Our Wedding Day 05.01.13

We finally collected our photos from Loud! Productions almost two months after our wedding day on 5 Jan 2013. They have already informed us in advance that they might need about two months to edit the photos due to peak period though hah. A total of 513 photos were given to us – 237 photos from day (gatecrash + tea ceremony + outdoor photoshoot) and 276 photos from night (solemnisation + wedding banquet). Out of all these, we selected about 400 photos to be printed and put into two albums for keepsake.

Our wedding photos by Loud! Productions

Printing and slotting into two albums

Overall, we were pretty pleased with the photos. However, it would be better if there were more artistic shots taken from different angles rather that in-your-face shots hah.

It has been almost three months since our wedding day! Recalling that day, could still remember that I was too excited (with some jittery) the night before to sleep much. Thoughts that kept running through my mind – Tomorrow will be the most important day of my life! How my life will be changed after tomorrow? Will the weather be good tomorrow? Will everything go as planned or will there be unexpected issues cropping up?

Anyway, I woke up early in the morning and my xiongdis also arrived promptly at my house. We set off to dear’s house at 7.30pm as planned and everything started off smoothly. Meanwhile, the bride’s house was also buzzing with activities – bride doing make-up and jiemeis busy preparing the stuff for gatecrashing.

Buzz at the bride’s house in the morning

As expected, I was perspiring throughout the gatecrash with my low tolerance of heat hah. Thanks to the kind jie meis, gatecrashing games were pretty mild and we all had fun. We also managed to keep to our schedule and departed from dear’s house to my house at 9am.

Gatecrashing

Gatecrashing and fetching the bride

My house at that time was filled with many relatives and the tea ceremony began. After which, we also took some family photos before dear changed into her chinese kua to return to her house. Another round of tea ceremony happened at her house and we had some nice catered lunch there as well.

Family portraits

Tea ceremonies

The morning part was almost over and it was time for some outdoor photoshoot with the xiongdis and jiemeis at Portsdown Road area. The weather was hot and it was not easy for the ladies to get to the lush greens for the shoot hah. We spent slightly more than 30 minutes there before calling it a day. Everyone went home to get some rest, while we got ready to head to the hotel for check-in.

Outdoor photoshoot at Portsdown Road area

Outdoor photoshoot at Portsdown Road area

My favourite picture from the photoshoot!

Arriving at the hotel at 2plus pm after collecting our mini cupcakes, we checked into our gorgeous bridal suite and had shower and a short rest, before getting busy again hah. Dear started her make-up at 3plus pm while I prepared some of the stuff to be used later during the solemnisation and cocktail reception. Of course, I also helped myself with some of the food the hotel has prepared for us hah.

Xiongdis and jiemeis arrived at the hotel by 4plus pm and started to help out with the decorations for solemnisation and cocktail reception. Other tasks like testing the audio/video and briefing by the hotel banquet manager etc were also carried out concurrently. Time seemed to pass quickly and before we knew it, it was time to get ready for our solemnisation which was starting at 6pm sharp!

We were really thankful for the good weather, and hence did not need to activate our contingency plan of having our solemnisation in a function room instead of the poolside pavilion hah. Our solemnisation by Mr Soon Min Yam went smoothly, except for the microphones which were not functioning properly at some point of times. By 6.30pm, we were officially husband and wife, witnessed by our family and many good friends who took the time to be present.

Our solemnisation

Our solemnisation

After some photo-taking with the guests at the poolside pavilion, we headed back to our bridal suite to get ready for the banquet. While dear was doing her final preparation, I was out at the cocktail reception area to mingle with the guests.

Cocktail reception

The time finally came for our first march-in! It was rather emotional for me, to be walking down the aisle with my love one, in front of all our family and friends. Though it was just a short 1-2 minutes march, I was somehow overwhelmed with emotions, especially with our march-in song “A Moment Like This” playing in the background hah.

Wedding banquet

The rest of the banquet proceeded with the customary cake-cutting, 2nd march-in, champagne popping (thanks to my sister who bought for us a huge magnum bottle all the way from France hah) and the yum-seng! The most memorable part of the wedding banquet for me would be the time I was making my speech. I was really nervous about that, to be speaking in front of more than 400 people in the ballroom. It was a scary thought for me to have everyone putting down the things they were doing to listen to me speak hah. I was glad despite this jittery, I still managed to deliver the scripted speech without any hiccups heh.

