the search for dinner banquet in hotels

after getting the auspicious dates from master long, we quickly go search for hotels... yesterday we called up several of our top priority like carlton, orchard & M hotel... all booked already.... i was like OMFG shock... like seriously people are damn hardworking & book the hotels so long in advanced... we intend to get married end of 2014 so I thought now is still not too late to book hotels but i was WRONG!!! so frantically i quickly go to the SGbrides site to take a look at whatever hotels that fit into our selection criteria....

Selection criteria: 
Hotel vs restaurant: of coz hotels are more grand & high class but restaurants are definitely way cheaper for similar menu... but the down side about having banquet at restaurant is that, there is no preparation room.. those bigger restaurant might have a partition to create a temporary room but you see... need place to put ang bao, gowns & makeup... i think a private room is essential.. so we go for hotel... of coz... restaurants INSIDE a hotel can also be considered
Number of tables: this is very important coz it determines the hotels that you can choose... for us, we are looking at approx 20 tables since we have neither many friends nor army of relatives to come for the banquet
Price: definitely an important issue coz we dont have $ to throw.. we are hoping to find a hotel that have approx $1.2k Nett/table... of coz this is very ideal cases & after some research, we know that this price range is almost impossible to find unless couples of years back....
Location: depending on you... we try to be nice guys & go for more convenient locations... also reason being, if the hotel is situated at some ulu place, the turn up rate will be low = ultimately we will lugi...places like changi airport or east coast are out for us... not many of our friends or relatives drive ma.... then cant expect everyone to take cab to & fro wad
Lunch vs dinner: this is important too coz most people will chose dinner, if you can have it over lunch then there will definitely be more choices & also cheaper

after deciding on these criteria, i came out with the list of hotels that we can select (just a modify version of what you can find on SGbrides site)

the modified hotel list that i came up with

based on the list, i start calling to those more preferred hotels & sadly most of them are FULL already.... kns sian lo.... & then becoz of the complain from my mama that the auspicious dates given by master long was not good enough... we have to pause the search till we have the consultation with master david.... so till then.... keep our fingers crossed

consulation with master long tian xiang

due to some family matter, i can only consult the feng shui master after 27th oct... waited till i want to die ar... coz my fiance told me that we have to book the hotel asap but hey man... what you want me to do.... but FINALLY managed to meet the master to get our auspicious dates... i did some research on the forum that master long (long tian xiang) & master david tong are the two most popular feng shui master to get the auspicious dates... my first choice was master long coz people said consult an elder master is better

Location: he stayed in woodland, this bungalow.. look very high class 1 but can see the fengshui involved...
Price: $120Nett
Experience: he was seated in this study room like a CEO, so the first impression i was actually abit scared coz from the forum, people mentioned he is actually quite fatherly & true enough, he is quite nice... quite a nice uncle, not too naggy or stern....he explained the individual procedure thoroughly & everything is included in the little booklet that he gave so dont need to worry about forgetting any details... although i am not very familiar with the custom stuff, those things he suggested to us seem to be the simplified version & slightly different from what I heard before.. but hey... he is supposed to be the pro, so just listen... the way he select the dates was also different, normally other master will give you only about 2 dates to select from, but master long actually select all the auspicious dates for up to 3yr!!! so sure can find a date that can fit into your schedule....
Feedback: personally i m happy for the 3yr worth of auspicious dates... easier to find hotels ma... but some of the procedures for the customary seem to be different from what I heard, so for that part probably have to consult other old folks first... & then $120 for the selection of dates may seem to be quite x but no choice... i dont know any other good feng shui master to consult... so is good enough for me

PS: just to side track, there are actually 2 master long. the other master long, my sister went to him for the selection of my niece names but NOT for wedding dates... so heng heng i managed to find the correct master long = 龙天翔... so do take note....

M hotel bridal workshop

went down to M hotel for a wedding banquet couple of weeks ago, quite ok with the place so decided to go down for the bridal workshop

Location: as mentioned b4, the hotel is at tanjong pagar but have to walk quite abit from the mrt but i think is still ok la... do some exercise after eating so much for the dinner
Ambience: the hotel exterior may not look very fancy... a little rundown but still acceptable standard
there are 2 ballrooms: Anson room is at 2nd floor, is very small & the same is very weird, ceiling is also very low, only 2.5m height... the weird thing is the arrangement of the ballroom, there is no pillar but then like a corner of the ballroom is being blocked.. so unless you have less than 20tables, anson room isnt recommended...

