Vincent & Clare’s Elegant and Classic Wedding at Yi by Jereme Leung, Raffles Hotel

What do you think are some traits great entrepreneurs share?

Perpetually busy? 😂

Perhaps that and their ability to be optimistic, decisive, and flexible along with having a strong vision and a willingness to collaborate!

But why are we even talking about this? First because we know everyone is busy and second, because we think these could be the attributes you need to pull off a wedding in just 4 weeks, and still have it turn out just as gorgeous as what Vincent and Clare had. (With some additional professional helping hands, of course!)

Vincent and Clare who serve respectively as the COO and Co-founder of one of our favourite local online boutique stores, @hervelvetvase, tied the knot in 2020. They went through with a ceremony and a lunch reception with their family, and instead of a pre-wedding photoshoot, the couple did a post-wedding shoot the day after!

If the success of @hervelvetvase could serve as a testament, we think Vincent and Clare might just have utilised those aforementioned traits in their own wedding planning journey to great success. The result is a jaw-droppingly beautiful wedding, and an equally beautiful (and rather amusing) story to tell and like how most success stories go, with learning points to take away!

If you’re anxiously curious to know and ready to be tickled, hang tight and read on!

Optimism, perhaps just the right amount

Vincent and Clare’s original wedding plan involves a local celebration and an overseas wedding party. But it was 2020…so all these had to change. Still, as they say, always look on the bring side of life~, make a guess how Clare felt when COVID-19 threw her plans (or the lack thereof :p) out the window ? –

Relief – this is such a bewildering word to use but because I was so horribly unprepared with wedding planning, I thought I could get away with postponing the wedding later so that I’d have more time to plan.

But as luck would have it, our fengshui master recommended us to get married by end of 2020 which was why we went ahead with a smaller ceremony instead. We decided to have our solemnisation and tea ceremony first for family only which was why we changed it to a more intimate venue – Yi by Jereme Leung at Raffles Hotel. We also postponed our overseas wedding to a later date instead.

Clare

It might have sounded easy, but this plan went through rounds of iteration because rules were constantly being updated during the same time period.

We originally planned for 25 pax when we decided on Yi which then changed to 50 pax and again to 75 pax when we progressed into Phase 2. But Vincent and I are also pretty easy going so we figured we’d just go with the flow and wing it.

Clare

Now, that is how one does optimism!

Everyone has marvelled at my optimism and had a good laugh at our initial very haphazardly planned solemnisation but I’m glad we managed to pull it off. All credits go to the amazing, amazing vendors we had.

Clare

…most of whom the couple only engaged 4 weeks before the wedding!

Decisiveness

Many key decisions were made within a short span of time. The couple hired their Dai Kam Jie (大妗姐) less than 3 days before their Guo Da Li day, and only assembled their florist, photographers, and videographer team 3 – 4 weeks before the big day. And 2 weeks before the wedding, they were still trying to arrange for Clare’s gown to be flown in! It was also at this point that Clare realised “the extent of my cluelessness” –

Up till a few weeks before the wedding, I thought a solemnisation went on for 45 minutes because everyone had to queue to sign on my wedding certificate – yikes! So that was also when I scrambled to hire our wedding planner!

Clare

It truly calls forth the need to be decisive when time is not on your side, which brings us to our next point – accommodating to the situation accordingly.

Flexibility

A few of my friends called it when they guessed I’d be late to my own wedding and I’m ashamed to say that I was almost 45 minutes late to our solemnization. Everyone was panicking because our solemniser had to rush to another event, but everyone was also amused (because you can’t deny that I’m consistent!)

Clare

Uh-oh! So did Vincent and Clare end up getting married?

Yes they did! And it was thanks to their wedding planner –

We quickly worked backwards as to how much time we have left with makeup and photo taking. Of course, we were worried, but we stayed calm and reworked the programme. Knowing we would not have sufficient time on hand for both, we shifted the photo taking to after lunch. Thankfully, we make it in time for the couple to sign off the papers before the solemniser left for another event. –

Clare, Bliss Pact

As 2020 has proved itself again and again, plans do go awry at times and it is usually situations like that that makes a moment so much more memorable. You might not have foreseen this, but instead of worrying about it, you can focus on the areas you can take charge, like how your wedding will look!