Yum seng!

Finally, the banquet was coming to an end soon and it was time to make the rounds to take table shots with all the guests. It was really tiring to go around all 43 tables and our smiles became kind of unnatural hah. And expectedly, we had some friends toasting us with weird concoctions but it was all in the name of fun! And how to forget my army buddies who made me wear a red beret before toasting me with drinks hah.

Toasting and goodbye

The whole day finally ended after we bade goodbye to our last guest. We were totally exhausted from the whole day of activities. The feeling was surreal. After a year of planning for this big day, it has really come to an end. However, a new chapter began for us as newly-weds!

A BIG thank you to our families for all the help in planning our wedding, to our xiongdis and jiemeis who were working tirelessly to ensure everything was running smoothly, to our emcees for bringing life to the banquet, to all our guests who took time to share in our wedding joy, and to everyone for their blessings and gifts. 5 January 2013 will be a memorable day for us, thanks to each and every one of you. Of course, to my wife, thanks for making my life complete.

 

DIY Monday

Both of us took leave yesterday to get our hands dirty and do some DIY decoration stuff for our solemnisation and cocktail reception. It is nothing elaborate, just something simple and easy-to-do.

Firstly we planned to make a “Bride” and “Groom” signs to be hung on the back of our chairs during solemnisation (and the signs can be reused on the reception table during cocktail reception hah). Next, we wanted to make a signage for our mini candy bar during cocktail reception. We would also be decorating some glass jars with ribbons, to be used for the mini candy bar.

After a few hours of hard work, we finally completed our mini DIY project hah.

Our DIY decoratuon project

Pretty pleased with the results of our hard work! Hopefully these DIY decoration stuff could add some personalised touches to our wedding.

 

Busy Weekend with Wedding Errands

In exactly 18 days time, it will be the day where we will make one of our most important decisions in life. In these 18 days, there are only 2 weekends left and hence they are very precious. Nowadays, weekends are for us to talk about wedding stuff and to run wedding errands. I think it has quite been some time where our conversations/ activities do not revolve around the wedding hah.

1. Shopping for Guo Da Li stuff

We spent some time last Saturday (together with my mum and dear’s parents) shopping for Guo Da Li stuff at Amanda Dreamweaver, which is located at People’s Park Centre. There are so many customary things to note for Chinese weddings, and the list of things to buy is quite long. After spending about an hour at the small shop, we were more or less done. The bill came up to be a shocking $270 for dear’s parents! This is indeed one profitable business as since it is for wedding, most people will not scrimp and save too much. Anyway, our Guo Da Li will be this coming Saturday on 22 Dec 2012.

Photo credit: minelifeaffairs.blogspot.sg

2. Collection of photo album and photo frame

On Sunday, we dropped by La Belle to collect our 20-page photo album and our photo frame to be hung on the wall. The album is so freaking heavy hah. We are quite pleased with how the album turns out but are not overly wowed or what. During the visit, we also chose the hand bouquet design and the car decoration to be used on our wedding day. The next time we meet La Belle will be during the final fitting on 30 Dec 2012.

Our wedding album by La Belle

3. Finalisation meeting with Swissotel Merchant Court

Right after La Belle, we headed to the hotel to meet up with Francis for the finalisation meeting, where we discussed the details of our banquet. We covered stuff like the ballroom layout, the guest attendance and seating arrangement, the confirmed menu and other nitty gritty details. We also chose the decoration theme and the wedding favours for our guests. Francis also brought us to view the cocktail reception area and the poolside pavilion again upon our request.

Finalisation meeting with Francis

4. Shopping for DIY decoration materials

We also went to Art Friend at Buona Vista MRT to shop for some decoration materials we need for our solemnisation and cocktail reception. We planned to do some DIY stuff to personalise our wedding a little hah.

5. Wedding Montage

We will be making our own childhood montage to be screened during the wedding banquet. We have each shortlisted some pictures to be used, from the different stages of our lives. We have also decided on the song to be used and the last step now is to put everything together and add on some words, using Animoto. This is still work-in-progress and hopefully it will be completed by this weekend hah.

 

Sweet Treats by Whips Cupcakes

One more thing settled! We have placed our order for 100 mini cupcakes from Whips Cupcakes, to be served during the cocktail reception. Besides the mini cupcakes, we are also looking at other sweet treats such as some old school biscuits etc. In fact, we have already bought some glass containers from IKEA for this little sweet treats corner hah.

