5 tips on working with our wedding caterer by wedding knots

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, 

I wanted to share a part of our wedding journey that was really memorable.

And here's something for all you valentine couples tying the knot or planning to say your "I dos".

This is my first in depth post post-wedding wise, 

as we were sharing most of our journey on instagram.

But I felt this deserves a post on its own to share a little more of my next biggest interest, after Roy.

Food!

When it comes to food, 

my eyes naturally light up and it was such a big part of our wedding!

Trust me when I say so,

cos we had like 5-6 different tastings! 

Even up to a month before the wedding! 

Nope I wasn't a starving bride-to-be,

but a super excited foodie bride who wants to savour everything before the wedding!

So let's say you've chosen a caterer, 

that's where the real fun happens...

here are 5 tips on how to curate your perfect wedding menu with your caterer!

The caterer of our choice for our church wedding was Wedding Knots by Lavish;

from the moment we spoke to the tastings to the actual set up and luncheon itself,

it was deliciously divine! 

We were so impressed during the tasting,

that Roy's parents decided to hire them for our tea ceremony luncheon at his place too!

1: Know Your Venue

As we decided to have Wedding Knots cater for our church wedding at the Cathedral of Good Shepard,

First and foremost, we had to head down with the team to view the reception venue. 

Given the space constrain, 

 a standing buffet with pass around canapes would fit best

Working with churches or places of worship might have some restrictions,

hence always check with the hosting venue and don't make any assumptions.

Such as usage of available space, 

electrical points that are usable for the caterers (or if there is any electrical points), 

holding area for the preparation and clearing of food and cutleries. 

Wedding Knots were really experienced to suggest a outdoor-indoor set up to maximise the limited reception space we had.

Which also helped to disperse the crowd and not be too overcrowded in the indoor area.

We had the drinks "reception" area on the outside which they really dressed the drinks crate up making it an interesting booth for our guests to stand around and get a drink to cool down.

2: What Works Best For Your Budget

Other than space constraints, budget is something to keep in mind and know that with every budget, you can make the best of it and enjoy a memorable wedding lunch/dinner.
We choose a butler pass canapes and live stations set up for the church reception that could range around $50-$90 per pax. With a butler pass menu, we had customised canapes tailored especially to our favourite foods! Like Roy's favourite Chicken Rice Sushi, Beef Rib Kong bak Bao, and my favourites like Sweet and Savoury pancakes. What we loved about Wedding Knots was their thoughtfulness to customise foods we like, and unique live stations menu, instead of the usual suspects you get in a buffet. And you can be sure that even buffets at $20 per pax come with quality and decent servings that is sure to please! 

And on a personal recommendation, do order their signature Laksa! No regrets!

And if you have chosen a space that allows for a sit down wedding dinner,

Wedding Knots also provide sit down lunch/dinner course at a reasonable $120-180 per pax, inclusive of set up!! Wow! That's like your very own hotel wedding dinner without the hotel price tag.

3: Be Our Guest

A big deciding factor throughout our wedding process was to ensure that our guests had fun and enjoy themselves.

And as much as a wedding is for the couple and their families, it's for their friends too.

Get to know your guest and identify their preference. 

Such as their age group and will there be more guys or ladies.

Why you might ask. 

Since Wedding Knots were the caterers for our church ceremony, 

we were expecting a younger group of friends as most of the dinner guests were for our parents' friends.

With a younger group of guest, Wedding Knots suggested more adventurous Modern Asian fusion menu, such as the  Beef  Rib Kong Bak Bao,

But if you'd ask me, i think it's better than the older version!

As we were expecting more ladies too, Wedding Knots curated an elaborate and pristinely designed dessert spread. Instagrammably pretty unicorn cake pops and Duo Popsicles with White Chocolate Raspberry for her and Milk Chocolate Orange Popsicles for him.

And of course live stations!

Everyone loves the interaction at live stations and it brings your usual buffet spread to a new level.

They've made eating at weddings an experience for both you and your guests.

4: Dos and Don'ts

Dietary restrictions are a tricky one.

In the midst of all the hectic planning and getting all excited over the menu,

do keep all of your guests in mind.

We almost had menu slip up, forgetting to cater for our vegetarian friends. 

Cos Roy and I were all oohhing and aahhing over the proposed beefy and meaty savoury delights, we forgot we had a couple of vegetarian friends to cater for! 

