review: orchard hotel wedding banquet

*back dated entry*

went down for my friends' (also my bf's friend) wedding dinner at orchard hotel yesterday.... pretty excited to try out their food since we wanted to hold our wedding there but didnt manage to get the slot for our date....

Location: despite being located in orchard, the hotel isnt very convenient if you dont have any buses that stopped nearby the hotel... the hotel is next to orchard delfi/diagonally opposite forum & orchard parade hotel.... so to me, i would consider it to be at the end of orchard road... it will  take a good 15min walk to reach the hotel from orchard mrt.... there is a bus stop just down the road from orchard hotel but that road is a 1 way traffic so it will definitely be inconvenient for 1 of the trip

Ambience: my friend gotten ballroom 2 & 3... i believed she has like 30+ tables & for that ballroom size, it can easily accomodate 45-50 tables... so it was really spacious...the ceiling is also very high with big chandelier so it looked really grand..... however the reception area was abit cramp cause there was another wedding at ballroom 1... luckily there was usher at the escalator or else we would mix up the reception area.... 

Food: i would say standard wedding banquet food but the main stable dish was really unexpected... it was fried mantou with chili crab sauce.... we were like " wah... that's interesting" .... so on the whole, the food & portion wise are average....

the menu

Service: i would say slightly below average because some of the staff sort of "throw" the dish on the table... normally the waiter will put the plate down & gesture the guests to start but there was like 1 or 2 waiters who just put the dish down bluntly & with a very unwilling expression..... like when we ask for more drinks, they also gave us the "WTH, why you bother me & asked for so many things" kind of face... we suspect they were part timers as they didnt look very professional........ but thankfully that was just the few of them....

Price: based on last year rate, it cost $1118++/pax... the standard price lo

Conclusion: on the whole, i think orchard hotel is still a not too bad choice to hold your wedding banquet... have to compensate a little on the location but it is still considered in town so not too bad.... i think it is hard to find a ballroom with high ceiling with that price so i think that is the bonus point =)

CONFIRM: FAIRMONT

actually we replied to the banquet manager that we have confirm to choose fairmont for our banquet on the same day but it takes time to prepare the contract so we went down today to sign it... As the original manager was on leave, we were assigned to another manager to sign the contract... actually we prefer today manager as she seem nicer, more assuring but perhaps the original manager is the HOD & been in the business for so long, so he may sounded abit more complacent.... but no matter.... so we went down, signed the contract & paid the $5K deposit... *$$$ fly away*

although fairmont is a big hotel (5star wor), their payment policy is kind of irritating... from what we know and also heard from friends that, normally the final payment will be made after the banquet.. ie: next day morning or upon checkout... BUT the manager told us that we have to settle the payment IMMEDIATELY after the banquet.. we were like WHAT?!??!?! whats with the rush man??? coz the hotel would have gotten our credit card details 1wk before actual day & they would have confirmed with the bank that we have enough credit limit to pay... so why so rush?? only then we understand why the manager suggested to us to make progressive payment... such that the final bill will be just a small amount to pay on the actual day... so kns 1... as a result... we have to start applying for credit cards for the progressive payment in order to earn those cash rebates... oh well... what to do... but at least we secured our hotel =)

appt with fairmont singapore

as mentioned in the previous post that we were on waiting list but after much pestering at the fairmont staff, we finally gotten a reply that the couple before us decided to hold their banquet earlier so YEAH!!! we have our chance!!!!!

Location: GREAT!!! just above raffles city = city hall mrt... how convenient can you get? hot sun, downpour, strong wind, etc... all doesnt matter since is sheltered & indoor all the way from mrt unless you take bus then that is another story
Price: $1199++, min 20 tables
Includes: 8 course cantonese dinner, 1 night stay at suite + helper room, 15% parking coupon & invitation card for 70% of the guests
Ballroom: due to our limited number of guests, we are only given atrium ballroom... the bad thing is that there are 2 pillars inside & is quite in the way so the manager suggest us that we put the stage in an orientation that will minimize the blockage as much as possible...as a result, the march in will be from the "back door"... slight disadvantage but hey... only walking in twice... no big deal la.... i think in this orientation, if put about 22-23tables should not have any blockage...... forgot to ask how high was the ceiling but average, i guess 2.6-3m+... the reception area is private so even when there are 5 banquets on the same day, the guests wont be squashed with other people

atrium ballroom layout, box with cross=pillar, w = door

Conclusion: actually i didnt know fairmont exist... shua ku me.... i always thought it is just another building under swiss hotel... but i am not totally wrong since fairmont & swiss hotel are owned by the same rich guy... back to proper stuff... i think fairmont is definitely the best choice we have among those that fit into our selections... the banquet manager was quite ok but my fiance felt that he tend to exaggerate his speech but i think that is still a small issue... parking coupon is lesser than usual but judging from the convenient location, i think it should be fine... actually after yesterday experience with the 3 other hotels, i am kind of sian of searching hotels already & due to our tight schedule... i think we will 90% confirm fairmont & sign the contract next week...

appt with riverview hotel

the last hotel for the day... took a bus from dhoby ghaut there... actually missed the shop, must stop at the grand copthorne then walk over...