Whips cupcakes for the cocktail reception

Whips Cupcakes is located at ICON at Tanjong Pagar. Although they do delivery, it is chargeable at $30 per location within 5km of ICON. Hence, we decided to self-collect on our way to the hotel. Pricing is pretty reasonable, at $20 for 25 mini cupcakes. Hope the guests will enjoy the little sweet treats we have specially prepared!

 

Recent Updates

With less than one month to our big day, there are still quite a bit of major things to be done, such as creating our wedding montage, and preparing the decoration stuff for our solemnisation and cocktail reception. There are even more nitty gritty stuff that needs to be taken care of hah. Since my last blog post, there were some updates recently in our wedding preparation journey.

1. The Xiong Dis and Jie Meis Meet-up

On 1 Dec 2012, we arranged a meet-up session for all other Xiong Dis and Jie Meis. The main objectives include getting to meet and know each other, and to run through with everyone their roles and responsibilities, and the detailed program on our wedding day. We met at Cedele at Raffles City at 5pm. Unfortunately, three of the Jie Meis could not make it due to work/personal commitments, and one of the Xiong Dis also could not be present as he is in London for work.

Our detailed program flow

We spent quite some time to come up with a detailed (maybe overly detailed hah) program flow and define the roles and responsibilities of each of them during the different parts of the day: Gatecrash, Solemnisation, Cocktail Reception and Banquet. But we understand that things are not likely to go as planned perfectly. Hence, it serves more as a general guide and hopefully, it doesnt deviate too much from plan hah. Everyone should be more or less sure of their job after this session! But it is a pity that the Xiong Dis and Jie Meis did not really mingle hah.

2. Wedding Album Design

We went down to La Belle last Sunday to look at the wedding album layout designs. As requested, they kept the designs pretty simple by minimising those special effects processing, motifs etc. But we still requested for slight modifications to the layout designs hah. During that session, we also chose the picture and frame design, as well as the album cover design. They completed the modifications in two days and we were satisfied with the revised layout designs. We have given the green light to proceed for printing, and it should be ready in two weeks! We have also received the soft copies of the edited 65 selected poses in hi-res.

3. Sending Wedding Invites to Relatives

Today was a tiring day driving all around Singapore to give wedding invites to my relatives.

Wedding invites for my relatives

We started at 10am and only finished at about 8pm (including lunch and dinner stops hah). A total of 140km was covered, travelling from Jurong to Bukit Panjang to Yew Tee to Sembawang to Upper Thomson to Ang Mo Kio to Hougang to Seng Kang!

 

Wedding Wines Ordered

Swissotel Merchant Court provides 1 bottle of red wine per table for our wedding as part of their perks. However, we are afraid that that may not be sufficient, since according to the forums/ friends’ experiences, 1.5 bottle of wine per table is a better gauge. It will be a little ugly if we run out of wines halfway through the banquet.

Of course, the hotel can provide additional bottles of wine. But at $25 per bottle, it is not exactly cheap. Hence, we were thinking of getting more wines from other sources. We considered buying wines on promotion from supermarkets hah (sometimes can be really cheap!). But as there is no free delivery, it is a little inconvenient. Also, they do not have consignment program, hence if there is any unconsumed wines, we will have to absorb them.

We chanced upon Barworks Wines & Spirits, which seems not bad. Their wedding wines range from $18.80 to $32 nett per bottle, inclusive of delivery and pick-up of unconsumed wines on consignment. We were also considering Wine BOS, whose wedding wines are at $18.75 per bottle. They even provide complimentary wine-tasting hah. Hence, yesterday, we went down to their restaurant/ winebar at North Bridge Road and met up with Hannah. She let us try the 4 types of wines they offer for wedding – 2 reds and 2 whites.

After some consideration, we decided to order from Wine BOS (although they do not have pick-up service for unconsumed wines) mainly because of the wine-tasting session. We are no wine connoisseurs, but the wine-tasting session at least gave us some assurance hah. Anyway, we ordered 3 cases of wines (12 bottles per case) – 2 reds (Rosso Leggero Cabernet Sauvignon, Maule Valley, Chile) and 1 white (Bianco Leggero Sauvignon Blanc Muscatel, Maule Valley, Chile), and of which 1 case is on consignment. The wines will be delivered to the hotel one day before our wedding day. Hopefully our wines will be sufficient to flow freely for our whole banquet hah.

