mean like the number in
Speaker 2: this guest
Speaker 1: list comes before the venue of you know how many
Speaker 1: people you have to invite? I never saw this way.
Speaker 1: I always thought like, ok, I'll just book the venue first.
Speaker 1: However many people I can fit, there's the people who
Speaker 1: are most important to you come to it, you can,
Speaker 1: you can,
Speaker 2: you can. But what if you reach already and then
Speaker 2: be like, oh shit like there is still on the day. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have a very big wedding. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I want that many people to invite. We'll see, we'll see.
Speaker 1: We'll see. Ok, so start planning your guest list now. Ok.
Speaker 1: What about like on the wedding day? What do you
Speaker 1: want to tell the brides and
Speaker 2: grooms? Calm down. Yes.
Speaker 1: So I always tell my couples just relax, let me
Speaker 1: do the job for you. You just have a
Speaker 2: good day and I think what most couples kind of
Speaker 2: forget is because everything is so rushed and it happens
Speaker 2: so quick. So for example, they march in, they go
Speaker 2: on stage, they cut cake, they eat two meals, they
Speaker 2: barely eat and then they can go on and change.
Speaker 2: Everything is like very t me. Yeah. So
Speaker 2: just spend some time together, you know, like be in
Speaker 2: each other's presence and just take a look at everyone here,
Speaker 2: you know, they are here for you. Just be in
Speaker 2: the moment wise,
Speaker 1: words wise. Very nice. If anything else just elope bar,
Speaker 1: I will start and elope for you. So
Speaker 2: actually we have that. It's called I Fly with you.
Speaker 2: Wait, what does that do? Destination Weddings?
Speaker 1: Ok,
Speaker 2: for you. That's
Speaker 1: the one.
Speaker 1: Oh, I've learned so much just from one episode alone.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Stie and to our harsh listeners.
Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in. Don't forget to follow us
Speaker 1: on Instagram at its clarity.co. That's right. You can also
Speaker 1: listen to us on me, listen at Apple podcast, Spotify
Speaker 1: and turn on your notifications. That's right. We are dressed
Speaker 1: in white today, you know, as though we are getting married,
Speaker 1: but really none of us are so check us out
Speaker 1: on youtube and a big shout out again to Stie.
Speaker 1: We wish you all the best with your wedding. Thank
Speaker 1: you very much. Calm down. She will be.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you very much guys. Bye bye.