Marriage is one of life’s key milestones, and it is only natural for couples to want to celebrate their union by making the occasion as special as possible.

As lovebirds look towards creating memories that they can look back on fondly for the rest of their lives together, a big part of putting together a beautiful (and Instagrammable!) wedding lies in the venue.

Amidst the modern skyscrapers and high-rise apartments of our bustling cosmopolitan city, one may think that enchanting wedding locations may not be easy to find. However, grand and scenic wedding venues can be found dotted all around our island – if only one knows where to look.

Some of these fairytale locations include the visually distinctive Black and White houses which are managed by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). What may come as a surprise to many is that some of these properties have actually been made available for uses such as wedding photoshoots and even wedding events!

To find out more about the appeal of these iconic heritage buildings, LAND spoke to two young couples, one of which had their wedding photoshoot at a black and white house, while the other actually held their wedding reception at one of these distinctive State properties!

Ron Ho and Valerie Ho
Wedding Reception at 8 Winchester Road

1) How did you find out that State properties were available for wedding receptions?

It all started out with us wanting to have a cosy wedding in a bungalow setting. Besides privately owned bungalows, we also looked at some alternatives, and that was when we realised that there were some Black & White bungalows on Goodwood Hill that were managed by SLA.

We put together a few slides to present our idea and sent it to the SLA enquiries portal. From there, we were contacted by Tze Wei from SLA’s residential leasing team, and the planning process took off!

2) Why did you decide to have your reception at a Black and White house instead of the usual locations like at a restaurant or hotel?

We felt that restaurants and hotels were too commercial and too transient. We wanted something more enduring, with more character and history to the place. At the same time, the idea of being able to design our ideal wedding from scratch was very appealing. It turned the whole process into a memorable journey, rather than just a single day of celebrations because of all the preparation. The best part, however, was being able to involve our friends and family on the journey. We still talk fondly about our wedding all the time!

3) How did the location make the reception special? What were some features of the Black and White house that you made use of during the reception?

8 Winchester Road was great because it had a large and grand entrance and hallway, which was ideal for our walk down the aisle. It also had bedrooms upstairs as well as a sitting area which we used as our individual preparation rooms at opposite ends of the house. There were even separate staircases so the groom would not bump into the bride during the preparation. We also placed sofas at the sitting area upstairs, converting it into a living room for the tea ceremony.

My favourite part of the wedding was the session we had by the pool deck, with the speeches, games, and all the other activities. Other wedding venues would not have been as versatile to offer such different "settings", from being grand to cosy, just by holding events in different parts of the venue!

As a bonus, our pictures from the day will never look dated because Black and White houses have a certain timeless quality to them.

4) What was the process like? Did you or the wedding organisers face any challenges during the planning and execution of the event?

The process was surprisingly smooth, and we appreciated that SLA also offered us other locations as contingencies, in case 8 Winchester Road had to be taken off the market before our wedding.

The way SLA made arrangements for the house and lease not only demonstrated a high level of understanding of the needs and constraints of a wedding, but balanced other interests such as keeping the property on the market and managing noise in the neighbourhood.

We got a wedding planner to help manage part of the logistics, and it was actually very straightforward managing the process together with SLA and the managing agent, Cushman and Wakefield.

We were also really thankful that the property management was planned in such a way that pest control, landscaping, painting and such were all settled before the wedding so the property was in optimal condition without requiring us to be involved.

5) Would you recommend a Black and White house as an event location to your friends/family in the future?

Definitely – it was so private and so special! We are constantly telling friends and family to consider such an option, but there needs to be an understanding that it requires a high amount of involvement with plenty of “project management”.

For us, having an experienced wedding planner helped a lot. Also, the fact that Ron is a realtor and thus familiar with real estate contracts made the process a lot less stressful for us.

Muhammad Faiz and Siti Nur Faizah
Wedding Photoshoot at 19 Adam Park

1) How did you find out that State properties are available for wedding photoshoots?

I was browsing through SLA’s Instagram and was surprised to find that there were couples who had their wedding photoshoot at State properties such as the Old Kallang Airport and Pasir Panjang Power Station. However, I did not see any photoshoots at the Black and White houses, so I decided to write in to enquire if these heritage houses were available for wedding shoots—and they were!

2) Why did you decide to have your photoshoot at a Black and White house instead of the usual photoshoot locations like at a park or beach?

We wanted an indoor location as we planned to have our photoshoot in the afternoon. When we raised this idea with our photographer, he was also keen to shoot at a Black and White house.

Personally, I have always liked the timeless and iconic design of the Black and White houses and have always wanted to do my wedding photoshoot there. I am glad my husband was into the idea too and it became a reality!

3) How did the location make the photoshoot special? What were some features of the Black and White house that you made use of during the photoshoot?

When I envisioned the photoshoot, I thought we would just make use of the iconic exterior façade of the building. I never imagined there were so many rooms and hallways for us to explore inside the house itself.

Our photographer did a really good job in capturing the unique angles from almost every corner of the house, showcasing the intricate interior details of the house as well as the rich exterior design. The heritage value of the property also made the photoshoot very special.

4) What was the process like? Did you/the photographers face any challenges during the shoot?

Accessing the property was a very smooth process thanks to SLA.

We did not face many challenges during the shoot and even managed to complete the shoot way ahead of schedule.

Even better, we were not the only ones who enjoyed the process – our photographers were glad to have had the unique opportunity to shoot at the historical location as well.

5) Would you recommend a Black and White as a photoshoot location to your friends/family in the future?

It was such an amazing and unique experience for us and we would definitely recommend it to our friends and family!