Wedding Church Venues for Non-members

I've always wanted to get married in a beautiful church with wooden pews with beautiful stained glass windows. I tried researching online but can't seem to find much information. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. Most churches do not allow non-members to use their sanctuaries. While some churches requirement is that one couple has to be their member.

From my previous post, you can see that I've chosen my venue to be at my own church. Actually, during that time which is a few months ago, I haven't really decided if I would like to use my own church building for my holy matrimony. That's why I went to research on other options. But now that we've decided to use the church building. I did not want all these super useful information that I have to be gone to waste. So I decided to do a blog post on it for the many bride-to-be(s) out there!

Anyway first and foremost, when I mean non-members, it means christians couples who have been baptised and are members of other christian churches. Now that I've got this cleared up, let's start.

Oh! And normally these churches only allow the wedding ceremony to be held on Saturdays and not Sundays because they normally have church services on Sundays.

I found 6 churches that I personally would approve because of the wooden pews. I love churches with wooden pews.

1) Kim Tian Christian Church

811 Upper Serangoon Rd, Singapore 534675

Capacity: Max. 370 pax

Cost: $2200 (for 4 hours) + $300 (compulsory audio technician)

Including basement hall for reception

Photos from Kim Tian Christian Church person-in-charge

2) Charis Methodist Church

91 Koon Seng Road, Singapore 427032

Capacity: Max. 400 pax

Sanctuary Cost: $600 for first three hours ($100 for additional hour)

Social Hall Price (for reception, max 120pax): $400 for first three hours ($30 for additional hour)

Open Plaza Price (for reception): $240 for the tent

Photo credit: Source

Photo credit: Source

Photo credit: Source

3) Queenstown Lutheran Church

709 Commonwealth Drive, Singapore 149601

Capacity: Max. 350 pax

Cost: $2950 (for 4 hours, including canopy for reception)

Tables and chairs for reception at canopy at own expense
Photo credit: Source

Photo credit: Source

4) Thomson Road Baptism Church

45 Thomson Road, Singapore 307584

Capacity: Max. 450 pax

Cost: $3000 (for 2.5 hours, including reception hall)

Photo credit:  Source

Photo credit: Source

5) Holy Grace Presbyterian Church

408B Upper East Coast Rd, Singapore 466484

Capacity: Max. 350 pax

Cost: $2400 for weddings in year 2016 (Including reception hall)

Photo credit: Source 

Photo credit: Source

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There's one more church that that allows non-members booking but I didn't email them because the location is at Tampines which is very inconvenient. But those who prefer the far East can take a look!

6) Living Hope Methodist Church

20 Tampines Street 33, Singapore 529259

Cost: $1980 (not sure what it includes, how long is the rental, or the seating capacity)

Do email them if you'll like to know more.

Photo credit: Source

Photo credit: Source

Actually there are more churches in the list that I've found but it seems like over the years, many churches are starting to not accept non-members bookings. I am not sure why. But one of the church's person-in-charge told me that it is because of the heavy usage of the church's ministries. Plus they also have to prioritise the use of the church building for their own member's wedding.

Hope this post was useful for those christian BTBs out there! :)

Date and Holy Matrimony venue

Daniel and I had the dilemma whether our holy matrimony and wedding lunch/dinner would be held in one day or two days.

Our church has two venues that we can use. Suntec convention centre and Jurong West near NTU. We thought we wanted Suntec because the location was sooooo convenient but here comes the cons. We could only hold it on Sundays after 2pm because we have church service before that, which will be too late and super rush if we hold a wedding dinner after.

So we had to settle for the next choice which was to hold it at Jurong. If it's at Jurong we can hold the holy matrimony on Saturday afternoon and wedding lunch on a Sunday. Sorry in advance to those living in the east for the inconvenience but it's ok right. One day only la. Haha. Plus the venue is big enough to hold all our guests. For now we have a total of 500 guests.

I also had the thought of holding it in other churches too just because other churches' locations are more convenient. But because Daniel is a church staff at my church, we will have perks if we hold it in my church. So to save costs, we will be holding our holy matrimony in our jurong church and hold our wedding lunch on the next day as lunch is generally cheaper than a wedding dinner.

Date wise, it'll be in June 2016 and I'll update here once we booked the church and our wedding lunch location which we already found. Just need to pay for the deposit! Check this space for my wedding lunch venue. I really really love the venue. Can't wait for 4 June 2016 for holy matrimony and 5 June 2016 which is also Daniel's birthday. Woo!!

The Marriage Proposal

It's been almost a week since Daniel proposed and I thought I should spend some of my Saturday evening to blog about last Sunday, 26 April 2015. 

