Growing up, I was quite the tomboy in school so it was a surprise to many that I would eventually become a Wedding Planner. It started when I joined the hotel as a Catering Sales Coordinator. I played a supporting role to the wedding planners but I saw how they had put in their heart and soul, spending their weekend in the office to make sure each and every wedding is a grand success – I knew there was something more to planning these weddings that kept them going.

Once, a wedding couple needed their wedding invites so that they could send it out on time. I readily agreed to deliver it to them and as luck would have had it, it started pouring just as I stepped out of the hotel. I managed to pass the invites to the couple and they were overjoyed – I was taken aback – it was just wedding invites. But it made me realize that planning a wedding doesn’t just mean choosing an ideal wedding venue – there’re many other details we’ve to see to that are equally important – the wedding invites, the wedding favours, the guest list, the march-in music, the type of flowers to use... It’s a large-scale event, it’s once-in-a-lifetime and more often than not, couples want to make it memorable.

I like how we’re able to take care of the smallest details and the bride’s brightest smile on her biggest day is my greatest satisfaction as wedding planner.

Christine Wang

Each wedding couple is unique and planning a wedding is like an adventure of sorts – sometimes you never know what’s going to happen. Yet, it’s often these unforeseen circumstances that make a wedding truly memorable.

I remembered once during a wedding lunch, the bride was in her traditional kwa and traditional shoes during the tea ceremony. She realized she’d forgotten her wedding shoes for the first march-in after the tea ceremony. She panicked, the groom panicked. It didn’t help too that most of the shops around the vicinity didn’t open till half an hour before the march-in. I decided it wasn’t going to do us any good by sitting around so I walked to the nearest shopping mall and fortunately for us, we found a pair of shoes similar to what she’d in mind. The wedding proceeded without a hitch, and no one noticed the shoes were not what she’d intended to wear. So as the old adage goes, all’s well that ends well.

Getting married is a happy thing and I’d love nothing more than to be part of my wedding couple’s happiest memories!

Michelle Fong

It was no coincidence how I ended up as a Wedding Planner at Singapore Marriott Hotel. I first joined the hotel as a Catering Sales Coordinator where my primary role was to assist the wedding planners, and relief them of their daily administrative duties. I got to liaise with the wedding couples via emails – and my greatest satisfaction came from this seemingly insignificant interaction. Occasionally, wedding couples would drop me a thank you note after their wedding even though we’ve never met. I left shortly to further my studies in Business Management and thereafter took on a business development related job. It didn’t take me long to realize that weddings played a big part in my life – planning weddings for couples, making sure everything runs smoothly on the day itself and everyone is happy – that meant more than a stable 9 to 5 job. Yes, the working hours are long, our weekends are spent meeting couples, deciding on what sort of flowers they should go for, the menu they would like, the program flow – but I’d never trade it for anything.

In May 2010, I returned to Singapore Marriott as a Wedding Planner and it’s been a wonderful journey so far – being part of my couple’s perfect wedding just makes everything worthwhile.