Inspired beginnings
Bespoke weddings take center stage at the Conrad Manila
When it comes to weddings, no details should be left to chance. From the ceremony’s venues to the reception’s menu, to the flower arrangements and dress color themes for the entourage and the ninangs and ninongs, every bit deserves the greatest scrutiny. And we’re not even talking about the wedding dress yet, which is perhaps the singular most important garment a bride would ever wear in her life. Getting married is, after all, a once in a lifetime experience. Usually, that is.
All these deserve the utmost care and preparation, which is why the Conrad Hotel in Manila is stepping up to be the most promising venue to celebrate the exchange of “I dos.” Recognized as the Best Wedding Hotel at the prestigious 2017 International Property Awards, Conrad Manila prides itself with offering a bespoke wedding experience to give newlyweds an inspired beginning as a married couple, as was showcased at the recent Conrad Manila Bridal Fair.
A bridal convention of sorts, the fair featured a host of wedding suppliers that cater to the various services necessary for a modern wedding, which nowadays include event organizers, photographers and videographers, flower arrangers, caterers, cake stylists, and of course, designers for the bride’s dress and the bridegroom’s suits. Each supplier offered a peak into what they offer, with booths and installations occupying the Conrad Manila’s ballrooms and overflowing into the hallways, displaying how perfect a bespoke wedding could be.
In the second afternoon of the event, guests were given a chance to listen to Conrad Manila’s celebrity chef
Jereme Leung as he gave a master class on the modern Chinese wedding menu. “A special wedding reception is a combination of many things,” Chef Jereme said in an exclusive interview. “To me, being a chef, obviously food is one of the most important elements. I certainly love wedding receptions that are a bit more modern.” To demonstrate just what he means by a modern wedding reception, select guests were later treated to a plated dinner at Conrad’s China Blue restaurant.
The menu included an appetizer of chilled marinated pomelo with jelly fish flower, oven-baked scallop with creamy white cheese sauce, and goose liver mousse served with cherries and squid ink crumbles. The soup, which Chef Jereme himself prepared, was a golden broth with 10-head abalone and dry fish lip, simmered for eight hours. For the main course, a plate of deep fried stuffed crab claw with mango salsa and seasonal greens was followed by a generous serving of braised US beef cheek with beancurd sheets and shimeji mushrooms, and a plate of leaf-wrapped roasted duck fried rice with taro dry shrimp.
A private bridal fashion show at the balcony of Conrad Manila’s presidential suite featured piña couture bridal gowns by renowned designer Veluz
Puno Reyes of Veluz Brides. Thanks to how the balcony was designed, the show felt like it was done on a cruise ship, with the Manila Bay sunset as a perfect backdrop. Simple yet stylishly elegant, the gowns by Veluz captured the modern bride looking her best for that singularly special moment. What makes that all possible is the amount of dedication and attention Veluz puts, not just in designing a gown, but on the bride herself.
“I need to know her!,” Veluz explained. “I need to get her trust. That’s the first thing that should happen. I need to get her trust, so I tell her: we’re going to work on this together, this is a custom dress, this is how I see you. If you don’t believe that this is the one, then let’s work on it together. But the design of the gown is something you can never compromise. It has to be perfect.” After all, the bride would only wear that once, Veluz said. “And that’s the beauty of custom. It is her.”
Recognized as the Best Wedding Hotel at the prestigious 2017 International Property Awards, Conrad Manila prides itself with offering a bespoke wedding experience to give newlyweds an inspired beginning.