NYE @ Loewy, Jakarta

2 words - Crazy, Cool. That pretty much sums up our NYE gig at Loewy, Jakarta. Me & Felix (upright double bass) had the most unreal experience from the word go. Flying in from Singapore to Jakarta on the night of the 30th, we knew nothing of what to expect. All I knew about Jakarta was gleaned from the few horror stories I had been told by more experienced travellers. What we met with was way, way, way, way, waaaaaay, beyond our expectations!

Ayu, Loewy's super helpful, bubbly representative picked us up from the airport and straight to Loewy for a briefing, but not before she made triple sure that we weren't too tired. Once at Loewy, we were in the safe hands of Renita, uber cool marketing chick-in-charge. The place was buzzing with a too cool vibe and we were immediately impressed by the chic decor and exquisite service.

Felix and I worked hard through the night to make sure we had all our materials sorted out. Next day, we met up with Nikita, our guitarist from Jakarta who would make up the last third of our trio, before heading to Loewy for sound check & prep.

*GASP*

When we arrived at the bistro, the entire Loewy crew of 60 people was already hard at work putting the place together for the night's party. We were expecting a full house and no detail was going to be spared.

When the first guests walked through the doors at 7pm, we were at the ready. Between 7.30pm and 11pm, our jazz trio kept the mood comfortable with a pleasing mix of old school jazz and bossanova tunes. We covered familiar numbers like La Vie en Rose, My Cherie Amour, and even did a bossa rendition of Bizarre Love Triangle.

I'll be frank with you, it seems like anything that could've gone wrong on this assignment pretty much did go wrong. But together with the ever so calm & collected Renita, Yours Truly & Loewy banded together to make magic happen! And I'm really proud of us because stuff WILL crop up. The important thing is how you deal with it 'cause the show must go on! HUGE thanks due here to everyone who helped us in some way or other, including Renita & crew, Robert and Donny. Personal thanks going out from me to Felix & Niki for being such troopers :)

If anyone of you reading ever visits Jakarta, you HAVE to pay Loewy a visit. Great food coupled with excellent service at affordable prices in an amazingly charming setting, what more could you ask for? Just remember to tell them that you read this rave review on www.yourstruly.com.sg ;) Meanwhile, you can watch a short clip of the night's performance here:

Happy New Year ya'll! Have a smashing 2010 :D

xoxo,

Dawn

Victor & Niko's Wedding @ Meritus Mandarin

From the Bride...
"Thank you for the wonderful performance. Everyone enjoyed themselves at the event :)"


***

Check out Niko's super cool purple gown! I wouldn't expect anything less from this spunky bride who strut down the aisle to Wondergirls' Nobody :)



Their dinner guests were no less enthusiastic. The groom's uncle was all pumped up from the minute he saw the band! In his own words, "I was so sad when I heard that there wasn't going to be a band. I almost didn't want to come! I'm so happy to see (your band) here!" Said uncle was later spotted on stage shimmying to the sounds of 'sway' and '甜蜜蜜'.







Thank for having us Victor & Niko! And happy marriage :D

xoxo,
dawn

Belinda & Ivan's Wedding @ Hyatt, Hibiscus Room

Kewei on vox
Ein on keys
Little Cousin (extreme left) is my new best friend

Hi Kewei
Great to hear from u!
Have requested the pics from Bryan/Jean, shld receive them next week, will then send to u.

Anyway am v glad to have had u and Ein at our wedding!
You have no idea how many compliments you gals received! Certainly it would not have been the same had we just burned a CD
The only thing we regret is being away from the function room so often, could not be there long enuf to hear you gals belt out all the songs. The dedication slips are a nice touch too, we are definitely keeping the messages for memory's sake!

Have a blessed new yr! Hope to 'hear' and see you gals soon!
And btw, heard our little cousin 'molested' u while we were taking the group pic? Hahaa sorry abt that!

Cheers!
Belinda and Ivan

Post Christmas, we had so much fun at this wedding! :)

Belinda and Ivan had booked us long long time back,
and it was good to finally meet them!

His little cousin made my day, fussing around my laptop like my own Personal Assistant, checking out all the dedications that were passed to myself.

Their guests were also terribly enthusiastic with the many dedications,
and I believe it was the festive mood that was lingering in the air still :)

We also had a great time working with Aaron Lim as their videographer, and BryanJean Photography, after which we hung out for a fabulous supper! :)

Pictures courtesy of Aaron Lim, who is the videographer for the night! :)

Alen & Michelle's Wedding @ Four Seasons

Kewei & Leon on vox
Ein on keys
Lim Hui on violin
Wah Yong on double bass

Kewei

Everything was great, loads on compliments from the guests. Too bad I wasnt around enough to enjoy the music, seems like my guest had more of you than I had.