One more thing settled!

 

Wedding Invites are Ready

Swissotel Merchant Court provides complimentary wedding invites for 70% of confirmed tables with their vendor, Lil’Art Cards and Bridal Favours. However, the printing of inserts are not included and we decided to just get Lil’Art to print the inserts too (instead of sourcing cheaper printers elsewhere, so as to save some hassles hah). We printed 300 pieces at $130.

Though the hotel did send us an e-brochure on the designs available for us to choose from, we still made our way to Lil’Art to take a look at the actual cards before deciding. We both like the same design thankfully hah. Once the design is settled, and the wordings on the insert confirmed, they are ready for printing. And within 2 weeks, our wedding invites are ready for collection!

Before collecting the cards yesterday, we headed to 126 for dim sum breakfast since Lil’Art is just nearby. Yummy dim sum as always hah.

Dim sum breakfast at 126

After the hearty breakfast, we collected the wedding invites. 2 full bags of the cards, envelops, inserts and hotel maps!

Wedding invites collection

We are still in the midst of confirming guest attendance, and doing up the seat arrangement. But for those confirmed guests, we will be giving out the wedding invites soon! First batch will be out tomorrow to BBS clique hah.

 

Photo Booth Recce

We have been thinking for some time if we should engage instant print services during our cocktail reception. As our solemnisation is at about 6pm, it will be over by 6.30pm or so. Hence, guests attending the solemnisation will have nothing much to do until the dinner starts at about 8.30pm (of course they can head to The Central for some shopping hah). Thats why we are thinking of having a photo booth to provide some entertainment during this period. But having this will obviously mean burning more cash!

Prices can vary quite a bit from vendor to vendor. I have seen some vendors offering instant print services at $500plus, and some at more than $1,200plus. The more affordable vendors include Fabfoto, Baicapture, Instant Fotos, Busybody Studios and Blackcurrantworkz. There are also two main types of instant print services. The first kind is really a photo booth where the pictures are taken by a machine, just like taking Neoprints. For this kind, usually there are props available for guests to play with, and it will be at a fixed spot against some backdrop. The other kind is where a photographer roams around to take pictures for guests.

After looking through their portfolios and comparing their packages and rates, we are inclined to engage Fabfoto. Hence, they arranged for us to head down to a wedding today where they were engaged, to see how the set-up is like and for their staff to answer any queries we might have.

To avoid interrupting people’s wedding, we waited till the newly-weds marched in and when there are no guests at the photo booth before we proceeded to look at the set-up and meet the staff from Fabfoto hah.

The Fabfoto set-up

We were quite pleased with what we saw and probably we will be engaging them for 2 hours, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm hah. So, to guests who will be attending our solemnisation, now there will be some entertainment for you guys to kill some time while waiting for the dinner!

 

The Food Tasting

Just back from our food tasting! Our appointment was at 6.30pm at Elmwood room and we reached Swissotel Merchant Court earlier to take a look at the ballroom area again hah. Although the food tasting is for 10 people, there were only 8 of us – dear’s family of four, my parents and and my grandma.

Food tasting

The waitress handed us a feedback form for us to rate the food presentation and quality, and to jot down any comments for each dish. Francis, the Catering Sales Manager, also took time to meet us. This was our first face-to-face meeting as our previous correspondences were all via emails.

The menu and feedback form

Food was served at about 7pm and the portion was huge!

Food tasting in progress!

Food quality wise was not too bad also. But I understand that food tasting is usually much better than actual day as the hotel wants to impress and it is far easier to cook for one table as compared to more than 40 tables.

The filling 8-course dinner

We were all so full after the 8-course dinner. After the dinner, the chef also came out to ask for feedback. Overall pretty satisfied with the food, but we did make slight changes to the original menu. Hope that the standards can be maintained for the actual day hah.

 

The Countdown Begins!

This blog has been very quiet for the past couple of months. But it is purely because there isnt any updates at all on our wedding preparation hah. Today marks the beginning of our grand countdown. Exactly one year later, we will say our vows and walk down the aisle, celebrating the joyous occassion with our family and friends.

One year countdown starts today!

The year ahead will definitely be very busy for us as we prepare for our big day (and this space will thus certainly spring up to life hah). Hopefully we will not be stressed out too much, and will instead enjoy the whole preparation process together.