Vision

Because of how the celebration has been scaled down, Clare had the vision of “something simple, classic, and elegant” to go with the cosy and intimate setting at Yi. She had entrusted the execution of this vision to This Humid House, who expanded upon that vision by taking delicate consideration of all aspects of the space and their encompassing details. –

On our first visit to Yi, we were immediately taken by the textured gold mural along the far side of the room that we instinctively knew might make a stunning backdrop to a solemnisation installation. In coming up with a design direction, we considered our client’s tastes, the style of food at Yi (contemporary Chinese), as well as the clean lines and refined, understated interiors of the restaurant.

Designing a wedding at Yi requires a certain sensitivity to delicacy. Indeed, one is surrounded by a suspension of the most delicate paper flowers upon entry; we aimed for elegance, restraint and lightness that took on an Asian inflection, picking up on the gestural lines of the tree branches in the mural with an installation of swerving pine branches (suggestive of bonsai) meeting in an explosion of crepe myrtle and oncidium orchids.

On the tables, we sourced for fringed tulips in the same shade of pink as the cherry blossom motifs on Yi’s tableware in arrangements unencumbered by the weight of foliage and, with that, the hope of Spring.

Francoise Ozawa
Head of Design, This Humid House

With such thoughtful consideration and immaculate execution, we can totally see how this easily became the area Vincent and Clare were pleased to have splurged on for the wedding!

The only thing that could surpass that is seeing something undeniably priceless, that is the happy faces of those dearest to the couple.

Throughout the day, I caught myself marvelling at how happy everyone was, especially my parents who are usually incredibly laidback. It was touching because I realised how much this meant to them and to me as well.

Clare

And so they lived happily ever after!

Learning Points

Phew! If you reached this point perhaps you too heaved a sigh of relief. Now here comes the learning points if you’ve been waiting for it.  

In retrospect, I would probably not recommend winging anything and either planning or hiring a planner in advance because along the way, we realised the potent combination of my optimism and cluelessness was alarming.

Clare

Well we can totally understand the cluelessness every couple goes through because you only get married once! But on the bright side, Clare came through with more tips that we could all use. Brides-to-be, make sure you’re taking down notes! –  

But jokes aside I think the simplest advice might be the best – things may not necessarily go the way you envisioned them to, the plan is to enjoy the day and the moment, see the humour in it and remember that anything that goes awry makes for a great story to tell later!

Clare

So that’s how the story goes for two entrepreneurs who got their wedding plans sorted in just 4 weeks. But you don’t really need to be an entrepreneur to do that, because those traits we talk about, you know you have them! Now, go plan your wedding and remember to ask for help when you need to!

A big thank you to Vincent and Clare for sharing their story with us. We had truly enjoyed working on this piece, especially with their candid responses and generosity in sharing their advice and tips. We wish them a blissful marriage and an equally beautiful and amusing tale to share once they can re-embark on the plans for their overseas wedding party!

Professionals engaged for the wedding:

• Wedding Planner: Blisspact | @blisspact
• Photography for wedding day: Antijitters Photo | @antijittersphoto
• Photography for day after wedding: Maritha Mae | @marithamae
• Videography: FreshfromKenneth | @freshfromkenneth
• Venue: Yi by Jereme Leung, Raffles Hotel
• Wedding Gown: Alon Livné and Dylan Parienty from The Ivory | @theivorybridal
• Groom’s suit: Q Menswear | @qmenswear, Fendi | @fendi
• Jewellery: Harry Winston | @harrywinston, Bvlgari | @bulgari
• Makeup Artist: Patricia Jaihan | @bypattcia
• Wedding Favours: Raffles Hotel | @raffleshotelsingapore
• Floral and Décor: This Humid House | @thishumidhouse
• 大妗姐: Winnie Wedding

^{Feature image – Photo courtesy of Vincent & Clare, taken by Maritha Mae}