Messages At Midnight: Sofitel Luxury Wedding Fair

"When the Titanic is sinking, you don't stand there and scream at the iceberg. You run for the lifeboats." - Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond

International & Local Vendors Group Shot (LiveStudios)

The 1st Luxury Wedding Fair - The Art Of Celebrating Weddings At The Sofitel Phnom Penh Pokeethra has come to an end. Whilst the days pre-fair were rather chaotic and disastrous, the fair was successfully held and finally closed on a very high note. A romantic one at that. This blogpost is going to be a long one, but rather personal and I hope inspiring to all.

On the 2nd June 2011, all the international vendors - Beauty Haven, Carven Ong Couture, La Flaire Malaysia, LiveStudios, Marsio Timeless Productions, Kid Chan Photography, Janet Lee and Acadia Cards were scheduled to arrive and have a relaxing lunch and welcome briefing before the press conference takes place. Unfortunately, it being Cambodia and all, there was a big issue with the customs clearance of the decor products from La Flaire and ended up with the group being delayed for 2 whole hours. What a welcome, eh?

Nevertheless, they all arrived safely - minus the decor items - and we had a really great press conference. (Marsio - I apologize again for missing you out in the intro! OMG! How could I have missed such a big man??) The media had strings of questions and none were taken from the pre-planned guided media Q&As. It was good to see my industry friends from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia again and it was also great to connect with wedding vendors from Cambodia, some we've worked with and some we haven't - Artworx Studio, iFriend Studio, Silk & Pepper (who supported us at our TWP launch too), Water Lily (Christine is a really funny and fun woman!), Romyda Keth, Khmer Angkor Jewellery (From grandpa Kim Seng to the grandchild, the entire family was super-nice), Bite Production, LiveWire and Royal Jazz Band - who were all very supportive and excited right from the start with the fair and have been darlings to work with throughout the preparation stages.

The workshops scheduled on the 3rd June were also great successes. Starting with the hair & beauty workshop by Beauty Haven for the local models who will be donning Carven's new collection and also Romyda Keth's bridal collection which had all the models learning the art of natural-looking make-up and they were eating right off Cindy's hands throughout the workshop. The photography and videography workshops were more of an informal coffee-table discussion between the international vendors with the local vendors - more of a skills-sharing and cultural exchange session - which was the whole idea of the workshop. We were not here to show them we are better than them. We are here to learn from them and vice-versa. This question was actually raised during the PC :)

The no-show of the decor items was nerve-wrecking all through the night and the day and even as myself and my local team kept chasing for the updates, there was little that we can do. I think one thing people need to understand when working in Cambodia is to know that sometimes, even the staff at a luxury hotel can have its set-backs. A lot of times, instructions are lost in translation and we don't get what we want, when we want it. What we need to do is to be flexible and find other means and ways to get what we want. A very good example was the fact that the hotel was reminded 6 times to make sure the flowers were brought to the ballroom before 12noon, but the flowers never showed till 4pm. Of course, many an hour were wasted from the wait. And it's not like Yaku from the hotel (who is another absolute darling to work with and I am grateful for his support) didn't crack his whip. He did. But what can you do? You can stand there and scream and shout but it doesn't solve the problem. I've learnt this many times the hard way, having been here for 3 years now.

Friday was fire-fighting all through the day and I was hell-bent on running for the lifeboats. I sure as hell ain't sinking with the damn ship and I sure as hell will not stand there screaming at the bloody icebergs. I am the "Cambodian" here. I regrouped my boys - Udom, Samneang & Sovann and launched a new plan of attack. My boys have been with me since Day 1 and while they have a long way to go, they have come a long way too. We engaged all of the Mango Rain's BAs to standby for the set-up - anticipating the late arrival of the decor items from customs. I am glad that my other business here in Cambodia gives me a pool of manpower to steal from at my whim and fancy for emergencies like these :P My BAs, they came at a moment's notice. I may be the fierce mother of a biatch with them when training them, but they are willing to stand alongside me in battle and I know gratitude where gratitude is needed. But the credit of the bond between management and these BAs have to be given to my local team. Basically, I am proud of all of them. They are now skilled florists - according to Bryan from O'hara.