5 January 2013 – Save the date!

 

Love Affairs by Style Weddings

The week is finally over and it is Friday again! TGIF! After work today, we went to Plaza Singapura as there is a wedding fair happening there. It was organised by Style Weddings, a magazine published by Mediacorp. Called “Love Affairs”, this wedding fair will run till this Sunday, and it features a number of vendors, including banquet venues, bridal studios, photography and videography services etc.

We were there to redeem a deal voucher I bought from Mocca Perks – $5 for the latest edition of Style Weddings magazine hah. We were pleasantly surprised when they gave us a goodie bag and also a pair of GV movie passes too hah. Nice!

Love Affairs by Style Weddings at Plaza Singapura

Since we have already signed our banquet and bridal packages, there was not much to look at there. We did however stop by 2 booths offering Actual Day photography and videography services. Pretty nice, but kind of expensive hah. Anyway, we are too broke to sign up for more packages now. We have afterall still have more than one year to go before our big day, so no rush at all. Shall slowly look see and enjoy the whole preparation process.

 

Our Wedding Date: 5 January 2013

Among the various dates which are still available at Swissotel Merchant Court, we have decided on 5 January 2013, Saturday. My parents have helped us check that date at the temple and it was considered auspicious, hence we decided to proceed with the booking of the banquet venue.

After looking around a number of different venues, we are still the most satisfied with Swissotel Merchant Court. It is well-balanced in the various aspects of location, pricing, perks, capacity and ballroom design. We had an appointment with Lidia Phua at 6pm yesterday to sign the contract and pay the deposit, in order to secure our reservation.

Chosen venue for our wedding!

As there was a wedding banquet yesterday evening, she brought us to take a look at the cocktail reception area and the ballroom which were fully setup.

Touring the cocktail reception area and ballroom

She then brought us to view the poolside pavilion where we can hold our solemnisation ceremony before the banquet (we are still considering if outdoor will be too hot and uncomfortable hah). Should we decide not to take the outdoor option, or in the event of wet weather, the ceremony would be shifted into one of their function rooms instead.

Poolside solemnisation setup (photo credit: Singaporebrides.com)

After the “tour”, we proceeded to the lounge where she went through the contract in detail with us. We tried to ask for more perks but sadly, they were pretty inflexible with that. Hence, what we are getting is what has been stated (which we think are already pretty generous). Oh well, at least we tried hah. We signed the contract and it was nicely presented to us in a red folder. In the folder, there are also some useful materials like a wedding dinner checklist, emcees’ script, time schedule on actual day etc.

The contract

We have paid a deposit of $3,000, with the remaining payable upon checkout after the wedding banquet. However, as Standard Chartered Manhattan card gives a 5% cash rebate for spending of $3,000 and above (subject to a cap of $200 cashback per quarter), we can arrange to pay $4,000 per quarter in order to maximise our savings hah. Hence, from now till January 2013, we could potentially save $1,000 using Manhattan card hah.

 

Amara Hotel Wedding Show

We went for the Amara Hotel wedding show last Sunday. This was the first (and the last I think) wedding show that we had to pay to attend – $28 per couple. Reaching at almost 2pm, the show had already started. This wedding show’s format was alittle different from the others we had attended. At the start of the show, the different vendors took turns on the stage to “advertise” their services. There were some performances by Yours Truly (wedding live band), a talk by a Fengshui master, and a bridal fashion show by La Belle Couture.

After which, it was time for food! Having paid $28, we of course expected the food to be great hah. Amara Hotel prepared a buffet spread of their wedding banquet cuisines. There were the cold dish, sharks’ fin soup, chicken, wasabi prawns (super good!), cod fish, vegetables with mushroom, ee fu noodles, yam paste, mango pomelo sago etc. I would say the quality of their food is pretty good! We had a very satisfying and filling lunch hah.

Amara Hotel wedding show

We then meet with Afifah, their Assistant Sales Manager, to know more about the packages they offer. It was then followed by a short tour of their bridal suite and the poolside pavilion where the solemnisation will take place. Finally, we moved around the vendor booths to check out whats on offer.

Tour of bridal suite and poolside pavilion

The show ended with a lucky draw in which we were not lucky enough hah. And it was so blatant that they reserved the top 3 prizes for couples who have confirmed their bookings that day (they did not say it, but it was way too obvious!) hah.