Am still waiting for the photos from the Photographer, once avail.. I'll definately send some to you.

Once again, thanks for the great entertainment provided. Now all I hope for is that my dont look too red in the photo with the band... hahahaha

Take care and keep in touch.

Regards
Alen

Alen was soooo super busy while preparing for his wedding and juggling his work at the same time, flying in and out of Singapore - but he still wanted to have us at his wedding regardless!






It was a joyous party of a wedding, and I relished playing with a 3pc band of the piano, double-bass and violin!


Thank you for having us! :)

Andy & Emma's Wedding @ Raffles Hotel Casuarina Suites

Kexin on Vocals,
Wah Yong on Bass,
Niq Osman on Drums
and Spencer on guitar.
(There were so many people taking pictures of us, it explains the confused and distracted look on our faces haha)

I just got back from the wedding and it was so mindblowingly high that I absolutely must get down to blogging!

It was my first time singing for a westerner couple's wedding and it was definitely the most happening and exciting wedding i've ever done!

Firstly, the repertoire for the night was tailor-made to suit the dancefloor.
Unlike the usual chinese wedding dinners, the band was a special segment meant just for the guests and the couple to enjoy themselves as they sway to funky tunes!

Because the couple was from UK, they lovee rock music and they had chosen a couple of U2 and coldplay songs; the repertoire of the night included Fix you by Coldplay, Vertigo by U2, Champagne Supernova and Wonderwall by Oasis, Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia by ABBA, and a handful of Stevie Wonder's songs like My Cherie Amour, You're the sunshine of my life, Superstition...

The band started off playing Can't fight this feeling by REO SpeedWagon for their first dance and it was such a romantic sight seeing them melt into each others' arms in embrace as they dance to the music...
then chaos broke loose as we continued further into the set, with Emma and Andy's baby girl running around amok on the dance floor.
She was seriously the cutest thing!
She was so interested in the drum set that Niq let her try on his drums for a while and before long, everyone was busy snapping away at her! (wait till i get my hands on the photos...)

We then started off our second set with Vertigo by U2 and it was just awesome!
We almost had a mini rock concert with Spencer rockin' out during his electric guitar solo,even though there were only 15 guests (yes a very intimate dinner it was), the atmosphere was brought to an absolute high and everyone was enjoying themselves to the fullest!

The "concert" ended with the song, Can't take my eyes off you and i got everyone down to dancefloor.
The guests were all really enthusiastic, singing along and they formed this huge circle around Andy & Emma with their baby girl. When i reached the end of the song, the entire circle gathered tight to give the lovely couple and their baby a hugeee group hug...
AWWWWW...

It was definitely one of the most memorable wedding i have ever done before. It was a hugee pity i didn't manage to get any picture taken.. But even then pictures could not describe how crazy the night was!
Thank you Emma & Andy for giving us this ROCKOUT wedding experience that was both so heartwarming and crazily fun! The band really enjoyed ourselves!

Hope we'll meet again someday and hope you get to stay in Singapore too in the future!

Cheers,
kexin

Horng Woei & Clara's Wedding @ Grand Copthorne Waterfront, Grand Ballroom

Kewei on vox
Ein on keys
Wahyong on double-bass

Hi Ginny / Kewei,

Happy New Year!!

I have transferred the remaining amount of $712.50 to your POSB account. Please do check and let me know if you received.

We would really like to thank Kewei, Ein Ein and Wah Yong for such a really nice performance on our big day. We really loved the band's performance, especially Kewei's singing.

Our guests really enjoyed themselves, and we have already recommended Yours Truly to our family and friends. Some of them have already asked for your contacts.

As for the pictures, we're still waiting for our photographer to pass the pictures to us.

Will email them to you once we get them. Think our photographer's very busy with lots of weddings over this period too.

We think the dedications were done really well, and we are really happy to see that so many people dedicated songs. Wondering if we could you all still remember the entire song list that you all played that night? Do let us know if you can remember. Some of our guests were asking for the song list.. =) Both of us would also love to know all the songs that Kewei sang that day too Smile emoticon

Thanks also for working with my cousin Sulyn too for her songs. She wanted me to let you all know she had fun working with you guys. Hope you all had a good time performing with her too.

Btw, was reading about Kewei and Ein Ein's EP release "KEEP", wondering how I could order a copy of it too. =) Do let me know yea? I'm a big fan too... =)

Hear from you soon.

Best regards,
Horng Woei & Clara

Lovely pictures by Lightbox Productions

We had a great time at their wedding! :)
Especially with the many dedications, that honestly, we couldn't keep track of what we sung! :p

Their cousin Sulyn was also a lovely singer based in KL,
and she played the keyboard and sang, while Wahyong played with her :)
Einein and I were very impressed with her performance!

