in review: jentayu gallery wedding showcase 2013

I previously mentioned that I dah angkat white flag and won't be attending Jentayu Gallery's Wedding Exhibition this year walaupun all the vendors powerhouse belaka.

But I received a very sweet surprise email from Kak Ros of Wedding and Romance last month, personally extending me a VIP invite to the exhibition!!! Checked my schedule for 24th May 2013 and realized I can still go for it before my long weekend plans (hostel staycation and rooftop barbeque with our bridal party woohoo) so I thought why not?

There was no way I could've rejected the invitation anyway - slew of powerhouse vendors, free food (hehe), bridal fashion show (by my appointed bridal house, no less!) and dance performances, sounds like a damn good afternoon to a hardcore kakak-kakak kahwing like me! Hur hur. Daaaaah kena simpan balek my white flag dalam laci eh.

Fab hard cover invitation card for the showcase! My future mother-in-law really liked it a lot and used it as reference when she wanted to explain what feel and colour she wanted for her invitation cards to the apek kat Syarikat Thong Seng last two weekends haha.

Aaaaanyway, had a really great time catching up with the vendors and woot woot, loot from the wedding showcase!

 

Gorgeous bouquet from Woodleigh Park, a lovely tray of premium chocolates from Hana Indulgence, a box of chocolates from Dessert Artisans and a box of goodies (also from Hana Indulgence lol) from Wedding and Romance. It was really great because I could share all the yummy chocolate goodies with my orang orang kuat at the barbeque session!

Ok yay, jom recap pasal Jentayu Gallery's wedding showcase last weekend!

(I actually want to wait for their official pictures to be out but... tak sabar lah eh.)

Dessert Artisans

As you must know by now, Dessert Artisans is one of my favouritessst vendors for dessert tables/tiers!!! Blogged - ok, more like raved - about them here, here, here and here before, y'all can baca if y'all tak percaya hahaha. Wanted to sneakily creep up on Liza and Wardah and disturb them at the exhibition but end up tak menjadi because I bumped into Dyana, my photoshoot MUA (who is also a BTB) just in front of their booth and kita kecoh roboh lah sekejap kan haha so my mat went up to talk to them first. By the time I finished talking to Dyana and went up to talk to them dah tak surprise pun. Tettttt.

Ridiculously lousy picture (my bad) of their ridiculously pretty dessert tier at the wedding showcase:

My mat insisted that his mum would absolutely lurrrrrvvveee this exact same setup! 

Too bad our theme isn't white Moroccan theme lah eh, kalau tak, boleh copy paste.

Hana Indulgence

 

I think the biggest surprise I got from the exhibition was Hana Indulgence.

Ok terus terang cakap, I was actually not expecting much from the chocolates :/ 

Don't get me wrong, the presentation and packaging is verrry lawa but I think the apprehension comes from the fact that I don't like chocolates wrapped in plain gold wrappers macam the gold coin chocolates... you know the ones yang dulu kecik kecik mesti ada kat birthday parties??? Yang macam gini lah. Dari kecik memang I don't like those gold cold chocolates because I find them kelat and tak sedap hahahaha so kirakan the biasness terbawak bawak sampai sekarang, which is why when I saw the chocolates, I thought they will taste okay okay jelah or decent, at best.

Well, well, what do you know? 

Was sooo pleasantly surprised when I popped the first one into my mouth (I tried the silver wrapped one first because it was dark chocolate and I LOVE dark chocolate) and found it reaaally sedap ok! Tried the milk chocolate one in gold wrapper next and found that one sedap as well. Anjat pe girl girl! Betul punya nak prove me wrong seh ini chocolate haha. If there was one thing this incident taught me - don't judge a chocolate by its wrapper ye tuan tuan dan puan puan!

Just to be sure, I distributed the chocolates to the rest of the bridal party people... who also said they found the chocolates surprisingly sedap!!! Nah, thumbs up from my mat and the overall in-charge for my bridesmaids hahaha:

I really like their chocolates so much, I'm going to find a reason to buy/order from Hana's Indulgence!!! Actually I already have a reason to buy/order from them soon ah hahaha - we're going to buy the final barang for my dulang this coming weekend and then heading to my mat's place to take pictures and measurements before emailing them over to Ola Lola... which means, I need to buy something for his parents as buah tangan! 