Backtrack to the Tuesday before, Liz (my colleague) told me that she wanted to go to the Pasar Malam near where we worked. So the four of us went (including Skye and Joel) I did not think anything much about it and never suspected anything. Maybe because Liz really genuinely wanted to eat the food there and she's been talking about it since they started building the pasar malam tents. Even without the proposal she would have totally dragged us there. Coincidentally, Daniel (who stole Joel's number from my phone. haha) texted Joel a few days before that to hold me back longer so I would reach home late so he could go to my house and talk to my parents. This just came together nicely. That's why I did not realise anything was fishy.

Also prior to Sunday, I asked Daniel what does he have on after church service and he told me he's doing sound for our church's Annual General Meeting and would end around 5pm. I believed him because he's a church staff and he always had to help out with sound/audio matters. 

So, my ex-colleagues, current colleagues and I have been trying to organise a meet up because we haven't met up as a group in a long time and they suggested Sunday. I thought I'l go meet them and them meet Daniel afterwards after he's done with the meeting. So after the usual Sunday church service, I met up with them at TCC, Marina Bay Sands. We were casually talking and then some guy came up to me and said "Are you Sihui?". I replied yes and he put this iPad with very familiar casing on my table and said, "I was told to ask you to watch this.". I knew it at that moment, it's here. I was shocked because I never expect Daniel to do a public proposal. He never liked attention. There and then, I was still shocked. Even after the proposal, my colleague Skye even told me that I am the most calm 女主角. Actually, I wasn't the least bit calm, my heart was pounding so hard and I couldn't breathe, I had to keep taking deep breaths. Truth be told, I wasn't really watching the video because I was still trying to sink in this fact that today is the day and was thinking how come Daniel doesn't have to go for the Annual General Meeting. Haha. Then I realised it was all a plan. Other than all these thoughts, I also kept looking everywhere around me because I really wanted to find Daniel and to also see if my parents were here. There I found them, they were standing at the railing on the second floor. I was so happy there were there to witness this. But it was really a mix of emotions at that point of time.

The next thing I knew, the video was over and Daniel came up to me with flowers and the ring. I again, wasn't really listening, what I remembered hearing was "lifetime", "spend the rest of my life with you" and "why am I crying?". Hahaha. I laughed at that part because I was the one who was supposed to be crying but he was the one who was tearing. Actually, I did tear at the start of the iPad video. Anyway, I said "Yes" and then this man here was struggling removing the ribbon from the box. It was quite a funny yet cute sight. Haha. He after that explained that because of the tears in his eyes he could not see the ribbon properly and that he had to put the ribbon so close to his face so he can remove it. Hahaha. 

Enough words.
Now, time for pictures!

My beloved younger brother and I. Missing my older brother as I am typing this. :')

Thank you colleagues and ex-colleagues turned good friends!

Special thanks for Joel for planning this with Daniel. You planned well. Haha

Thank you guys for helping with this proposal. :)

Thank you Goddaughter Zoe for gracing your Godparents proposal event. We love you.

Thank you Jayme and Jiahao for helping! Thank you for loving us. :) And extra special thanks to Jiahao for working so hard for helping Daniel take the photos on your off day and also for editing such a beautiful video. Thank you!

My dear family. Missing my elder brother. I've another year or so with them before I move out. Gonna miss them, my parents has the lamest jokes and I'll miss all of that especially my mum's cooking which is getting better and better. :)

Thank you to my future in laws for accepting me and for always thinking about me. Blessed to have each and every single one of you. :)

After the proposal, both of our families went to have a meal together at Food for Thought at the National Museum. I love it when we our families always come together and able to talk to each other like friends. It just warms my heart just thinking about that scene.

After our early dinner, Daniel and I went down to Tiffany & Co to get the ring resized. It'll be done in 4-6 weeks, kinda wish it would be faster. Hahaha. 

Hi love. Thanks for planning this proposal since the start of the year and even getting the ring so early! Can't believe that you did so much just for this proposal. You sacrificed your favourite hobby (a.k.a. Sleep) and even got out of your comfort zone and took some crazy photos in public even though the cleaner aunties were laughing at you. I am more impressed that you were the one who decided to do a public proposal. Where did you get the courage from?! It's a big decision to marry and it's even a bigger decision to want to marry me. Thank you for accepting me and I'm looking forward to spend the rest of my life with you.

//

Oh. The reason why it was at TCC was because it was the first time Daniel ever heard about me from his then Cell Group Leader, Yuerong and it was then that she told Daniel that he should get to know me better.

Can't wait for the big day to come. Wedding preparation is not easy, am trying to make things as simple as possible and not trying to be a bridezilla because after all a wedding is to celebrate the marriage and the union of the two coming together. 

Currently trying to find the venues and I'll try to blog my wedding process as much as I can. 

Black Ribbons in Remembrance of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew

Ever since the news that our founding father passed on, I've been wanting to go to the Parliament House to pay him my last respect but tiredness, laziness, the overwhelming crowd just deterred me from going. I knew it was just excuses, the few hours of queue was nothing compared to what he had done for us.