Location: not very convenient, although have buses around, still have to walk a distant to reach the hotel
Price: $738/$838/$918/$1088/$1188/$1388++, min 10tables
Includes: 7-9 courses menu depending on the price, 1 night at suite + helper room, invitation cards for 70% guests, 20% parking coupons
Ballroom: at level four, 3.67m ceiling, the ballroom is quite spacious but the orientation is abit weird.. the march in is actually crooked due to the position of the door.... but i think that is not a major issue.

ballroom layout, w=door

Conclusion: the hotel exterior actually look kind of old & the interior renovation was also average.. my nose is quite sensitive so i can smell this musky smell which probably due to the hotel age... the advantage is the selection of different menu but personally if anything more than $918++ for riverview, i think is over-priced since the hotel didnt not very nice...

appt with hotel fort canning

2nd hotel on the list, the hotel that i always wanted to check out... we had our lunch at PS then walked up fort canning hill...

Location: somewhere in the middle of fort canning hill, behind park mall... NOT convenient coz there is no bus to the hotel, only transports are cars or your own legs... that is definitely a major disadvantage
Price: $1268++, min 18 tables
Includes: 8 courses cantonese dinner, 1 night at premium king bridal room, invitation cards for 70% guests, 20% parking coupons
Ballroom: at level one, is actually below the lobby floor... lavender ballroom is quite spacious, 3.3m ceiling... pillars are at front & back of the ballroom so no obstruction for the guests... reception area is also quite spacious

lavender ballroom layout, box with cross = pillars, w = doors

Conclusion: the hotel definitely look very nice... those English mansion style, very grand... the bridal room is also very lovely but the location is a major turn off... we cant expect the guests to climb up the hill ma... unless we cater our own bus to transport the guests up but that will cost extra $... also the price is quite steep so sadly... probably we wont choose that lovely hotel

appt with ParkRoyal kitchener

parkroyal was the first appt we had for that day....

Location: nearby mrt = farrer road on the NEL line, NOT farrer park on circle line... i actually mixed it up when i first heard the location... so is actually around little india area & the hotel is just opp city square mall... although just across the road, due to the heavy traffic, it may take awhile to just reached the hotel
Price: sat dinner = $988Nett, min 25 tables
Includes: 8 course cantoese cuisine, complimentary wine/confirm table, 1 night stay at suite, invitation cards for 80% confirmed guests, 20% parking coupons
Ballroom: located on 2nd floor, ceiling abit low but the main problem was that there was 6 pillars & to make it worst, the whole room was surrounded by mirrors!!! i mean mirrors supposed to make the place look big, but when there are so many mirrors, it kind of look weird & together with the old looking carpet, the place just give me a hk dim sum restaurant feel...

ballroom layout, box with cross = pillar, w = door

Conclusion: the manager was quite nice, explained to us in details but sadly could not check out the suite since it was occupied... the cheap price is definitely a major advantage.. NETT price lea... how good is that man... but the pillars + mirrors in the ballroom are the down sides.... but still worth considering

continue the search for dinner banquet hotels

so after meeting with master david yesterday, we immediately resume our search for hotels... since the auspicious dates given to us by master david was different from master long, we have to revisit those hotels that we called previously... Last time, we can still play hard to get then just select those "better" hotels (those that fit our criteria) but now we are DESPERATE, so we just called every single hotels on the list & sad to say, majority of the hotels were fully booked for nov 2014.... I still thought maybe can just act rich & try out four seasons or Fullerton but sorry... full also.... my god, there are really rich people around who can afford those high class places wor....  BUT not all is lost, we still managed to find 8 hotels that still have slot for our date