I was already planning to buy them a box of Laduree macarons since kita memang going to Takashimaya anyway (also because they're my future mother-in-law's ultimate favourite heh heh) but let's see whether we can make a detour to #03-10 Tanjong Katong Complex because that's where a Hana Indulgence outlet can be found currently! But even if tak sempat make the detour, I can always buy them as gifts for my parents or relatives for other occasions, at the very least I now know I ada such options to consider lor.

So happy to have discovered them at the wedding showcase! The owner is a superrr nice lady who told me she's been running the business for four years now... so the question now is - how did it take me four freaking years to find out about Hana Indulgence ni?!

Pictures from their setup at Jentayu Gallery's Wedding Showcase:

(Source: Hana Indulgence)

Kalau you tak pernah dengar pasal Hana Indulgence (just like how my friends and I pun tak pernah dengar about them before this) and tak tau what they offer, they actually offer halal confectioneries like premium chocolates, baklavas, nougats and dragees which are selected, lab tested and airflown from Syria and Lebanon ok!!! Mak aiiiii... no wonder lah sedap semacam! 

You can order these confectioneries for macam macam events one lah - engagements ke, weddings ke, corporate events ke, bridal showers ke, baby showers ke, birthday parties ke, kenduri ke, kasi friends and family as gifts ke, nak buat makan sambil tengok TV ke, ape ape pun boleh seh. So if you're still cracking your head on what to put on your engagement or wedding dulangs or what to give out as favours, can try asking Hana Indulgence ok!

Wish I knew about them when I was looking for things to letak on my engagement dulangs because I would have ordered a set from them as barang dulang, please!!! And I suspect my future mother-in-law would have loved to get their chocolates as wedding favours (Which we can't do now, since we've already confirmed favours for my mat's side. Actually kan, we saw chocolate-in-a-box favours offered by Puteri Wedding Services at Jentayu Gallery's wedding showcase last year and she was very interested in thatbut we didn't follow up on it because the price was too steep at $4.50 to $5.00 per box, imho. I believe Hana Indulgence offers wedding favours at much cheaper price than that, considering the great quality and taste of their products!)

Trust me ok guys. If I didn't think their products are worth recommending, I wouldn't have bothered dedicating this many paragraphs on them alone ok hahahahaha OH BILA PART CAKAP PASAL CHOCOLATES SEDAP KAU HIDUP EH BUDAK

Hawa Caterers

Might have been me having overly high expectations about their food but I thought their offering was ok-ok only, both presentation-wise and taste-wise. My mat thought their ayam masak merah was nice but I think I'm the last person who should comment on anything ayam masak merah because I've mentioned time and again that I am VERY cerewet about ayam masak merah and have never liked any ayam masak merah offered by any caterers. Blame my supermother's awesome ayam masak merah for that! Heh.

Oh, also wished they'd put up tray labels at the buffet line because I couldn't figure out what some of the dishes were, and it would have helped if they had labelled the trays. Prices are slightly above what I expected. Aaanyway, from what I know, they're one of the appointed in-house caterers for SIA Sports Club so if y'all are interested in SIA Sports Club as your wedding venue, then they're the caterer option you'll have to consider ok.

Jentayu Gallery

The White Moroccan-themed dais and decor set up by Jentayu Gallery for the wedding showcase was FREAKING AWESOME, CAN?!!! Tolong jangan percaya my pictures above, tak do justice to the actual setup langsung. Oklah nah, clearer picture of the dais from The Project Pixel Photography below: 

(Source: The Project Pixel Photography)

FEE~WEET~. CUN MELECUN SEH.

I've mentioned before that all the Arabian, Middle Eastern, Mediaterrean, Moroccan themed weddings are not for my mat and I because we have no interest in such themes but if they were, Jentayu Gallery would totally be our first choice, man. Love the fact that they started offering fairy lights and fairy light tentages so couples who are into such pretty things can have them at their own weddings!

Loved the table centrepieces (You can see a picture under Woodleigh Park below) and the bridal table setup looked really awesome. Ada glitter glitter segala! Kalau I'm the bride who has that bridal table setup, I tak nak balik seh. Duduk je kat situ sepanjang hayat.

Versari Ade

Ah, one of my favouritest bridal!!! Clean, simple, anggun, I iz very suka and approve. 

Truth be told, I heard some rumours about them before engaging them as my bridal but I went with my gut and proceeded with the booking anyway - this is one of the few times when I decided to go with my own gut feeling instead of hearsay (sometimes must use own judgment to decide whether the rumours boleh pakai or not!) 