Things we like about Amara Hotel:

• Located just beside Tanjong Pagar MRT station, it is pretty central and accessible.
• At $898++ (or $1,050.66 nett) per table, it is the cheapest among those that we have checked out.
• Even its premium package at $998++ (or $1,167.66) per table is priced within our budget.
• Excellent food quality.
• Private cocktail reception area, and the area comes with nice sofas (good for elderlys to rest if they want to).
• Free use of the poolside pavilion for solemnisation.
• Capacity of 25 to 40 (I think) tables meets our needs.

Things that we do not like about Amara Hotel:

• Ballroom has low ceiling and does not look grand.
• Ballroom is very long and the stage is positioned at the far end.
• Pales in prestige as compared to other candidates.
• Unimpressive bridal suite.

In conclusion, Amara Hotel has many strong pull factors. However, we have issues with its ballroom design and layout. Hence, we shall give this a miss.

 

Novotel Clarke Quay

We are on leave today and have hence made an appointment with Lis Ng, Business Service Executive of Novotel Clarke Quay. She showed us the grand ballroom which can seat up to 50 tables and requires a minimum of 30 tables. After which, we proceeded to the lounge where she shared with us the hotel’s wedding packages available.

Novotel Clarke Quay

Good things about Novotel Clarke Quay:

• Pretty nice pillarless ballroom with high ceiling.
• Private cocktail reception area.
• At $1,028 nett per table (or $1,138 nett for a more premium package), it is within our budget.
• Flexibility in menu choice.
• Free use of function room for solemnisation before the banquet.

Things we do not like about Novotel Clarke Quay:

• Less than ideal location – the hotel is quite a distance away from the nearest Clarke Quay MRT station
• Hotel exterior looks dated

Actually Novotel Clarke Quay seems like an okay choice except that it is much less accessible than the other hotels we are considering. Hence, we are not too interested already and did not ask many questions or negotiate with Lis about the perks she can offer. Furthermore, we have more or less decided on Swissotel Merchant Court hah. My parents have helped us check the Saturdays which are still available at the hotel, and they have given us the go-ahead. So, we will fix an appointment with Lidia Phua from Swissotel Merchant Court soon to discuss the details and confirm the date hah.

 

BOWS Show 2011

BOWS – Blissful Outdoor Wedding Show.

Because of the “Outdoor”, I almost gave this a miss as I thought it is a wedding show that showcases merchants for outdoor weddings. I have come across this event like 2 or 3 times but didnt bother to click on it to find out more. Luckily I finally did, as the only “Outdoor” element of this wedding show is that its venue is outdoor, but in an air-conditioned tentage.

BOWS 2011

This wedding show is its eighth return and it features merchants such as bridal boutiques, hotels and country clubs, photographers and videographers, jewellers etc. I think it is a great event that bring all merchants together, bringing one-stop convenience to couples planning their wedding.

Register here if you are keen, and see you there!

 

Carlton Hotel

We had an appointment with Winnie Lo, Assistant Catering Sales Manager from Carlton Hotel, at 7pm last Wednesday. As usual, she brought us to view the ballrooms first. Carlton Hotel has 5 ballrooms – Empress Ballroom 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 hah. Empress Ballroom 1, 2 and 3 have lower ceiling and the 3 of them can have the partitions removed to hold a maximum of 25 tables (if I never remember wrongly) while Empress Ballroom 4 and 5 can combine to accomodate up to 34 or 35 tables. Oh and the latter have high ceiling and are pillarless. The hotel can also open up all the ballrooms if you have 50 tables. But they dont have the flexibility to open up say Ballroom 3, 4 and 5 to accomodate like 38 tables, which is kind of disappointing.

After the viewing, Winnie brought us to a Wedding room specially decorated to discuss their packages with couples. She then went through with us the rates, the menu, the perks, and showed us some pictures of the themes etc.

Carlton Hotel Wedding Appointment

Things we like about Carlton Hotel:

• At $968++ (or $1,139.30 nett) per table, it is within our budget.
• Hotel is conveniently located within walking distance of City Hall MRT station.
• Pillarless and pretty ballroom with high ceiling.
• Food is from its award-winning Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant.
• Flexibility (a little) in menu choice.

