What is your dream wedding like?
With beautiful flower decor, a wish tree perhaps, mesmerizing lights, the cute looking wedding favor, a certain wonderful blend of color theme, 5 tiers height wedding cake, live band singing your favorite songs, well rated oriental or western cuisine, the magnificent ballroom, that drop-dead-gorgeous wedding gown showing your flawless skin...
Back in my parents' time, 1980's, they just picked one Chinese restaurant by a busy roadside, no grand ballroom, no chandelier lights, no carpet, no flower aisle etc. Just good food and they had a good time!
When someone asked me what is my dream wedding when I was ~16, seriously, I know nothing.
Then, come college & university life. The glory time when innocent minds gotten exposed to various media channels. Female magazines showering us with pictures of beautiful wedding concepts, spas and saloon whispering to us it is mandatory to treat ourselves well before the important big day. Movies featuring love, romantic comedy, weddings etc. A few to list: My Best Friend's Wedding, 27 wedding dresses, Bridesmaids, Monster-In-Law, Mama Mia.. I had great joy watching them, so in touch with the inner dreamy side.
Well, I supposed that's when I started to have some kind of expectations for my reception.
Now in yr 2011, as much as I can tell you from my experience, planning a wedding is really not easy! It's fun but can be really challenging >.<
You have got lots to survey & prepare prior to settle with any convention hall/ hotel/ restaurant/ clubhouse etc. I went through almost all decent hotels, Chinese/ Italian restaurant, clubhouse, boutique western restaurants etc in Selangor & KL. I even considered Penang, Kuantan, Langkawi. I was browsing websites like crazy..
There is the freaking expensive, showing others how-freaking-rich-and-influencing-and-glamorous you are. Haih, the ballroom are really nice, but really, just for one night? And all those extra charges they put on you? I hope these hotels are doing some solid CSR out there, contributing back to the society.
Expensive hotels, OUT!
There is the very nice gardens and beautiful beaches, but the humid weather not very appealing to my future Indo family. So, OUT!
I have not much choice left now after canceling off most hotels and western cuisine and destination wedding venues... I have some other hotel options in mind, close to home, convenient, cheaper than the ones in KL, but need to wait for the bridal fair for better discount. So for the time being, leaving only club house and Chinese restaurant for further consideration.
Few of the things I take into consideration for good Chinese restaurant/ clubhouse for wedding banquet were:
1. Reviews from fellow X-Bride & Groom or their guest. I collect these information from blogs, forums, word of mouth etc.. Never refer to 1 or 2 comments, cause sometime it could be bias. Try looking for those who are regular food review blogger, forums with a more widely discussion topic, comments from photographer & performer.
2. Layout of the venue:
- Is there any pillar - blocking view for guest. Overall layout may look a bit cacat ;p
- Is the venue spacious enough for guest to move around, especially for old folks or those slightly physically challenged? My dearest grandma has to walk around with tongkat, I want to make sure she gets in and out and around comfortably. My dearest grandpa likes to yum sing around with his buddies, I need to make sure he don't go squeezing his way through for his good times :)
3. Access to the venue:
- Ease for guest travelling to the venue
- Elevator/ Escalator service for guest. Again, I want my grandparents and other elderly to arrive in ease. Also for those slightly gotten 'high' guest to leave at ease. Oh, this includes having a generous main entrance for guest to be drop off and pick up easily, preferably not too far from the reception venue.
4. Waiver for liquor/ wine/ beer corkage. Beer are normally not waived, but you can always try to negotiate for a special price. The men in my family love to share good liquor and wine around, so it is in my best interest to get this waiver! I am still trying to convince them no beer for the night. Man, we are having a wedding, shouldn't we try to celebrate it in sobriety. Two type of alcohol is good enough to be merry. Plus, beer can be consumed very fast, thus, more money spent for beer itself & corkage ;p
5. Free flow of tea & soft drinks.
6. Cocktail session prior to dinner. Most Chinese restaurant don't offer this. It is just not really their culture. However, for clubhouse, this can be suggested. If you are lucky, they may even able to provide some light snacks for you. Mostly not. At the least, you may get a few tables lay out nicely prior to entrance to ballroom, snack and drinks at your own expense.
7. How many waiter per table, how frequent do they change a new plate? Most have 2 waiters for 4-6 tables. Most change plates for nearly every dish. I actually find that annoying and non-environmental friendly. I am seriously considering to ask them to do that for every 2-3 dishes, change frequent only per request, or only for the kids ;p
8. Is there designated bar staff handling alcohol? If yes, for one staff for how many table? And where is the bar? I have heard many witnessed waiters keeping the alcohol at one side for them to take away later. You need to know the answers for those questions, to show that you care and remember to get somebody from your side to on and off check on the alcohol at the bar.
9. What decor do they include? Flower stand, floral arrangement on Bridal table/ along the stage/ at the registration table etc. Backdrop for stage?
10. Wedding favors? Get some samples to try, you never know, what if it's an awfully bad tasting chocolate? Haha.. Also, asked for free wedding invitation cards. How many per table is going to be given?
11. Champagne/ Sparkling juice, Cake?
12. PA system, lighting control, sound system, how many mic, projector, screen? Any surcharge? Try waiving them all!
13. Free food testing? For how many people etc.
14. Bridal changing room, Bridal VIP car park, flat rate parking for guest?
15. Payment terms, can the deposit be refundable/ transferable?
16. Any tie up partners - wedding decor, videographer etc.. I just ask, trying my luck for discounts and vouchers ;p
17. Always ask, if there is any other hidden charges or fees to pay (eg, if reception is way past 12pm etc)
Try drop by when there is a wedding function, you can catch lots more details that could actually bother you or your guest on your actual reception. Eg. Sound system, lighting, red carpet layout, tables layout etc.
Oh, one more thing, the salesperson attitude is very very important! Yes, they may have a long waiting list, all rushing to grab the venue for their reception. But, do not let them push you around. Be nice to them, don't be too desperate, try to negotiate. Even if you kinda like the venue, but if they boss you around, would you like to have them serving you on your actual day?
Hmm.. think carefully.
Some of the above checklist can be applied on hotel as well. However hotel has a slightly different goodies package that you can try to negotiate.
---
Upon countless time of reviewing, I finally had a few venues on hand. These are the places where I truly feel like, yesh, it's a fantastic venue to share this joy of a lifetime!
In the mean time, I have to come up with a guest list.. some venues can only fit certain amount of crowd. From hopeful <200 pax to 500 pax and still increasing.. hmm, my choice of venues became less, actually, easier for selection. But this make obvious that, with the type and number of attendees, my cuisine choice is best to be oriental... I was kinda sad to remove western cuisine choice from my list...Darn, no more Italian cuisine by lake side! And no more premium-like reception at the Bankers Club! Sad..
Nonetheless, I got to move on, cos time is ticking, so many brides out there are looking and reserving reception venues.
I used to think, hey, 6 months ahead to book a decent ballroom should be enough. Then I heard girl friends having to book a year ahead. So I thought,ok, 1 1/4 yr ahead should be safe...
My god, people are getting so competitive these days, I gave several dates to one of my choice of Chinese restaurant, people are 1 1/2 yr ahead of me, my favorite date & all 3 backup dates are booked. Good thing is they just booked and have not pay deposit to lock up the reservation. The receptionist said she can put me in the waiting list for one of the dates, I gladly agreed. When I tell her the date, she then told me I am in the waiting list NO. 4!!
Wow... seriously..
Anyways, the funny thing is 1 wk plus later, the lady from this restaurant called and told me that I have been pushed up to waiting list No.1...
To be continue.. yawn..
No comments:
Post a Comment