Recently visited the Marina @ Keppel Bay and Moi thought it's really a lovely venue for a simple, cosy and small wedding where the sky and the sea meet... and definitely a lovely spot to pop the special question. *wink*
Tags : Outdoor, Sea, Solemnisation, Venue
Finding the ideal location can be a headache... especially one that fits all the requirements. There isn't much publicity for Raffles Hotel as a wedding venue... basically because Raffles dun really "sell" their hotel as a wedding venue. But it's truly a little jem. Being both a national monument of the british colonial style architecture and maintaining a good luscious greenery in many parts of the hotel, thus serves as a good garden outdoor wedding venue.
Went down to take a look at this national monument, and was I so smitten by the colonial design and richness. A wonderful place that myself and MooCow will be able to come back 5, 10, 20 and more years to visit and reminisce our moments. Well, some might comment that it's a little too old and Raffles definitely doesn't offer any special package (extremely rigid) but if you love the ambience, it got to be there.
Raffles Hotel Main Entrance facing Beach Road
Long Corridor
During our third visit to Raffles Hotel, Moi was blown over by a Japanese bride with her scottish husband marching down this corridor to the ballroom. It's so picture perfect. * wink *
Palm Court Garden
The palm court garden is just outside the East India Room, entering to your left when you enter the main entrance facing beach room. It's a little hid-away that is quiet and cosy. Moi and MooCow really loves this quiet private corner. During a quiet afternoon, you can only hear the faint sounds of the tinkling culinary from the Tiffin Room, birds chirping and the water sounds from the fountain.
Grand BallRoom
The walls look a little old but the chandeliers are lovely....AND no beams to block any view. The grand ballroom is very near to their chinese kitchen so they can serves chinese food, western food and fusion food.
East India Room
This is the ballroom just beside Palm court garden. A nice cosy place taking only 100 - 120 pax. Serves only western and fusion food as the chinese kitchen is on the second floor and too far from the East india room. The size seems to be just nice for our wedding as we both wanted a really small and intimate ceremony.
Casuarina Suite
Just beside the Grand Ballroom, there are 2 rooms facing door to door inside the main entrance to the Casuarina Suite. The room size is just as small for cosy wedding. Moi thought it might be a little confusing for guests trying to locate the Suite.
The Lawn
This is really a PERFECT wedding venue... but alas, it's so costly to rent that place... and if you need to set up tentages and canopies against rain and sunshine, it will be a even more costly affairs. You can get a lot of online photos showing wedding @ lawn if you google for it. AND if your ring bearer is a dog or a cat, this is the place. Hahahaha! They allow animals participation. so sweet!!
Tags : Raffles Hotel, Banquet, Venue, Outdoor, Indoor
When deciding the ideal wedding venue either for wedding solemisation or banquet or reception, you will need to look at the :-
Location
Will you prefer an outdoor wedding or indoor? Living in a tropical island with blasting sunshine and unpredictable rain, having an outdoor wedding might need careful contingency planning for the unpredictable. Will it be held locally or overseas? Now it is common for couples to going overseas to fulfill that dream wedding or just simply because one of the partners are from overseas. I still remember many years back, a friend who held her wedding at 4 locations : (1) Castle Wedding Solemisation @ Scotland (2) Wedding beer party @ Singapore (3) Wedding Banquet @ Kuala Lumpur (4) Lunch reception @ Tokyo. Hahahaha! Well, well, the lucky bride got all the luxury for marrying a CFO of a MNC. Moi??? Not too bad too! I am marrying a COW. Wahahahahahahaha! Of course the venue will need to fit your wedding theme be it fairytale, romantic, traditional, cosy, garden setting, chapel, seaside, sunset, yacht etc.
Size and Capacity
Even if you have find the ideal location that fits your ideal theme, its capacity must fit your guests size. If you are planning to invite hundreds, a small cosy restaurant would never be able to fit everyone. While if you are planning to invite only a 100pax, going for a huge restaurant for 1000 pax will be ridiculous since you won't be able to fill up the seats.
Logistics
Then it's the logistics and accessibility issues. This is especially so for overseas and out-of-the-usual wedding where getting to the location might require a little bit more of planning and transport arrangement on the guests part. As the hosts, would you be able to provide the necessary arrangements to accommodate their needs and provide accessibility? No matter how ideal a place, if it's really that inconvenience, it will be a dread for your guests to turn out and they may end up getting late due to transport issues.
Budget
Of course, at the end of the day, the use of the venue must be within your affordable means. =)
Tags : Venue
As a new-age IT-savvy BTB, Moi got most of my resources from the internet. Well, here sharing some...
1. Internet
We went into a lot of discussion when planning / estimating the budget for our wedding. This is a really really rough estimate....based on non-package pricing. Well, well, well...it's a costly affair.
Banquet / Reception - S$20,000
Car + hand bouquet - S$500
Photographer - S$2,000
Suite + Shoes (groom) - S$1,000
Bridal gown + evening gown (bride) - S$3,000
Shoes (bride) - S$150
Make up + hair accessories (bride) - S$500
Angpows - S$1,000
Wedding Rings - S$1,000
Honeymoon - S$6,000
Stationery - S$500
Manicure + Pedicure - S$60
Total S$36,210
Let's see if I will squeeze the budget or burst it...
Tags : Budget
I had dealt with the most difficult question in my life that was to decide who I want to marry to, who I want to spent the rest of my life with and now it's for the wedding itself. While many girls envision the kind of fairytale Princess-like wedding, I am a rather practical person. I would prefer a simpler, more cosy ceremony with the least hassles, without the traditional dos and dont's, and within the minimum budget. Not that I want to be stingy with a once in a lifetime affair but I would like the money to be put in good use instead of slurping every dollars and cents from our bank accounts for a once in a lifetime thing that will only last a day. A wedding lasts only a day but a marriage lasts a lifetime.
Set the date
The very first thing I believe we need to decide on is the date for our wedding. MooCow wanted it as soon as possible, preferably within this year. I wanted a little later. He wanted a more memorable date that will be convenience for us to remember. While our parents wanted an auspicious date chosen based on the chinese lunar calendar. That's where a lot of compromising will have to come in. Well for most chinese, one will either engage a help of a fengshui master to select an auspicious date based on the couple's birthdates or by slipping through the chinese almanac. Found some useful internet links for checking auspicious dates. 
Of course you can always turn to the reliable Tong Shu (通勝) or chinese almanac and try to decipher from the wordings.... =P
In other case, whether the wedding is to be held during a weekday, one of the weekends are also crucial in terms of convenience for attending guests and in terms of price package. Restaurants and Hotels usually offers cheaper packages for banquet or reception held over weekdays.
Theme
Next, we need to come out and agreed with a common theme. Formal? Simple? Banquet held in a hotel, a garden, a restaurant, a church, at a beach or even at home will all give very different atmosphere to a wedding.
Guests
Before looking for a suitable venue, you will also need to estimate the number of people that will be attending so that you can choose the right venue to host them. And then it will be a start of googling for suitable wedding venues, getting referrals from friends and family and lots of legs walking to find that dream place that suits your date, your theme, your guests capacity and your budget.
Budget
Talking about budget, of course, it's a time to settle down and have an open talk about each other finances and how much you can commit and budget for the wedding.
Tags : auspicious dates, chinese tradition, fengshui, Procedures, Wedding banquet