Thank to our wedding planner who worked with Wedding Knots on a last min notice to get that settled!

Phew!!!

So yes, do keep your muslim and vegetarian friends in mind and let the catering team work their magic. 

5: Theme

What we really loved about Wedding Knots, wasn't just the food but the whole set up!

Most buffets we get, come in the same ole' copious amounts of food in metal chafing dishes, all lined up in a buffet line. And in order to make the food line anything remotely beautiful (especially since it's your once in a life time wedding), you'd have to crack your heads and either get a wedding stylist or get a deco team on board to prettify the whole ambience (as if you don't have enough on your mind already). 

But with Wedding Knots, they've got it all covered!

Yeaps you heard it right!

The whole set up!

They actually have a wide range of props in house just for wedding set ups! Be assured of a buffet line that's instagram worthy and not your average food line. 

Do share with them your theme and preferences, 

perhaps an oriental theme? rustic? tropical?

head over to their instagram page to check out some of their pretty dope set ups! 

guys, there's something for you too!

spotted a Star Wars theme with an R2D2 on display too.

Here are my 5 take aways from working with the Wedding knots team on a really memorable church reception. To find out more on their extensive menus and work on your very own customised food theme, check out Wedding Knots 

cook off for our masterchef bday boy

 This year is huge!! the fiancee and I are getting married PLUS we turn the 3! (in my dreams.....)

30!!!

Thing is we don't feel the least bit like 30, or how is 30 supposed to feel anyways? 

Me thinks keep having fun and keep that energy up whatever our age may be.

As they say it's all in the mind, if the mind don't matter, it all don't matter.

Which take me back to a couple of months when i threw the fiancee a surprise 30th birthday party. 

So we did the dinner with family, the romantic steak dinner, but here's the fun part.

This surprise got Cooky Inc, his friends, and my cousins to help pull it off for our masterchef Roy Fong.

I decided to throw his surprise at Cookyn Inc cos ever since he knew how much I love food, and through our favourite tv series since eons such as Masterchef, Hell's Kitchen, and now Chef's Table; He's always raving how much he loves to cook and idolises Gordon Ramsey. With a spatula in hand, and friends who are game, we decided to surprise our boy with a cook off!! 

Phew managed to decoy him into Cookyn Inc and let the fires begin!

We were split into 2 teams~guys vs. girls

Spanish vs. Vietnamese

2 mains 

1 mystery dish

90 mins

Before we got started, they fed us well with fries and some tidbits, and the guys said thats probably gonna be our dinner cos they don't trust us girls to cook! Oiiiiiiii........

Cookyn Inc is definitely way more than just a cook off, cos I too was surprised! I thought we came to cook, but they had some surprise team building challenges which involved some pretty daring guts. Enuff' said cos you're gonna have to experience yourself fully to FULLY enjoy it > <

More importantly the food!! 

We girls got the Vietnamese menu which consisted of 

Baked juicy chicken thigh with Asian lemongrassraspberry dressing

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Mystery Box Challenge 

(which we made a dessert)

One of my favourite dish if the night was our very own baked chicken and the guys chocolate churros. Which I'll share the recipe at the end. 

So you'd might think, after eating can just eat right?

NOOOOOO

 

There's the plating and the menu description to our competing team and the facilitators. 

After which there's there tasting to be done by the facilitators while we finally chow down on our own handmade dinners.

Not to worry for future goers, the food will definitely be edible thanks to the facilitators who will walk through every step with you. And ensure they your food and hair won't get burnt down, or inedible raw food, or walk away hungry. Thanks to them, we actually have a legit and decent dinner for 12.

What we really enjoyed at Cookyn inc was their whole package of fun and team work. Instead of a typical dinner celebration or night out with friends, they've managed to tie in fun, food, team spirit, lots of laughter and surprises, let down your hair and throw in lots of creative juices. Really an all in one package that is simply memorable. The facilitators were  a really important ingredient too, they were energetic, knowledgeable about how to cook what to cook when to cook, friendly and so helpful. It's one experience where you'll definitely have fun and sure to build a stronger team spirit and cohesion! I look forward to coming back here again :)

Here are 2 of my favourite recipes we tried and tested for the evening and hope you have fun with them :) 

Baked juicy chicken thigh with Asian lemongrassraspberry dressing

Serves 10 small portions

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons of soya sauce

5 pieces of boneless chicken leg

100g of salad leaves

2 tablespoons sugar

Salt and pepper to season

4 tablespoons of olive oil

For the sauce:

The white stem of 2 lemongrass stalks, minced

5 shallots or 2 red onions, minced

2 tablespoons of raspberry vinegar

2 chillis, minced with seeds

Juice of 1 large lime

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Task / Directions for preparation:

1. Preparation of sauce

- In a small blender, blend all the ingredients for the sauce until well combined and

set aside to allow flavours to develop.