For me, I was also grateful and touched to see all the other international vendors lending a helping hand to ensure the event turns out as spectacular as it can be. I am of course absolutely thankful that aside from my local team, my Nupts & Such team was here too - in the form of Cindy & Carolyn who were supposed to represent Beauty Haven. They were rock solid throughout - and even when they lost their luggage (since the hotel van decided to tour the town with their luggage!) - they didn't bother me with it. And they were there, cleaning flowers in the ballroom since 2pm right till after midnight. Another person I am eternally grateful to is Bryan. He came - supposedly on a holiday, but ended up working on the flowers despite the one-arm set-back. He was the man of the hour - when there were not enough flowers for him, he was flexible enough to change his floral designs. When we couldn't find ribbons, he made do with some straws. My utmost respect for him. And has to be made known - he had no logo up anywhere at all. Yet, he fought alongside. And then of course, there were my brother, Sue Yee (his now fiance as you all know) and Keam Hong who worked the hardest. NOW - in what capacity were they attending the fair? They are actually La Flaire's business investors. There was no need for them to lift a finger even. But in support of his sister, they all became overnight florists.

I am also thankful to Janet Lee who also helped with the floral arrangements and missed a night out with the rest, Keet from Carven Ong Couture who also stayed past midnight to help "poke" flowers as she put it. And then there was Marsio - the award-wining photographer and videographer from Indonesia who came to help as well. Well, not exactly him, but his wife, Mimi - who helped with folding of napkins and the flowers too. Aunty Debra helped too in the afternoon with the cleaning of roses. To all of you who helped, who came in to the ballroom to give moral support, I am truly grateful to each and everyone of you. If there be another time where you will need my helping hand, if it is within my powers and capabilities, I will be there.

As a result of so many people jumping onto lifeboats and rescuing the situation, the set-up was almost all ready by 4am in the morning and by 11am - we were absolutely ready for the Grand Opening. I cannot thank all of you enough. First - for your support in coming for the wedding fair, and secondly, for coming to the rescue. Orkun Charan!

The crowd for both days were more than expected and there were genuine enquiries. I hope for all partner-vendors that this is a good sign for businesses coming your way from Cambodia. On a selfish note - it is because I would of course like to see you back in Cambodia too! Janet Lee, as always, charmed her way into the Cambodian's hearts (and has an extremely big photo coverage in the Phnom Penh Post on the 6th June!) Everyone had fun, I would say, despite fatigue. Carven Ong was ill but managed to join us on the 2nd day. It was also a good avenue for networking - as I saw the photogs very busy promoting their FB pages :) But overall, I'm glad it all went well. I am happy to also have connected with some new local vendors that we have never worked with before. Mr. Kim Seng from Khmer Angkor Wat Jewellery made me the loveliest handmade brooch and he gave it to me hot from the oven. It was so sweet of him. The brooch is truly one-of-a-kind and I absolutely love it. Overall, the jive and vibe throughout with everyone, both local and international vendors alike were great. There were some photogs who came in as part of the crowd and tried to get a tip or two from the photographers at the fair and most of them were only too happy to share. THESE are exactly the type of things to see and be inspired from.

And then, we ended on a very high and romantic note - a wedding proposal. Of course, this wasn't impromptu. It was pre-planned since the 'proposer' was my bro. Everyone of the vendors had a downright good laugh and made fun of his nerves and jittery trembles. On behalf of my brother, Ernie, for all who were involved in the conspiracy, I thank you all. (Crikey! I am chalking up a favour-debt!!). Marsio, Willy, Kid - for documenting the moment. Bryan - ONCE AGAIN - who created the very meaningful bouquet : 3 pink roses for I Love You, 9 white roses for eternal love, purple eustomas surrounding the bouquet to symbolize giving the girl an entire lifetime of romance. Bryan even brought the 3 diamantes all the way from Penang. Thank you to Janet too for doing the Opening Song - all a part of the entire "act". When Ernie sang "What Are Words" by Chris Medina - it brought almost everyone to tears - even the big, big Marsio :) A true romantic wedding videographer, perhaps. I'm happy to be a part of the first step in my brother's once-in-a-lifetime moment. It had been fun as I recall the times I helped him sort out the ring, the words, the plans - all the way from here in Cambodia. Well, that was a pretty high note, I would say. :)

Once again, I would like to thank ALL for their support of me and The Wedding Planners to put together one of the best wedding fairs in Cambodia - Artworx Studio, iFriend Studio, Romyda Keth, Khmer Angkor Jewellery, Water Lily, Silk & Pepper, Royal Jazz Band, Bite Production, Livewire, Beauty Haven, Janet Lee, La Flaire, Kid Chan Photography, LiveStudios, Marsio Timeless Production, Carven Ong Couture and Acadia Cards. Together, we CAN.

I am also thankful to the powers out there for answering my prayers :) And very nearly forgot to thank MOH for helping out too!!