Very happy to report that I've not experienced any less than desirable service from Versari Ade so far - met them once and spoke to their staff member three times on the phone so far and each and every time, she's been really polite and patient with me so let's hope it'll stay that way... or become even better, insya Allah. We'll still be on my toes lah so we don't get caught offguard but by and large, I choose to trust great reviews from friends who engaged them previously and will trust that they'll deliver as expected.

Anyway! Saw sooo many gorgeous outfits during their fashion show segment!!! 

Ok lah, nak tukar 10, 12 baju pengantin macam orang dulu dulu boleh tak? :P

Oooh, I was particularly smitten with one of the mint-coloured bridal outfits (above)!!! Squealed at my mamat about loving that outfit and the first thing he told me was "Pergi kuruskan badan dulu" HAIZ D: Hooowwwww lah like that, must kuruskan badan howwwww, if lempar myself kat tengah tengah Africa for three months boleh kurus taaakkkkkkk (Entah entah kena baham dengan singa, jadi tengkorak terus seh gitu hahahahaha)

Wah, we got really excited looking at all the glorious bridal outfits and we spotted a few that both of us really liked... although there was one red and gold one that made my mat remark "EH, macam baju pengantin Ironman seh yang ni" hahahahaha diam sak kau.

Absolutely loved all the suci and putih outfits fit for nikah reception presented on the runway too! Was especially in love with the one worn by the girl peeking out with a 'peace' sign - unfortunately the full baju cannot be seen from this picture:

(Source: Invogue Photography via Versari Ade)

The veil so cute kan, got bulat bulat! If you knew me well, you'd know I like my things (and men)... bulat bulat.

Woodleigh Park (together with Facelift Designs & Interiors)

Snapshots of the table decor by Jentayu Gallery as well as Woodleigh Park's booth decor that had these pretty paper flowers!!!!! Painstakingly handmade by Kak Amilia ok!

(Source: Woodleigh Park)

Best part??? Kak Amilia has started taking orders for her handmade paper flowers tau!!! So kalau nak use paper flowers for any of your parties or engagement or wedding events without going through the hassle of creating them from scratch yourselves (Perfect for urat malas people like me haha!), can just order from her lor. So senang and so convenient, for something sooooo pretty  to spice up your event decoration kan?!

(Source: Woodleigh Park)

How talented lagi can Faceliftr Design / Woodleigh Park be ni?! Don't think I can rave enough about her bridal bouquets which are FR~EAK~ING AH~MA~ZIIIIIG~~~ by the way. If y'all went to the wedding exhibition and didn't take up her exhibition discounts memang y'all rugi. RUGI, YOU PAHAM TAK?! RUGI! Pergi nangis kat hujung tembok sekarang!

Oh, but kejap eh. Sebelum you nangis kat tembok, kasi I ambik gambar bunga kat tembok dulu boleh..... Hahahahahahaha

That's the gorgeousss bouquet gift from the super sweet Kak Amilia of Woodleigh Park by the way!!! Love love love the roses and peonies pairing and the colours!!! Sorry my pictures don't do justice to the actual bouquet ok, it's pretty gila in real life and I couldn't stop gushing over it. Ni baru normal bouquet eh, belum bridal bouquet lagi, I think I will just mabok minum todi and pengsan when she delivers my bridal bouquet in October.

(Anyway, told my mat that if he ever decides to give me a bouquet for whatever reason in the future, I will only accept flower bouquets from Woodleigh Park OK. Kalau kasi bouquet dari tempat lain I will pijak pijak pastu tabur kat jamban.)

Ok, a little bit of history here: I first knew about Facelift Design when my unofficial wedding advisor Nani engaged them to do up her bridal bedroom and bridal bouquet and have loved their works ever since. I was naturally devastated when they announced that they will no longer do bridal room decor starting from 2013 (DEVASTATED TAHAP NATURAL DISASTER OK! Even though I takde plans to do up a bridal room tapi I tetap devastated untuk you all you all yang tak dapat engage them for awesome bridal room decor ok!) but someway somehow by a stroke of fate and luck (also a little bit of gatalness haha), I managed to book them to do up my bridal bouquet yay yay! 