2. Preparation of chicken

- Season the chicken with sugar, salt, soya sauce and pepper.

- Bake in preheated oven (230 degrees celcius) for 12 minutes.

- Switch to broil mode for 2 mins (constant monitoring required).

- Using meat thermometer, insert into thickest part of meat and ensure that meat is

at 73 degrees celcius.

3. Plating

- Add two tablespoon of cooked chicken juices into chilli sauce, stir to combine.

- Plate chicken over some salad leaves before spooning some sauce over.

- Serve immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crispy Churros with Warm Chocolate Dip

Makes 20 small churros

Ingredients for cinnamon sugar coating

5 tablespoons castor sugar

2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

Ingredients for churro dough

1 cup plain flour

1 cup self-raising flour

20g of salted butter

1 3/4 cups of boiling water (from pot on stove)

Vegetable oil, for deep frying

Ingredients for warm chocolate dip

80g dark chocolate couverture

1/3 cup of whipping cream

1/3 cup of milk

1 tablespoon of sugar

30g of salted butter

Task / Directions for preparation:

1. Making the cinnamon sugar

- Mix cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and reserve.

2. Making the chocolate dip

- Melt the sugar with the cream, milk and butter and heat over medium heat until

completely smooth.

- Add the hot cream mixture into the chocolate covertures along with the liquor until

the chocolate completely dissolves and smooth.

3. Making the churros

- Sift the 2 flours into a large heatproof bowl with a pinch of salt .

- Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add in butter to melt.

- Make a well in the flour, then pour boiling water and butter in.

- Mix with a wooden spoon for about a minute until the dough is soft and sticky to the

touch.

- Place a star-shaped tip into a piping bag.

- Fill piping bag with churro batter.

4. Cooking of churros

- Squeeze out about 6cm long churros into the deep fryer (you can use a chopstick to

scrape off each churro end).

- Fry for about 2 minutes, or until golden and drain on kitchen towels.

5. Serving

- Coat warm churros in cinnamon sugar, and dust off excess.

- Serve churros immediately with warm chocolate dip.

Asus on the go

 I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm skyving right now, writing this to you from Cheryl W. Jurong Point outlet, in between meetings. I was rushing outta the house this morning, with my handbag, CNY goodies, water bottle, packed lunch, gosh so many bags and things I feel like an auntie rushing off to work with all these bags. With such a heavy load I'm lugging around today, I've got absolutely no hands and space to lug another laptop bag or case around. So I slipped my newest work buddy, the ASUS ZenBook 3 into my handbag and it fits!!! No need an extra case or bag and my bag isn't bulging, weighing me down, plus I've still got my wallet, vitamins, books all in my handbag. Plus the only part on me right now that's giving me the reassurance that I've got my girlboss image on point is my ASUS ZenBook3. Without which, I'm gonna get sucked in to the "auntie mode" with all the bag on me right now.  Thanks for saving my image ASUS.

This is pretty much my daily load *except for the CNY goodies, whenever I'm working at the outlet. Though I'm very much a conventional person, with my notebooks, paper, pen and physical notes with me all the time, having a laptop on hand is my safety net to have and to hold at work. Drafting out commission schemes, outlet incentives, weekly rankings, and loads of admin work to be done, my laptop is a must. As of course for the occasional online shopping and random surfing to chill from work for a bit. 

When I'm on shoot, my load would be totally different and stuffed with clothes, makeup, snacks on hand, scripts perhaps, and now with Cheryl W. on hand, my laptop has gotta follow wherever I go, so I can work from wherever and whenever. Saves time while waiting on set and also running a business, is a 24/7 job, you'll never know when you need what you need to answer and respond to whoever you need to.

