Yesterday evening after work, we headed down to Marina Square for our dinner. And so happened that there was a Bridal Fair being held at the atrium. Being me, I cannot control myself from viewing what's on offer. Hesitantly I pulled Mike into the "trap"... hahaha... our 1st stop was at Bridal Zone (BZ).. at the initial stage, we weren't too impressed with what we saw but we sat down anyway. Trying our best to squeeze as much info as we could from them.. we tried to use it to our advantage as a bargaining tool. After a brief half hour, we figured that we got the info we needed and headed to grab some dinner. Whilst strolling across the atrium to the exit, a salesperson from another boutique "XYZ" stopped us. He was trying too hard to sell his new collection to us. So much so that it felt more like demanding us. As the saying goes, never stand in the way of a hungry man, or couple in our instance, we brushed him off and went to enjoy our comfort food: SUSHI!!!! *slurp* =P . We went back home with many thoughts in our mind but determined to make a 2nd trip down.
Just this afternoon we headed down to Tanjong Pagar Road to see for ourselves how true it is to the legends. We were in for a shock. The entire street is flocked with bridal houses. Literally! It kinda gave me the "brothel house" feel.... kekeke. You know what i mean? ..... "Sir, wanna have a look at our new collection?? All new... Come come.. have a look, dun be shy." You get what I mean.. the competition here is so saturated that it lies next door to each other. The only way to get customers in is by having someone outside to pull them in. We pity the poor fellow having to brave the crazy hot humid weather..well it's their job anyway...haha =P
With so many shops, we didnt know where to begin! It was a horrible feeling!! Like a kid in a candy store but you only get to choose ONE item...We took a quick breather at the nearest 7-11 and formed up our plan... After much discussion, we decided to go in to the nearest one from where we are...Directly opposite the 7-11.. Lame huh???... hehehe.. "ABC" Bridal House Nice layout, beautiful gowns, stinky sales man (because he smoked). We went in anyway, to beat the heat...Got free aircon, why not?? In the next hour or so, both of us sat there as if we will be signing the package.. Enquiring on what their service is all about.. blah blah blah. However the guy seems to be avoiding one thing. the $$$ factor. No wonder, in the end the package he was selling for was at $3388 +++. Sounds nice huh.. sam sam fatt fatt.. but not nice to our wallets at all. With such pricing, it does not even compete with the ones we saw at the Bridal Fair in Marina Sq. Soon, he started to be a little impatient and the hard selling took over. Slashing of prices did not seems to be one of the option. At this point, it was time for us to make the exit.. However without trying to be bad... we excuse ourselves with respect. Instead of being professional and cool about it, the threat comes in. Not like they are putting us at gun point la.. but I think he is doing too much to get us sign for the package. That is a very wrong move from him.. "I understand you guys need to talk in private.. here, I'll leave u guys alone to talk it out for a while and I'll come back later"... WTF?? I wanna go home AND decide. Not decide NOW. The whole goodwill factor just disappear. I just wanted to leave. After much persuasion, we made it out the door..FINALLY!! At the end of the day, my personal mission wasn't accomplished. I WANTED TO TRY A GOWN! Seemed like his gowns were too precious to be worn not to mention touch/browse.. End of the drama.. Back we went, to the Bridal Fair in hopes and search for a better package.
We left the house at 1.30pm, reached Tanjong Pagar at about 2.30pm.. when we checked our watches, it was after 4pm!! Precious time wasted, not productive at all. Well at least we know how to bargain for more..Off we went... One shop was enough to represent the rest there. Afterall it is still the $$ that draws us to the package..Having to plan an elaborate wedding without crossing our budget is stressing us out to the MAX.
Back at the Bridal Fair in Marina Sq.. the catwalk show had already started and was nearing the end. We try to squirm our way into the crowd so that we could get a better look. Only managed to view about 10mins of the show...*Shrugs* Oh well... The booth(from BZ) was like a beehive.. with so many ppl buzzing around for the best bargain, we headed up to their showroom for a quick glance at their selection of gowns available. As much as we thought we still wanna browse around, our minds were pretty much settled for BZ. We liked what we saw and it was only the details that we needed to settle. Back at the booth, we managed to look through the rest of the albums that they had.. Without the pressure of being pushed, we felt comfortable looking at what we wanted.. Drinks, food, attention.. we had everything. Backed with the info we collected from "ABC" Bridal House, we tried to negotiate what we could into the already filled package. To our surprise, not only did they happily agree to it, they threw in even more. Needless to say, we signed up in the end with a smile that could scare Joker away.
Finally the burden seemed to drop completely off our shoulders. Almost everything is settled and we can concentrate on something even more stressful. Our HOUSE. I'm not gonna say too much about that now.. In fact i think i already mentioned too much. Hahaha..
Well here are some of the freebies we got from the Bridal Fair.. with a purchase of the latest bridal mag from Her World. Enjoy!!
1. The mag of course 2. Tissue box cover from Tea 3. Evening pouch/clutch 4. Dunno how many packets of Asience shampoo/conditioner 5. Manicure set 6. CD 7. Home Deco mag 8. Make-over 9. A cover shot (where there's a chance to win some more goodies if we get voted Most Photogenic Couple). 10. Sample pack of Ralph Lauren Romance perfume.
Here's a pic of me doing my free make-over...
Here's a up-close shot of us...Leng right???
Alright then..till the next post...
Love,
Peggy & Mike