the anson room layout, the "w" shape depict the doors.. pardon for my horrible drawing

the other ballroom is at level 10 = banquet suite.. this is much bigger, more squarish ballroom & higher ceiling.. is quite spacious even for 30tables
Food: for the workshop, they only have those bite size sampling but from what we had for the actual banquet, i would say the food is average la... as usual they provide vegetarian food, halal food have to get from caterer
Service: for the dinner, service was ok... but the staff during the workshop seem quite pro... so i think thats comforting
Price: $1068++, min 25 (cheaper for anson room menu)

Conclusion: i think M hotel is definitely worth considering, the staff who attended to us was friendly and accommodating... the suite room was also not bad.... lets hope for the best

La belle roadshow @ orchard hotel

actually our main intention of going down to orchard hotel was to look at the place & shua ku me, i didnt know there will be other vendors at the workshop so I was very surprised to see La belle (Bridal shop)... but since we are waiting for the lunch to be served, we went to look at what La Belle offer us... the package is $3888Nett & the stuff included are pretty standard

perks: $100 discount if sign up during the workshop, additional 6poses, FOC photomontage & 4 bridesmaid dress to keep...

we considered the package over lunch & saw some of the gowns during the fashion shows... they look quite nice & 1 of the grey evening gown was gorgeous!!! so we decided to go ahead with it since we think there wont be much different from other bridal shops & La Belle is supposed to be a famous brand so it should be fine... we strike a deal with the sales to replace the photomontage & bridesmaid dresses to additional poses

Conclusion: $3788Nett for the pre-wedding shoot, i think the price isnt cheap but should be pretty standard rate unless managed to bargain like siao... & we already paid 50% deposit already, so we cant back out now... so lets hope for the best when we commence the shoot next yr =)

Orchard hotel bridal workshop

orchard hotel is actually one of the hotels that we are considering for the wedding banquet coz seriously, with our budget & number of guests, not many hotels will accommodate to our needs... so when I saw the bridal workshop, of coz must go down & see see...

Location: end of orchard area, have to walk quite a distant to the mrt but i think is still manageable since there are quite a number of buses nearby... BUT next to the hotel, there are several pubs/clubs so the environment at night maybe a little sleazy... 
Ambience: the main lobby is actually quite big but renovation slightly old so there is abit of vintage look but still ok la... grand ballroom is on the third floor, the reception area is big = i LIKE... the ballroom itself is nice, spacious, high ceiling and no pillars... so the ballroom is actually a HUGE 1 tt can accommodate like 60+ tables but they divide into 3 halls so depending on how many guests you have, they will open up the partitions....
Food: I cant comment since is a workshop, the food they served will be different from the chinese dinner... what we had was a western set, appetizer and main course followed by dessert buffet.. what we had that day was pretty nice, desserts are nice & i love the fruits!!!
Service: again... is a workshop so cant compare the service but for today, the staff are quite helpful and nice
Perks & price: if sign up during the workshop, will minus $688Nett for 25confirmed tables & 3hr free flow of wine+beer, for sat dinner, price is at $1158++

Conclusion: Definitely one of our top choices for banquet due to the spacious ballroom and relatively convenient location.. price maybe slightly steep after all the service charge+GST but still can consider

Review: actual day photography+videography

again.. back dated post... it will be just a compilation of people that we asked for the actual day photo+video

1. Expressively Joho, photography by garrick
this guy actually did the AD photo for my bf's friend & we quite like his work, so went to enquire more abt his services..
Price: $1800
Includes: 8hr on site photography, all photos returned, complimentary 1hr engagement session & 100pc thank you cards
top up: $250/hr of photography, express highlight at $500
Feedback: price too steep for us though we liked his work but for those richer couples, he is definitely a good choice


2. Livesnapps - just photography
Price: $1788, up to 300guests
Includes: 10hr coverage, 4hr live photography during banquet, unlimited printing of photocards, all images returned with 1 photobook
Feedback: my bf met up with him at his office, ok guy but the price is slightly steep for us too


3. Beyond pictures - actual day cinematography
Price: $1688/ $1888
Includes: 10hr coverage, express highlight, documentary film arranged in chapters
Feedback: again.... so x for just the video...


4. Coffee & Tea
Price: wedding day essential collection = $2880
Includes: 10hr coverage for photography, 6hr coverage for videography, 4min morning highlights
Feedback: saw some good reviews online, price still steep but cheaper compared to others since it include both photographer & videographer


5. Just married films by Jamie - just videography
Price: full day complete edit = $2488
Includes: morning video
Feedback: really very x but his work is really unique... saw it at my bf's friend wedding... the video concept is very gd but seriously/... out of our budget

6. Moment in 7
Price: $2288Nett
Includes: photographer + videographer, unlimited hr of coverage, express highlight, childhood montage, all images & video returned
Feedback: met up with the videographer, personally i find him abit weird but i guess most of those artistic people will have a different aura.. the price is the cheapest among those that we saw, so definitely one of our top choices... 

