Happily married to her job

Chan Shan Shan founded Love:Knots Weddings in 2010, and has single-handedly steered the wedding planning agency through the rush and fluster of 25 weddings.

The bubbly 27-year-old is the only full-time wedding planner in the company. There are two part-timers, but their job scope is more limited; Ms Chan handles the conceptualisation and layout, while the part-timers are more involved in the execution.

"I started out alone. I met clients, vendors, handled the marketing, branding...I even had to start doing (the) accounting. As an entrepreneur, you do everything on your own," she said.

Her wedding services tend to revolve around unique themes.

"My clients go for what I call 'a la carte weddings'. Usually, people opt for templates where everything is included. Their only input is in picking the patterns and colours. But I feel there's more to it; it should be personalised. I cannot find (two) identical couple(s) anywhere in the world, so (each wedding) should be unique. We do not want to create cookie-cutter weddings," Ms Chan said.

For instance, she organised a candyland-themed wedding for a couple who had met in an anime shop. Instead of having it at a hotel, the wedding was at Sculpture Square near Bugis. There was a candy bouquet instead of flowers, and pots of neon lollipops replaced conventional floral motifs as decorations.

Other themes she has pulled off include carnival, fairyland, and English garden, instead of the Vegas or Hollywood-themed weddings that she says more adventurous couples in Singapore typically go for.

"I'm very interested in details, and I suggest interesting ideas such as imported wax seal stickers for invites, beverage clips, dessert tags, customised floor plans, table styling like napkin decor, cake toppers. These cannot be found in the local market," she says.

She offers two packages: a full package costs $4,500; and a simpler "crisis management" package costs $2,800 - where her input comes in, in the final two months before the wedding.

She says she spends time understanding the personalities of the couples and finding out their interests, so she can pick out what is suitable for them.

Ms Chan first began her entrepreneurial journey while she was still a social work student at the National University of Singapore. She started an events business, which she is no longer involved in.

After she graduated, she spent two years working as a marketing executive for MediaCorp to get some corporate experience. However, she felt the environment was not suited for her.

In 2010, she quit her job to start Love:Knots Weddings. "I've run more than a hundred events, and I've always known I wanted to do weddings. They are really the (most) challenging, because the expectations from the client are very different: the level of detail, the emotional aspects of not just the clients but their families and friends...I wanted to challenge myself."

She did not require a lot of capital as she does not own an office and works alone. Her parents were supportive, and a close friend even took a sabbatical to help her in the initial stages.

But she faced crippling self-doubt at the start.

"The difficulty comes from your own mind. During trying times, you find yourself comparing (yourself) with your peers. Many of them are climbing the corporate ladder and earning $4,000 to $5,000 a month and you find yourself wondering, how much longer would you take to get there?

"The typical Singaporean would also think I'm not stable, that I'm job-hopping. Many (have) asked bluntly, why didn't you pursue (a job suited to) your degree? And others (have told) me my business wouldn't last," she said.

She also entered the wedding planning industry with no experience or credentials to speak of.

"The first thing a client would ask is, how long have you been in the business? The second question would be: how many weddings have you done? And the third: do you have an office?"

But she was inspired to press on by her friends as well as the books of peace activist and Buddhist association leader Daisaku Ikeda.

"I really feel that life, and our youth, is very short. There are definitely risks involved, but the biggest risk is not trying. I cannot (imagine) being in my 40s and 50s and thinking of what I should have done."

In the end, it all worked out. She clinched her first client: a friend, who agreed to entrust her with the responsibility.

"I had no contacts, and I had the wildest ideas," she recalls. "I was fresh, my imagination was wild and no one could put a stop to it. And it was then I started to realise that, some things aren't that easy."

When asked about her most satisfying moments, she says: "Every time the wedding ends, and the couple, their parents, their bridesmaids, their friends come and thank you - that's the payoff.

"The greater satisfaction is when the couple continues to be my friends, and wants me to continue being a part of their lives."

Being an entrepreneur also helped her discover her hidden talents. "When I first started out, I just wanted to be a planner. I never thought I could be a designer. But I started sketching, and customers would ask me whether I had a degree in it, but I've never learnt how to draw!"

She is enjoying every moment as an entrepreneur, and excited about what lies ahead.

"During (my) university days, a lot of my friends would say, 'Let's start something!' But too often, they're bogged down by (practical) considerations. This is an experience no amount (of money) can buy: the kind of people you'll meet, making a difference in the lives of others, being empowered to make your own decisions and (driving) a company based on your own values," she said.

"Maybe you won't succeed, but that's not the point. The point is you are (moulding) your life according to what you want your life to be."

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