That said, I'm so thankful ASUS sent their latest ZenBook3 over. Its lightweight and sleek look fits perfectly into my handbag, and doesn't add a whole load of extra weight, weighing me down or cause any strain to my shoulder even if i sling my handbag. yeaps its that light! Plus its long battery life means I'm not carrying the charger around right now. Nope! I have no charger now, cos charging it the night before to full batt can last me pretty much half a day, and sufficient for a day's use at work or on shoot. 

This laptop lifestyle is made a whole lot easier when the tools I need is made so portable, making multi-tasking and mobile productivity a lot easier. Truly managed to appreciate this case in point at shoot last weekend. I was contemplating if I should bring my ZenBook3, since it's the weekend and I've settled most of my work, *thinking of throwing work outta my mind/sight* but I brought it along anyways, to catch up on this tv series I'm onto right now~ "The Crown". Just when I thought, hair's done; makeup's done; yay I can steal sometime and watch my show before we start........

Just then, the bosses said they needed some year-end figures and reports -__-

Luckily, I have everything the bosses need saved right here in front of me. Or else I'd have to work through the night. So really, I felt so happy I could save time and do what I need and once I'm done I can get back to watching my show, and shoot.
You know that nagging feel of work undone. That frustrating feeling can be undone when you have the mobility and capability to get things done anywhere anytime with little effort require. And that's the satisfaction and security I get when I have my ASUS ZenBook 3 with me. Be it some last min work to hand in, figures that the bosses need when I'm on shoot or just a trusty accompaniment for my leisure purposes. The ASUS ZenBook 3 has got me covered.

Get your hands on the ASUS ZenBook 3 that's available now at all ASUS brand stores and authorised retailers, starting from $1998. Log on here to find out more on the ASUS ZenBook 3

eye love estee lauder

Chinese New Year is one of my favorite festivities of all time. With all the food, feasting, family gatherings, catching up with friends and lohei, it's like 15 full days of FULL of entertainment work. Serious foodie work that's more hectic than regular work days. 

Think most of you will agree than as much as we love our CNY, it can get pretty tiring too. Plus with all the goodies, fried and junk food and sweets, all these treats do take a toll on our skin. 

Be it before your head off to work or a lohei lunch or back from a full day of visiting and the office, taking some ME time off is a treat you've gotta give yourself in between all that feasting and meet ups to stay up top on your CNY game. I usually spend my ME times scrolling through instagram feeds or youtube video, but this too puts a strain on my eyes. So I've been trying to change my ME time to some light reading and just chillin' with a face mask or eye mask. Something which doesn't involve food, the phone, or any electronic gadgets of sorts. 

This year I intend to keep to my resolution and come outta CNY looking good and youthful; be gone tired looking eyes and skin. The beauty gurus of Estee Lauder sent over some beauty goodies over this CNY  to combat my tired eyes, their New Advanced Night Repair Concentrated Recovery Eye Mask. A targeted eye mask with repair technology and triple-layer fresh delivery system for a refreshed and youthful look in just 10mins.

Whats so unique about this eye mask?

This system boasts high-performance eye pads that are saturated on application when you lightly push the serum into the eye pads offering a sustained release and targeted delivery for the eyes only.  The effects are amazing in just mins! It really moistures and plump my skin up, it's so gentle even on my sensitive dry skin. 

This gentle and highly concentrated eye treatment delivers 20x more of Advanced Night Repair's proven ingredients. Your delicate skin around your eyes which are 40% thinner and more delicate is bathed in Lady Thistle, White Birch, Rice Bran Extract, and Hylauronic Acid to soothe and retain moisture deep within the skin's surface.

This new packaging that separates the mask and serum may be slim in packaging but mega on its dosage that's equal to 1/4 bottle worth of hydrating, soothing and repair active of ANR eye gel creme.  It also boasts 10x faster penetration due to its new matrix technology.

How shall we get cracking?
Gently push and "break" the serum into the paper mask and let it fuse into the paper mask.

Open the sealed packaging and leave it under your eyes for 10mins.

After 10 mins, peel off one side and admire at your dewy looking eyes and skin.
Apply on some ANR eye gel.
Then it's time for some eye aerobics.

Gently pat in the hydrating serum and add the gel creme around your eyes and tap it into your eyes like you would with your fingers when playing the piano.
And in 10mins you'll have refresh, relax and dewy eyes. All ready for your next CNY party and VDay too :) What are you waiting for?
Estee Lauder is having a trial at all Estee Lauder counters until the 14 Feb. Hurry down and let your eye do the talking this Day.