Review: Bridal affair

went down to see this "shop" coz I read some good review about them on forum.. I msg Christin & their shop is actually inside a HDB unit but i guess tt's how you can save on the rent & give better perks to the customers =) Her "shop" is in Tampines so I arranged an appt with her, actually after viewing 3 bridal shops b4 that, i m kind of "pro" in terms of looking out for what are included in the packages... so she has two basic packages which include only the gowns & makeup which cost $1980Nett & $2280Nett... then to top up for the photographers, there will be additional charges & we check that the cheapest is actually $3380Nett (include pre-wedding shoot photographers) For details of the packages (on the gowns,etc), can refer to their site => http://www.bridalaffairs.com.sg/

back to the appt thing, Christin was very nice, very patient to explain the full details of the package coz it was abit confusing as the photographer is a separate thing from the package... She isnt pushy which is smth that I really appreciate as i really hate pple who force me to buy stuff. after explaining the packages then she let her assistant, Sharon to show me some of the gowns... I was actually quite surprised as I was just expecting to know more abt the packages, but hey, foc trying... no harm wad... so sharon helped me with the gowns, she was friendly & know her stuff well... 1st time trying them & my god... so troublesome to wear... but hey... again... looks pretty... so cant complain =p

Conclusion: I really like their services, the gowns are not bad too though their selection may not be comparable to those big bridal shops but i think good enough for me to find smth tt i like... In addition, another major advantage abt them is that they are open with their package, they put everything that was included in the package online. not like other bridal shop who are so particular abt their package, if you want to take a longer look, they also give you the evil stare...the major downside is the location... tampines lea.... i stay in lakeside, imagine everytime have to travel from 1 end of SG to the other end... my god.... BUT i will still consider them as i am quite particular abt the service part

Review: Bridal shops along Tanjong pagar

today mark the official start for the search of my wedding stuff... Due to some family matter, i cant commence with the selection of auspicious dates by the feng shui master yet so my fiance and I start with the search on bridal shops for the photoshoot 1st... I did some preliminary search on the forum tt tanjong pagar area is supposed to have the most number of bridal shops around so we went down to just get a gauge abt the price of those packages...

1st shop: My dream wedding @ Tras street
This is an international company and I saw their photo on hk magazines b4 so i was really excited to go into the shop to c wat they offer. We didnt make any appt but luckily one of the staff was free to attend to us. The staff was quite nice, sounded very pro and confident abt her company products. For the pre-wedding shot + actual day rental of gowns, the package was $3988++. i THINK this price is quite the norm but then cheapo me actually found the price quite x.... coz naive me tot tt the whole package cost abt $2k but i was WRONG.... oh well... took a look at some of the gowns, normal... but i believed i can surely find smth tt i will like if i really take a serious look....

2nd shop: SOPHIA wedding @ tanjong pagar road
I also saw pple recommend this shop on forum coz they say is quite reasonable price, can manage to get it abt $3k, so we went to take a look... AND we r WRONG again... $4888Nett + 10% discount if we sign up by Oct 2013, where the hell is cheap lo.... BUT BUT BUT the gowns tt i saw r damn PRETTY!!! at least those few tt the gown specialists showed me r DAMN NICE!!! at tt moment, i really wan2 try on the dress & swing around in it but we didnt... coz there were other pple who made appt to try the gowns...

3rd shop: Digo bridal @ tanjong pagar road
after going to SOPHIA, we only have time for 1 more bridal shop b4 we need to break & go for friend's wedding, so we walked along the roads & couldnt decide which shop to go in... then we saw quite afew customers inside DIGO so we went in to take a look....the package is $3888Nett but we didnt have time to discuss for any discounts... we also didnt manage to c the actual gowns, only saw the photo in the ipad... i believed the gowns shld be nice too

M hotel
this is NOT a bridal shop but just that that day we had a friend wedding so just want to share the experience about the ballroom....
Location: ok.... abit far from the Tanjong pagar mrt but still a walkable distance
Ambience: the ballroom is at lvl 10, the banquet suite, ceiling relatively high and pillars only at the back of the ballroom so there was no block for the view... the ballroom is also quite big, can comfortably accommodate 30 tables
Food: i would say average but the shark fin tasted weird, very gluey but on the whole was still ok
Service: I think other than those high class hotel which have individual distribution of food, most of the banquets are DIY style... i think many of the waiters were those part-time student kind, so they might not be too efficient but i think still tolerable la