To begin, the proposal that fiancé put together was all about us - who we were, who we are and what we went through together in this journey of life thus far. And according to him, it hasn’t been easy planning for the proposal. Because of COVID, his original plan became unfeasible due to travel restrictions (yes, the proposal was supposed to happen in New Zealand), so he had to work around it.
THE ENGAGEMENT RING
Fiancé was very proud of the engagement ring and I am very mesmerised by it because of two reasons – (1) It is one-of-a-kind; (2) It meant something more to / than just us.
The engagement ring wasn’t bought off the shelve. It's designed by fiancé and it speaks a unique language of me and of his love, and that made it very special and close to heart. Designing a ring is not an easy task, let alone designing one that is meaningful and "represents" us. It is a lot of work. So, working with the right jeweller definitely helped to ease the entire process for fiancé quite a bit.
The jeweller in question here is Do Amore, a company headquartered in Texas. Of all the jewellers out there, fiancé chose to work with them because he wanted the ring to be meaningful and signify more than just us. And that is what Do Amore offers.
Do Amore make their rings in the most ethical manner possible and contribute approximately 20% of their revenue towards clean water projects in developing countries. So, in other words, having the ring produced by Do Amore contributed (in a way) to making a significant impact on someone else’s life.
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| Tracking the impact my ring made - it helped to bring pure spring water to a community in Saikhola, Nepal. |
Working with a jeweller that understands the design is fairly important because it minimizes the need for explaining and editing of the design artwork. And for fiancé, Do Amore was able to interpret and understand very clearly the design and the requirements that he had in mind. On on top of that, they were able to translate them into 3D images for visualisation before finalising the details of the design for production.
So, with all things considered, Do Amore not only helped to create the perfect ring but also helped to create a ring that means so much more than us; it did a part in alleviating the world's water crisis!
Do Amore
Website: https://www.doamore.com
Instagram: @doamore
Email: care@doamore.com
Contact Number: 1-888-492-3456
Website: https://www.doamore.com
Instagram: @doamore
Email: care@doamore.com
Contact Number: 1-888-492-3456
Aside from the jeweller, there’s a community on the internet that fiancé is very grateful for and they are the experts from Price Scope. They were the one who helped him pick the best diamond and taught him all about the effects of different cuts of gemstones, band materials, head types, settings, and what to look out for when choosing a diamond. Basically, the colour quality, cut quality and clarity rating, aside from the carat weight and diamond certification.
They are really a diamond fanatic community because, from what I know, the diamonds in his choice have been taken out into a full-blown discussion / debate on at least two other threads by the experts to deliberate which diamond is the best and why. Hahaha.
So, for those who want some help in deciding between different diamonds, you can head over to Price Scope and get some opinion from the community.
But since Cinderella is my first (known) and long-time favourite Disney princess, he decided to theme the proposal as such. And, if the proposal were to went ahead as he originally planned (in New Zealand), it will be just like the Cinderella story, with the fountain, horses, carriage and all. But as countries went into lockdown, it can no longer happen in New Zealand. Still, fiancé wanted to mirror it as closely as possible and to do that, the venue and styling had to be right.
The venue, as many know, is the quintessential garden at The Alkaff Mansion. It looks normal without any decorations, but... After all the styling was up, the garden was transformed and it became even more magical than ever. So much feels. Teehees.
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| Full set-up by Invited. |
The Alkaff Mansion
Website: https://www.thealkaffmansion.sg
Email: enquiry@thealkaffmansion.sg
Address: 10 Telok Blangah Green, Singapore 109178
Website: https://www.thealkaffmansion.sg
Email: enquiry@thealkaffmansion.sg
Address: 10 Telok Blangah Green, Singapore 109178
The stylist that fiancé chose to work with was Invited, which was "coincidentally" an event stylist that I have been following for a couple of years now because their stylings are amazing, and I love them all. Never did I expect fiancé to engage and work with them.
Fiancé already had a concept in mind, so Invited helped him to put his concept down on paper for visualisation, acquired the flowers and production pieces, and, of course, did the actual day set-up.
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| Moodboard by Invited. |
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| Sketch by Invited. |
Invited are truly professionals - fiancé did not have to worry about a thing as they had his back with all the styling and they really did a perfect job in bringing his entire concept to life. I loved it so much. Too bad the entire set-up can't go home with me, other than the flowers and production pieces. Hehehe.
Invited
Website: http://www.invited.com.sg
Instagram: @invitedsg
Email: occasions@invited.com.sg
Contact Number: +65 9771 2011
Website: http://www.invited.com.sg
Instagram: @invitedsg
Email: occasions@invited.com.sg
Contact Number: +65 9771 2011
THE LITTLE DETAILS
All the preparations for the proposal went as far back as 2016, where fiancé first bought me my 1st charm bracelet from Thomas Sabo when we were in Australia. Little did I know, he had also secretly bought the “Marry Me” charm back then and kept it for 4 years before gifting it to me. Impressed that he didn’t lose it even after 4 years ok! Hahaha!
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| Taken by fiancé back in Melbourne in 2016. He insisted on taking this shot back then and now I know why. Hahaha! The charm was stuck onto the sky of this photo on the proposal day (see last photo). |
Aside from the charm, there was also the iconic Cinderella's glass slipper that fiancé had prepared for the ring sit on. He bought the glass slipper back in 2019 when we were in Tokyo Disneyland, and he had secretly requested the artisan at the shop to engrave "Will You Marry Me?" on it.
Piecing it all together, fiancé had also prepared some videos and snippets taken out from Disney's Cinderella animation and linked each of them to a respective "logo" he had created over the past 4 years. Those logos were on some gifts that he gave me over the last 4 years, with the last one being one of the canvases produced. Using AR technology, the "logos" came to live, presenting my very own Cinderella story. Honestly, it was very fascinating to see all of it coming together.
The video has to be the most complicated part because it took me quite some time to understand the process before I can put them down into words here. Hahaha.
With that said, fiancé started planning the proposal since 2016, and he really did catch me by surprise and melted my heart. I have always thought I wanted a huge proposal with huge gestures and a huge crowd to witness it all, but, turns out, I don't. Because I get (super) awkward and with that amount of crowd present that day, I was already feeling awkward. But, he knew that. He knew it way before I know that about myself.
Well, that is all. I hope that this post is informative enough for those who are looking for ideas / vendors to work with for their special day!
*P.S.: If you have any queries or simply want a second opinion, feel free to drop me a note or email. I will do my best to assist as much as I can. Why? Because I enjoy planning for such events (it's my passion), and because I can! Teehees!
For the happenings on the actual proposal day, just head over to my previous post to read about it. ❤️️
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