On Saturday, guilt just overwhelmed me and I knew that I had to do something. In the afternoon, on my way to my grandma's birthday lunch I thought of making black ribbons for my cell group members and myself. So after lunch, I went out with my mother to Dhoby Ghaut to shop but I still had the thought of making the ribbons. So off I went to Spotlight, Daiso and Art Friends and I only managed to find one 3 metres black ribbon at Spotlight. 3 metres was enough for my cell group members but I wanted to do more, for other members in church or the public. But I 'kinda' gave up that thought and went home, and on my walk home I realised that on the second floor of my hawker centre there's a shop that sells ribbons/buttons. I went up but I was disappointed again, it wasn't of the correct width. 

 It was already around 6pm but I don't know what came over me and I decided to just go to Bras Basah Complex. I had not much hope because on my way there I googled and realised that shops on Saturdays usually closes around 6pm. But I thank God I did not back out, because when I went there I did find the black ribbons, so I bought a 45 metres of black ribbons. After that, I walked to Marina Square as my Mom was there shopping. Met her and went to Kallang Wave so I could go Daiso to get more safety pins. Went there, I was shocked and super disappointed because they were sold out of small safety pins. I immediately left Kallang Wave and took the train back to Plaza Singapura's Daiso to get the pins. Finally.

Upon reaching home, I had my KFC dinner that I also bought home and then with my Mom we started on the ribbon making. We made a total of 320 ribbons in a span of 3 hours. I felt that we could have done more but it was too late to get more ribbons that late at night.

On Sunday morning, with my paper bag full of ribbons, I was thinking of how I should give out the ribbons. I had many thoughts, "How would people react?" "Who will actually care for a black ribbon?", "He/She is wearing black, is he wearing it for LKY?", "Or is it a coincidence?", "What would people think?". In the end, fear got the better of me. I went to church with still a bag full of ribbons. I had to ask my cell group members to give them out to members. I was quite determined to stay put at my seat but my cell group leader encouraged me to go because I made the ribbons. Eventually, I went with one of my member. It was really awkward but people did take the ribbons and they thanked me. I still had many ribbons left so another member and I stood outside the church hall and gave out. I forced myself to get out of my comfort zone and before I knew it, all the ribbons were given out.

I wanted to do my part as a Singaporean but did not want to take any credit maybe because this whole thing is not about me but it's for Mr Lee. I did not expect any thank you(s) in return, but Singaporeans did and they thanked me. They thanked me for my effort. Which I don't deserve because I am thankful for this chance to be able to do something for my fellow Singaporeans. I am thankful for Mr. Lee because of him many Singaporeans are more bonded than ever.

"This whole week has not been easy for us Singaporeans. As each day passes by, the fact that our founding father is gone just sinks in deeper and deeper. This afternoon as I watch the 100,000 Singaporeans brave the rain to send off Mr Lee, that was when reality really struck me...that Mr Lee KY is really gone. And it didn't help that during the recital of the pledge and singing of the national anthem today just brought more tears to my eyes. But I thank God for my job because it allows me to say the pledge and sing the national anthem every day because I know from this day forward, I will never recite the pledge and sing the national anthem the same way ever again. Farewell Mr Lee."

My job

Was looking through my Instagram feed and saw the photo I took of my student while we were at the SEA Aquarium last year. Suddenly my emotions just overwhelmed me. Not good emotions. It was the same emotions I felt during my home visit this year. I've been to 16 home visits throughout my entire journey of being a special needs teacher and it's only this 7 home visits that I went this year that I am beginning to feel a lot for the parents. Maybe it's because that I'm growing older or because of every woman's maternal instincts that I am feeling this way. 

The worries that parents have with a child with special needs is something I can never fully understand because I am not them. Having to have that thought that your child will not be able to care for you or even themselves when they're adults is scary. But the thought that parents have to care for them for the rest of their children lives is scarier. No parents would wish for that to happen but this is reality. I've seen parents trying for a second child because it's part of the 'plan' to have the younger sibling look after their older sibling. Not only that they might have the fact that there is a possibility that their next child might have special needs too. 

For us teachers, we can't do much about it but you can only help that much by helping their child be more independent so that can survive with the basic life skills that they've learnt in school. But it's also tough being their teacher, they need more time learning every single thing. Including basic skills like going to the toilet or washing hands. 

Parents always tell us "It's so difficult to teach one, how do you teach a class of seven?". But let me tell you the truth, teaching a class of seven for 4 hours every weekday is easier than teaching one for the rest of the 20 hours. 

Being in this job really allow me to count my blessings. And I trully admire these parents. So if you ever meet a parent with a child with special needs do help them out even if it's the littlest thing or even giving them a word of encouragement is good enough. 

How OhHappyThread came about.

