Wedding preparations are falling in place in bits and pieces. While we are right on track (and a little ahead on several aspects), we now face the most challenging task in our wedding - Scouting for THE ONE contractor. It's interesting how diversified friend's feedback on their own contractors can be. On one hand, we've friends cursing their heads off at horrible contractors, and on the other, we've friends full of praises for theirs. Of course, a couple fell in the middle. Guess they are those that agreed on the logic that what you pay is what you get - so don't expect world class workmanship when all you are willing to fork out is marketplace prices. Nonetheless, with all these in mind, we set out on our very mission to search for our own contractor.
I didn't expect the need to meet up with more than 3 contractors, afterall, Zim and myself are relatively easy going and easy to please (READ: Lazy to find too many). To a huge extent, both of us rely hugely on our gut feelings (that's how we settled on our bridal shop and photographer!) and if we are comfortable with someone, we would more or less follow our 'feelings'. So we kinda thought that it would be pretty easy to settle on one.
The first 3 we met were very, erm, diverse. The first one came with huge recommendations from a friend. Hence, me and Zim happily went for our appointment, only to be disappointed by him (well, he stood us up and got his colleague to meet us without informing us beforehand), His colleague was nice, but our gut feelings just doesn't seem to feel the same. In addition, the quotation given was missing so many items that while the quotation was still within our budget, we were concerned that add-ons would eventually kill us. So, STRIKE ONE!
The second one was pretty good. We were really pretty comfortable with him and he was able to work within our budget. (After we removing several items that we would love to include) However, one major concern was that the person whom recommended him had 3 times our budget, so, does having 1/3 budget equate to 1/3 workmanship? Inevitable I guess. So, let's just put him on hold for now.
The third one was, hm, interesting. We listed down what we would like to have during our first meeting and the person pretty much assured us that what we wanted was workable for our budget, and even better, might be less. When the quotation was ready, instead of emailing us for our convenience, they insisted that we visit them personally again. Fair enough. The fun part was, the quotation was not only not less than our budget, it was 1.5 times our budget. (WTF) The contractor even boasted of how he repeatedly change his company's name to avoid paying GST. Erm, guess he wasn't aware that Auntie me, and Uncle Zim are both civil servants who do have integrity (why do I feel slightly guilty saying this. =P). Our main concern was how much discount (up to 10%) he could give simply because we were recommended by friends. It gave us the impression that he purposely brought up the price, only to bring it down again just to make us fall into his trap. (Not gonna work, Mister) We didn't feel good about it (duh) and clearly rejected him during his follow-up call a few days later. STRIKE TWO!
We were almost ready to settle on the second one when I gave in to my mom's constant nagging. (well, she believes in the principle that the more you see, the better you can decide) For once I am actually thankful to her nagging! The two additional ones we've seen were satisfying. Not only were we able to list down what exactly we wanted, each meeting with a new contractor raised some concerns that we had overlooked earlier (and interestingly, not being mentioned by any of the 1st three).
We are still waiting for both their quotations, but I am having relatively high hopes that we might just have hit the jackpot this time and found THE ONE contractor.
So, do Stay tune....
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Scrapbook-style bday card! .JPG)
Nice focus on me huh.... KeY's signature mouth.
Ended off with a yummy KFC lunch treat! Thanks peeps.