Oh, in case you haven't been following them on Facebook (WHY??? WHY??? WHY ARE YOU NOT FOLLOWING THEM ON FACEBOOK?! KENA BAYAR KE??? TAK KAN??? ABEH ASAL TAK FOLLOW?! #fanatic), they've decided to separate out their bridal bouquet and interior design works - bridal bouquets are now under Woodleigh Park, whereas their interior design works are now under Facelift Design & Interiors. Ada paham? Ok bagus.

Wedding & Romance (or Mahligai Asmara, for Muslim weddings in Singapore)

 

In case you can't remember when I first mentioned Wedding and Romance / Mahligai Asmara, it was in this entry after Nat raved about how Kak Ros of Wedding and Romance / Mahligai Asmara did a tremendously wonderful job, helping her plan and manage her super awesome wedding late last year. (Other write-ups on the wedding here, here and a feature in Manja magazine here.)

I don't know that many friends who take up wedding planning packages (As of now, I only have had three couple friends who did) but I think such services are perfect for people who are based overseas and want someone trustworthy to help keep an eye on preparations, or people are too lazy to sendiri plan but want the best for their weddings, or people are too overwhelmed with all the little details that go into planning a wedding and want someone professional and well-connected to help them steer through the whole process.

Oh, can I just mention that I love how Kak Ros speaks?! I'm not even engaging her but I felt full confidence and assurance when I spoke to her! Managed to get an overview from Kak Ros on how her wedding planning packages work too (I had a rough idea from what Nat told me before) but I think this screenshot on the types of packages offered by Mahligai Asmara can explain better lah eh:

(Click to enlarge image)

Senang cakap, whichever stage you are at for your wedding planning, there will be a package suitable for you and your wedding needs! It's like having your very own fairy godmother for your wedding ok. No need to jadi Cinderella all that baru nak dapat fairy godmother. Just call Kak Ros at 93865465 and tadaaa~!

Oh, and this is the gift from Wedding and Romance / Mahligai Asmara! Also from Hana Indulgence lol but it was good thing for me because I could taste the other types of chocolates - there was one with pistachios, and one rose-flavoured one (Turkish?), and a few others. No less sedap, I have no complains, guys. Standard memang two thumbs up.

***************

Just a few points (general feedback) on the wedding showcase:

(1) Registration was quick and painless! There was a registration number printed on the invitation envelope and I only had to state the number, the reception people marked my attendance, collected my goodie bag and off we went into the hall. (And the first person I see near the entrance is Amalina of Happily Ever Wedding!!! So excited berceloteh sampai lupa nak ambik gambar together, ape dah.)

(2) I liked that there were "Jentayu Angels" (hahaha) stationed at the registration table, the vendors' booths and all around to help usher, direct and assist with enquiries, and they were all dressed and made up the same so nampak cohesiveness with the whole exhibition theme. Such a sucker for such things, I am. Hur hur. 

(3) Thought the music played at the wedding showcase was a tad too loud! (It was by an Arabian live music group) Kind of beats the purpose, I feel, because why would I want to strain to listen to what prospective vendors have to say over the music? Dah macam pergi clubbing, you know? Kena strain your ears to hear the other person and then when it's your turn to reply, you kena raise your voice over the music to get yourself heard. But other than that, I really have no other complaints and was a happy bunny throughout.

Oh, can I just mention how happy we were to see the bunga manggar at the entrance too?!?!?!

We actually had this in mind for our bunga manggar and since his aunt has offered to DIY the bunga manggar for us, my mat immediately took a picture of the bunga manggar and texted it to his aunt... who confirmed that she can do this type of bunga manggar for us. Woohoo! Bunga manggar, settle! :p

(I actually asked his mum whether there is a need for bunga pahar because I can DIY it if there is, but she surprisingly said there is no need for bunga pahar! Sireh dara, bunga manggar, that's it. Good news for us because we no need to worry about having it at our reception anymore liao muahahaha)

Would have stayed at the exhibition longer or headed to Singapore Expo for Mega Xpress' wedding exhibition to sebok sebok but since we already had awesome long weekend plans with our orang orang kuat, off we went to Arab Street.

Ahhhhh. Had such a wonderful time chatting with vendors and other brides-to-be at the exhibition walaupun it was only for a short while... Really think I'll miss attending wedding exhibitions after the wedding is over seh. Heck, I'll bloody miss the whole goddamn wedding planning after it's freaking over, please.

Ok lah bye. Sebelum my emotional rollercoaster makin chronic, I mintak diri dulu eh.