Fong & Pau Lin's dinner @ Shangri La Island Ballroom

Sugie doubling up as host and singer,
Kexin on vocals,
James on keys.

Dear Kewei

You guys have been great and made our wedding perfect and wonderful. Kindly help us to convey our regards and many many thanks to Sugie and Kexin for their entertaining singing. Our guests feedback to us that they love em!

Paulin

It was a busy night for Sugie for he had 2 stages to straddle with!
He was both the host as well as the singer, two-thumbs up for sugie for multi-tasking!



Song dedications for the night were also aplenty
and we did our best to fulfill every single request
but it just too overwhelming!





The first march-in song for the night was a cantonese love-song 感激遇见你


Thanks for having us Pau Lin and Fong!
Wishing you eternal bliss (:

love,
kexin

lovely pictures from Roger Chua

Ellen & Eugene's Wedding in Hong Kong @ The Hong Kong Royal Yacht Club, Jockey Club, and Shangrila

Kewei on vox
Einein on keys

Thanks to Samson and Faith, we were kindly invited to sing at Ellen & Eugene's wedding one year later in Hong Kong!

Their solemnisation was held in a chilly morning at the Hong Kong Royal Yacht Club,
but the warm smiles of the couple and their close ones made the ceremony a heartfelt one.



I love the cut-out 喜喜 on the backdrop, which incorporates a dragon and a phoenix symbol! Makes for great pictures!

Not to mention hearing the wedding vows in Cantonese, since my only exposure to Cantonese was from TV, it was entirely like watching a touching drama serial unfold!



It was also our first wedding seeing everyone decked in fur coats and jackets, after all it was an outdoor event in winter!



Great view at the Royal Yacht Club!


In the evening we sang for their friends and family at Jockey Club, which was a familiar ballroom to us, since Samson and Faith's wedding was held there as well.



It turned out to be a great party as Eugene's brother took to the stage, and eventually his parents were onstage singing! The manly trio sung his dad's dedication Perhaps Love by John Denver, I still remember the harmonies they sang, and Einein and I were commenting on how great they sounded!



With Eugene's father!

The next night, we sang for another dinner celebration at the Shangrila, this time it was specially for Eugene's parents' friends and colleagues,
and Eugene specially sang a song called 橋 for his family.

The photo montage was also specially dedicated to his parents, and it was especially touching...
Eugene spoke about how much love and support his family gave him while he was growing up, and now as he was about to start a family of his own, he would wish to do exactly the same for his family, just like his parents did.

He also spoke about each photo in his montage, where it was, who was involved, and for many group photos, he asked the guests to point out who was in there, and pointed them out on the floor, and thanked them for being part of his life and his memories growing up.


With our star of the night!

It was definitely memorable for me to see so much sincerity and love that bonded his family, and their family friends...

Many of their guests also came up on stage to serenade the guests!


Little boxes of personalised M&Ms!


This sweet thank you note was mailed to us later...



We had at unforgettable time in Hong Kong,
and was touched by Ellen & Eugene's friendship and generosity.

Thank you so much for having us at your wedding, we look forward to meeting you again very soon! :D

Mark & Kelly's Wedding @ Raffles Hotel Ballroom

Matthew on keys,
Kitty as emcee
Leon and Dawn on vox

Facebook comment from Kelly:

"Hi Dawn, I should be the one thanking you and Leon for providing my guests with beautiful songs for the entire night! :)

Many of them had enjoyed themselves, particularly complimenting the live band and Kitty being a good host.

Thanks for everything!"

As Christmas draws near, festive cheer brightens up everything along the way. On the 17th of December this year, the holidays lent its special magic to the wedding celebrations of Mark and Kelly.

Held at the Raffles Hotel Ballroom, the union of our couple-of-the-day was elaborate and intimate all at the same time. A large custom backdrop with a 3-D　"双喜" button greeted guests as they stepped into the carefully dressed-up space.

Team "Yours Truly" comprised myself (Dawn) and Leon on vocals, Matthew on keyboard, and Kitty as emcee. Our live-wire chick ensured that Mark & Kelly received a rousing reception during their march-ins, and that every guests had a running commentary of the evening, so that no one missed out on anything!

Armed with a song list that reflected a good mix of English favourites and popular Chinese tunes, Yours Truly Wedding Band division was ready to rock the house that night, so to speak ;).

We covered popular duets like 你最真贵 and 今天你要嫁给我 on top of popular request songs Love, Me and Come Fly with Me. Not to be outdone, Kelly also serenaded her husband with David Tao's 爱很简单 at the impromptu request of her 姐妹s, accompanied by Yours Truly keyboardist, Matthew.