Things we do not like about Carlton Hotel::

• Capacity of 34 tables is not enough for us.
• Shared cocktail reception area.
• Less generous perks compared to other hotels.
• Price is still more expensive than Swissotel Merchant Court.
• Winnie promised to update us via email the stuff we have discussed and the dates available, but still has not heard anything from her. This makes me wonder if she really values our business.

All in all, it is very likely that we will drop Carlton Hotel, mainly because of the capacity issue. If they can exercise some flexibility to open up Empress Ballrooms 3, 4 and 5 to accomodate our needs, this will definitely be one of our choices. But well, just too bad.

 

Fairmont Wedding Show

Today we attended yet another wedding show hah. It is actually more fun (and more informative) to attend wedding show than having individual appointment with the banquet sales person. It is because you get to see how the themes are like, and how the ballroom looks like when it is filled with tables etc. Anyway, today we attended Fairmont’s wedding show. The format was very different from that of Sheraton Towers’, as you have a dedicated staff which showed you around throughout.

Fairmont Wedding Show

Judith Yuen, Fairmont’s Conference Concierge, was our “tour guide” for the wedding show. She first brought us up to see 2 of the rooms they have. These will be the rooms the newly-weds will be given if their wedding day clashes with important events like F1 race etc. She then showed us the suite, which usually will be given to the newly-weds most of the time. The bridal suite at 64th floor is very nice! It is really spacious and the view is great.

Gorgeous Bridal Suite

After a tour of the rooms, Judith brought us to one of the function rooms where couples can hold their solemnisation. She then showed us the ballrooms that Fairmont has. They have quite a number of ballrooms, to cater to different capacity. All the ballrooms showcased the themes that they offered too. After which, it was a display of 2 of the menus they have – Grandeur and Elegance. We also got to sample their Peking duck and 2 of their soups (lobster soup and chicken herbal soup) hah. We then visited some vendor booths before watching a live bridal modelling show.

Excellent Showcases at the Wedding Show

What we like about Fairmont:

• There will be a wedding concierge on the actual day, who will act as your personal butler for the day.
• Ballroom has very high ceiling, and is very spacious and pillarless.
• Nice themes and flexibility in decorations.
• Very tempting bridal suite.
• Excellent location, as it is just conveniently outside City Hall MRT station.
• The giant VIP table which seats 20 people.

Things that we do not like about Fairmont:

• The price is slightly over our budget for Sundays ($1,038++ or $1,214.50 nett) and too much over our budget for Saturdays ($1,088++ or $1,273 nett).
• Fridays, though within our budget at $988++ (or $1,156 nett), feature the less appealing menu.
• They do not serve sharks’ fins at all (OK, this is what I do not like, dear is perfectly OK with this hah).
• Ballroom looks abit too bare, hence not as grand as others.
• Perks are much less generous than others.

Though we enjoyed ourselves at the wedding show with the tours and some food hah, we think we probably will drop Fairmont mainly because of the budget.

 

Marina Mandarin

Right after the wedding show at Sheraton Towers, we made our way to Marina Mandarin Hotel where we had an appointment at 4.15pm with Sen Ng, its Catering Sales Manager. Though she spoke abit fast, she was very detailed in her explanation and was very flexible with what they could offer. She first brought us to the Vanda Ballroom, which only has a capacity of 30 tables, which is too small for us. She then showed us the main ballroom where the capacity is 35 to 60 tables.

Marina Mandarin Wedding Package

Things we like about Marina Mandarin:

• 9-course dinner instead of the usual 8-course.
• Capacity of 35 – 60 tables, which meets our needs.
• Hotel is conveniently located within walking distance of City Hall MRT station.
• Pillarless, spacious and quite pretty ballroom.
• Flexibility in theme and choice of colours for table cloth, plates, napkins and stuff.
• Private cocktail reception area.
• Generous perks.
• Flexibility (a little) in menu choice.
• Free use of function room for solemnisation before the banquet.

Things we do not like about Marina Mandarin:

• Saturdays need a minimum of 40 tables, which we probably cannot meet. Hence, if we want Marina Mandarin, we can only choose Sundays or Fridays.
• Price of $1,168 nett, though still within our budget, is more expensive than Swissotel Merchant Court.
• Quite a bit of walking from City Hall MRT station and it may be confusing getting to the hotel.

In conclusion, Swissotel Merchant Court is still our top choice, but Marina Mandarin is one we will be considering too.