On the train to work now and decided that I should blog since I haven't done so in a long long time. Just started up a small business around a month ago and up till now I still can't believe I'm doing this. I've always been quite impulsive and I admit that but after sinking in the reality, I ask myself why do I start up this business so suddenly. Oh well. God works in wonderous ways. Maybe I should start off from here. Here we go...

So I was just looking through Instagram explore page and I saw this account that did really beautiful embroidery on these embroidery hoops. Then I was thinking that maybe I can do something like this too. I went out the next day to buy the materials ALONE. Super spontaneous. I never liked going out alone but I really wanted to try it out. So I did and went home to stitch up this. 

Then I came up with these. 

The 'apple of my eye' was a custom order. When I received that order Daniel told me I should come up with a name for my little business so people could identify me. So I did. Inspired by the Happy Day song by Tim Hughes. A song always sung in church and cell group meeting. I thought I could play around with words and added in the word thread. So anyway I designed my logo in like an hour (IKR) and started my Etsy shop and OhHappyThread's Instagram account. I started my first giveaway, the 'no place like home' hoop. Then during that time Public Garden emailed my OHT email to join in their Christmas markets. I thought they mass sent out their email to those who subscribed to their email subscriptions/updates. After that I realised I did not use my OHT email but my personal email for that. Then I realised that they must have found my OHT account through their notification when I followed them. It was definitely God's plan for me because before they sent this email I was already thinking if I should sign up for Public Garden as I have friends who were already vendors and I was helping out in their weekend markets. You must be thinking this is nothing because after all these I remembered that to be a vendor at Public Garden the vendors have to sign up on their website and to upload photos of their products for review and they'll decide if you can be a vendor at their market. God was telling me something.

Actually why I started this was because I was losing touch with my talent. I've always had this thing for the arts. I loved drawing and colouring and painting. Anything 2d related. I can't sculpt 3d arts for nuts. So that's why I went into design because I loved arts, but I wouldn't say that I don't love my diploma. I loved arts but design wasn't my thing. I liked anything aesthetically pleasing including food packages and I hate it when food menu doesn't come with pictures of the food. Its difficult trying to imagine what each dish is or looks like. Sorry for the sidetrack, I liked design but I don't think I loved it. The working hours is also an important factor to think about. 

So when I came across this new embroidery thing. I jumped on it. I loved it. It's this thing that makes me keep in touch with what I love and God's reminder for me that I still have this talent in me. 

Things has not been smooth sailing. Currently I'm communicating with my supplier and I'm sorta freaking out because I paid and he's not replying because it's China's national day and they are having holiday for a week. 

I was so distracted by the whole day yesterday. But I was reminded by Pastor Casey Treat's sermon on 'Be You'. He said to be you whom God designed you to be. And nothing is easy. The more challenges we face the more we are moving into God's will. We are created for good works. Not everything easy are good. 

I literally copied this from my notes. God showed me the way but difficulties will still come. I can only depend on Him. 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

Genki Sushi

I've always been a loyal fan of Genki Sushi since years yearssss ago when my Dad still had a car and we would drive to the Changi Airport's outlet for dinner once every few weeks. It closed down suddenly for unknown reasons and now it is back with a new concept (express sushi, literally). 

Anyway, I think it was around 3 years back when it reopened and I remembered going there with my family during the opening week. I loved their food and since then I've been going there if I am in the vicinity. Daniel loves it too. But sad to say, when I visited it two days ago I was utterly disappointed. Not sure when did they actually served such low standard of food. Read more to find out...

GENKI SUSHI ORCHARD CENTRAL 

181 Orchard Road, #03-32, Orchard Central 

GENKI SUSHI CHINATOWN POINT 

133 New Bridge Road 

#02-33 Chinatown Point

Sushi are served in these cute trains. Now they have the Astro Boy version. Super cute. 

Check out the Hello Kitty plates. 

Not sure if you can see this but when I took them off the train I was shocked. The handroll looked like it has been through a war before it was served to me. And the other thing is that I can still see the salmon skin on my salmon and it looks like it's dirty. Super gross. And it doesn't taste as nice and thick as my last few visits. As if what I had up till now wasn't disappointing...

Daniel ordered two of their chawanmushi because he knew that he would finish one by himself. Think he regretted his choice too. Because it really taste a world of difference compared to last time. Not sure why this is happening, maybe it's because since they opened the Chinatown outlet their standards dropped or what. It's just so disappointing. 

At least there's one dish that Daniel love. Fried Chicken Gunkan. -.-

By the way, the salmon maki (on the right, back of the photo) was not too bad. 

Not sure if we'll be coming back anytime soon. It's like the cute Hello Kitty plates can't even help redeem Genki Sushi anymore. I'd rather go queue at The Sushi Bar at Far East Plaza than queuing for Genki Sushi now.