Trust our meticulous couple to not only select a repertoire that both their Chinese and non-Chinese guests would enjoy, they also requested that we came dressed to suit the colour theme of the wedding! As you can see from this photo, we certainly look well-matched together :).

Congratulations once again to Mark & Kelly! Thank you for being great hosts and a joy to perform for :)

Wish you could've been there? Watch this video from that night then!



xoxo,
Dawn

Kain & Echo's Wedding @ Private Residence

It was an absolute joy playing for Kain & Echo at their wedding celebrations. An air-conditioned tent was set up in the Groom's family home backyard under which an intimate 10 table dinner took place. The couple's closest friends flew in from around the world to be with them that evening, in addition to the Bride's family from China. In a touching speech, the Groom thanked his parents for teaching him to be kind, and then spoke of his joy to now have family on the mainland.

We pulled out our classic mandarin hits for this very special night. Together with Ein on keys and Wah Yong on double bass, Yours Truly rolled out familiar favourites like 小城故事，花好月圆，and 夜上海.

I'm so sorry that there are no photos from that evening. The couple kept it so simple that they didn't even hire a photographer! I'm sure the memories will last much longer than any photograph can.

P.S. I hear the couple might be throwing another bash specially for friends! We'll definitely get pics from that one ;)

xoxo,
Dawn

Tony & Evelyn's Wedding @ Intercontinental

Selwyn on violin, jordan on keys,
kexin and leon on vocals

It was a romantic night with the selwyn serenading the crowd with his violin..
I have to mention it because i really love the sound and the looks of the violin
apart from the usual piano and vocals.. it just makes everything look and sound so classy!


photocard from Livestudio

For the night's repertoire,
Leon sang Have I told you lately their first march-in
while i sang L.O.V.E for their 2nd march.

Thanks for having us Evelyn and Tony!

love,
kexin

Michelle & Howard's Wedding @ St Regis

Brian Ho (photographer)
Sebastian on guitar, Gavin on sax (not in picture as they had to rush off!)
Kewei on vox

Hi Kewei

It is our pleasure having you at our wedding on 12th December @ St.Regis and we hope you enjoyed the food as well.

My friends from Brunei and everything were impressed by your performance. Although we didnt really get to hear your whole performance. We will make time to go over to wala-wala whenever we have friends over to enjoy more of YOURS TRULY.

When are your next dates performance? Let us know........

Yes please add our photos with you to your blog and we will check it out.

cheers,

Howard & Michelle

The first time I met Michelle and Howard, I took a double-take at Howard's name-card holder as he flashed out his namecard for me.

It looked like this:


I was momentarily distracted, and said, can I take a look at this?

Oh, it's Tiffany! NICEEE :)

Little did I know this love for Tiffany would be a full-blown affair at his wedding!!!

His entire wedding was Tiffany-themed, including his brother and sister team, who were dressed in the same material - each of their dresses were tailor-made!




Howard looks super dashing in this suit with a twist!

There was a lovely tree which messages were clipped onto its branches,
and in all Christmas fashion, Tiffany boxes of all shapes and sizes were nestled underneath it :)

AWAITING PICTURES!!!


It was one of the classiest weddings I've attended!

For the 1st march in, their parents led the way, and we sang You Are So Beautiful in a slow, grand fashion :)

Wedding bells tinkled throughout the march in as well (they were the wedding favours for each of the guests!) and it was a beautiful moment.

Michelle is so gorgeous!
In this Vera Wang gown :)


Friends from Brunei!





Hehe even when being sabo-ed he had to wear a tiffany-blue wig!


Hope to see all of you soon again! :)

Love,
Kewei

Maggie & Lawrence's Wedding @ Orchard Hotel

Kewei & Alfred on vocals,
James on keyboard.

Hi Kewei,

I've attached the pics taken on the wedding day.
Apologies that the photos came a bit late.
Pity that we didn't get a videographer though, to capture your fantastic singing.
I also wish may YoursTruly be one of the biggest thing in all future events. Let it be everyone's choice.
Feel free to email me if you need anything else.


Thank you
Regards
Maggie & Lawrence

Lawrence was super nice guy who took super good care of us, making sure we were well fed and comfortable.
And they were such a good-looking couple!


Stunning red gown!

This was the first time I sang If That's What It Takes by Celine Dion as a 1st march in, specially requested from the couple!

As usual, Alfred sang his classic Jacky Cheung number 你的名字我的姓氏 as the 2nd march in!



Although the couple only confirmed the band only a week before the wedding, but everything turned out great :)

Hope to see you again soon at our neighbourhood prata shop!



Cheers,
Kewei