1. Fairmont Singapore
- we are actually on waiting list coz there is a couple before us who are going down to meet the banquet manager this weekend, so they get the priority
2. Parkroyl at kitchener
- there are also 2 other couples who made the enquiry but nothing was confirm so we still have our chance
3. Hotel fort canning
- i always wanted to check out this hotel, so am really excited to go down
4. Riverview hotel
- attracted to this hotel coz the package was one of the cheapest
5. York hotel
- honestly, i didnt know the existence of this hotel till i start the search... is actually situated in between goodwood park hotel & mount Elizabeth hospital, kind of ulu
6. Pennisular excelsior
- is actually on top of the pennisular plaza, look kind of run down... & then i read some bad reviews about the hotel from the forum, so probably not going to choose it
7. Sentosa, resort world
- one of the newer hotel but price quite steep & then the need to travel into sentosa... quite a turn off
8. Beaufort Sentosa
- not sure of the exact location but definitely in sentosa... again... price quite steep

after considering the hotel choices we had, we decided to go down & meet the banquet managers for the first four listed

PS: just enclosed below the list of hotels that i called for reference

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

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: Goodwood park hotel wedding buffet

this date is definitely correct since it was the wedding of my future bro-in-law... They had a wedding tea buffet reception at Goodwood park.... I was really excited to attend the wedding there coz I always heard abt the hotel but had nvr stepped into it b4 despite being just next to far east

Location: quite convenient, orchard area, just walk up the slope beside far east.. of coz if you are driving then will save you the trouble of walking up the slope =)
Ambience: The hotel exterior look really nice, those more old English style building = i LIKE... The reception is at pool-side and it was for approx 50guests so was really just a cozy area. the bad thing was that the hotel buffet restaurant was just outside, so it didnt give the grand feel... but for a simple wedding, i think was good enough
Food: it was international buffet but include some asian food. i have to say, the food was really nice at least those tt i tried... the laska was nice & the small sandwhiches were the lovers!!! the variety was also quite large so i would say it wont lose to a sit down chinese dinner
Service: buffet = DIY so not much of service to talk about but then the staff did refill the food constantly so i guess on the whole was quite good
Price: i didnt ask for the exact price but from what i heard, was abt $100/pax... which i thought is a little steep for a tea buffet.. for sat dinner = $1388++/table, min 18

Conclusion: Pity that I didnt manage to c the actual ballroom but i really like the hotel outlook, Yes.. i AM superficial... I guess it will be 1 of my options but sadly, the price is quite steep...i think for Yr2013, banquet is $1388++/table... poor me, may not be able to afford the price.. BUT definitely worth considering...

Review: Traders hotel wedding banquet

i didnt go for this dinner banquet so i am basing this review on his comment

Location: relatively convenient, tanglin area, not near mrt but still got quite a number of buses around = still ok la
Ambience: lobby & ballroom area quite cramp, not too much space... is a rectangular ballroom
Food: sadly, my bf was seated at the malay table, so cant comment on how was the chinese food... but he certainly didnt like the food there... he said everything was just spicy and majority of the dishes were prawn based... i mean cant complain much la, need to be halal = no pork then hard to accommodate ma... & then to match the price for chinese dinner/table, then the best ingredient to use is prawn lo...
Service: quite bad, the waiters were not very attentive.. of coz cant expect to be treated like a king but hey... basic service like serving me drinks when i ask for refill??
Price: $1088++, min 15

Conclusion: the most tempting part is definitely the price, one of the cheapest among the hotels i saw & certainly fit the min number of guests that we need... definitely inside our consideration but perhaps have to compensate abit for the food & services

Review: Hilton hotel wedding banquet

again.. back dated post but the date doesnt really matter.... went to attend my bf friend's wedding... when i told mama abt going there for banquet she was like "wah, that friend got read the news anot? tt place quite haunted lea" I believed pple knew what happened there last time so my mama think that it was not auspicious to hold the wedding there. But as long as it is not my wedding, she doesnt care...

Location: convenient, at orchard area
Ambience: I always tot Hilton is a high class hotel but somehow the 1 in SG, the exterior look kind of rundown.... the ballroom is at lvl 3 & the reception is like a D shape area with the escalator in the middle but i would say is still relatively spacious... Ballroom ceiling was quite high but got quite afew pillars around... If for 30 tables, there will definitely be some blockage for several tables
Food: disappointing & weird... I not sure was it because of the food that the couple chose or the menu itself was weird... the combination of food was really too unconventional for banquet... Eg: normally prawn dishes will be smth like prawn with celery or salad prawn kind, the 1 we had was smth like prawn in miso soup... tt's innovative & sadly the prawns were not fresh.... got several other weird dishes but it kind of slipped my mind now but really.... not nice
Service: I think service was ok but the usual problem with part time staff, they were not too good at it so it took awhile to get drinks and all... but nothing too horrible
Price: sat dinner = $1038++, min 18

Conclusion: Definitely not on my list coz I am also a little superstitious and the food was just too weird for my liking. My friend's sister also had the wedding there and she also commented about the food and to top it up, she experienced horrible service... so deh deh.... another hotel out of my list despite the reasonable price for the banquet

Review: Four season hotel wedding banquet

the date of this post isnt accurate, i just randomly select a date in June as i THINK i attended the wedding there in June 2013.... so actually i attended two wedding in four seasons, one was dinner, one was lunch, but both at the same ballroom which i dont know what was the name, was the one on 2nd floor at the end of the corridor...