 

Sheraton Towers Wedding Show

We attended the Sheraton Towers wedding show yesterday. Sheraton Towers is not one of the hotels we are considering as it is out of our budget. However, since it is free, we just signed up to look around hah. We reached the hotel slightly after 12pm and the wedding show was not yet very crowded. After registration, we were given a carrier which contains information on the banquet packages and some brochures.

It was a free and easy format where you can walk around the area by yourself. They displayed stuff like wedding favours, invitation cards, angbao boxes, guest books etc. And of course, both their ballrooms were decorated to showcase the themes they offer, and the lighting effects they have. I would say Sheraton Towers’ main ballroom is grand and beautiful. Though it is L-shaped, the whole layout still gives the ballroom a cosy feel and all guests can enjoy unblocked view. Quality of food wise is without doubt as well, given the fame of its cantonese restaurant, Li Bai.

Sheraton Towers Wedding Show

But at $1,338++ (or $1,565.50 nett) for a table of 12, it is really too steep for us.

Also present at the wedding show included showcase by some bridal, photography and jewellery vendors. We spent quite some time with La Belle Couture, listening to their pre-wedding photography package. Actually we quite like their photography style, and dear was pretty pleased with the wide selection of gowns. And at $3,688 nett, which includes even actual day photography, the price is really kind of attractive. We spent some time googling and reading forums for reviews, and most reviews were positive. We also consulted some friends to check if the deal was worth it. However, though we were both very tempted to take that package, in the end we decided not to, as we wanted to shop around first. And perhaps somehow we felt abit insecured signing with the first bridal shop we spoke to hah.

But to be honest, I abit regretted not taking up the package hah. As in the end, I reaslised that my cousin is using La Belle, and I have friends’ friends using La Belle too. And they all have good feedback about them. Oh well, too late for regrets anyway. We shall just look around since there is no rush for it.

Anyway, besides the different booths by the vendors, there was also a buffet spread hah. Not bad, free wedding show and free food! The only thing not free was parking – a freaking $14 for 3.5 hours!

 

Swissotel Merchant Court

This is our first ever appointment with a hotel to discuss about our wedding banquet. After work today, we met up with Lidia Phua, Event Specialist of Swissotel Merchant Court, at about 7.30pm. She first brought us to view the ballroom and the cocktail reception area, before bringing us to the lounge to discuss the package the hotel offers over some drinks. She explained in details the price, the menu, the perks etc and patiently answered any questions we had.

The whole session lasted about 30 minutes or so and it was pretty pleasant. We were also very satisfied and it reaffirmed our desire to hold our banquet there! I think I just have affinity with anything Swiss – I graduated from Swiss Cottage Secondary School, work in a Swiss bank, and now, want to wed at Swissotel hah.

Wedding Brochure from Swissotel Merchant Court

Why we like Swissotel Merchant Court:

• Reasonable price of $1,128 nett per table, within our budget.
• Capacity of 35 – 50 tables, which meets our needs.
• Hotel is conveniently located outside Clarke Quay MRT station.
• Pillarless, spacious and quite pretty ballroom, and have 4 themes to choose from.
• Private cocktail reception area.
• Generous perks.
• Flexibility (a little) in menu choice.
• Free use of function room for solemnisation before the banquet.

Things that we do not like about Swissotel Merchant Court:

• Only 1 projector screen for the entire ballroom.
• Read from forums that their perks are pretty non-negotiable, such that they rarely give more than what is already stated.

Right now we are waiting for Lidia to get back to us on the available Saturdays in January 2013, and also the available Sundays and Fridays in October to December 2012. Our first choice is still a Saturday and we do not mind waiting till January 2013. However, we are also willing to compromise and wouldnt mind considering Sundays or Fridays as well if there is really no choice. Praying hard for good news from Lidia tomorrow!

I think my mind is more or less set on Swissotel Merchant Court already hah. So actually we can cancel all other appointments. But well, maybe we should just keep an open mind. Other appointments coming up include:

• Sheraton Towers wedding show, 20 August (For fun only, confirm out of our budget hah)
• Marina Mandarin Hotel appointment, 20 August
• Fairmont wedding show, 21 August (Also confirm out of our budget)
• Carlton Hotel appointment, 24 August
• Holiday Inn Orchard appointment, 26 August
• Novotel Clarke Quay appointment, 31 August
• Amara Hotel wedding show, 4 September

OK thats all for now, very busy already hah!