Location: quite convenient since is at orchard, just behind wheelock place but the traffic there is abit messy so must be careful when crossing the road
Ambience: the reception area was slightly squeezy but i think is ok if there were not too many guests hovering at the area at the same time... the ballroom has very high ceiling and pillar-free and with chandelier, so it look quite grand and nice
Food: the pre-wedding reception have Beking duck wrap, quite nice but if i am not wrong, it cost $90/duck... the actual banquet food were quite nice, after all Four seasons is a high class hotel
Service: there was individual portioning of food which lazy me really appreciate & then not so paiseh when you want to take the food
Price: $1338++, min 8

Conclusion: On the whole, i guess four seasons is a nice place to hold your wedding if you have quite a good budget for the banquet.... For 2013 price is $1338++, & i think for the bigger ballroom, min table is 30 which total cost approx $47k... I certainly cant afford that amt so nope... is out for me....

Review: Novotel Clarke quay wedding banquet

again, another post of random date but was approx the time i went for the wedding banquet at Novotel Clarke quay.....  As my bf & I dont drive or travel around SG extensively, when he  told me that we will attend a wedding at Novotel, I was like "er... where is that place?" but of coz after a simple search online, we know that the hote is just behind Liang court... suaku me actually didnt know the existence of this hotel till now, haha....

Location: really no no for me unless you drive... I really dont like to go to Liang court area, not that the place is bad or what but just that is inconvenient for pple like me who dont drive... then have to walk SO FAR from the mrt... then somemore with the road construction around the place, super hard to walk there ar...
Ambience: Superficial me tot Novotel shld be some ulu hotel coz the name doesnt sound so nice but actually to my surprise, the building itself is better than i imagine.. Lobby was quite spacious, if I didnt remember wrongly, the banquet was at fourth floor... reception area was big so there was plenty of room for the guests to mingle... the ballroom has high ceiling with no pillars... but mayb abit too cramp for the number of tables for our friend had... cant remember how many but shld be 30 tables or less
Food: erm.... i didnt really like the food... perhaps was just me who are more particular abt cantonese cuisine.... but again i was comparing with four seasons standard so i guess it was not a fair comparision... still, i didnt like the food
Service: ok... i have to show abit discrimination here, the staff seem to look weird.. of coz i dont expect some beauty pagent winners to serve me food but somehow they just look abit different and their behaviour also abit weird... perhaps they were just tired... oh well.... but service was really so so...
Price: $1128++, min 18 tables

Conclusion: personally i wont choose Novotel, at least not my top choices due to its location & also the average food & services... & i think for that standard, the price charged/table is a little steep...but again.. if there are no alternative, it is still an ok choice

Review: Conrad continential wedding banquet

went down for my bf's friend wedding, i always thought this hotel is somewhere in city hall but actually is at millennium walk

Location: er... as the name suggest... millennium walk = no mrt... for people who doesnt drive, i feel not near mrt = not convenient for me... but of coz luckily, there are sheltered underpass & walkway to the hotel so it wasnt that bad..  however, the walking distant is still abit too far esp when you are rushing down... by the time you walk/run down to the hotel, you need to touch up on makeup & hair & etc b4 you can go up to the ballroom
Ambience: hotel looks quite nice, main lobby is spacious... ballroom is at 2nd floor but the reception area slightly cramp due to the staircase... but of coz can move to the area slightly further down, then there are plenty of space to move around... ballroom is quite spacious, high ceiling & no pillars
Food: since this is a back dated post, i cant remember exactly how was the food but i think it was pretty standard, should be quite nice
Service: I also cant remember very well but should be not too bad either
Price: $1438++ for sat dinner, table of 12, min 30tables

Conclusion: ignoring the location, the hotel is pretty nice BUT the price is NOT nice. although is for a table of 12, the price is still too steep for us.. somemore 30tables = 360guests... we can never hit that number unless we invite every tom dick harry that we know.. so sadly... conrad is out for us too... haiz...