We did some reseach (and by research I mean out of 2h on the internet, I spend 1.5h on pinterest and maybe 30mins on google) and had a long long long list of restaurants. From the list, we shortened the list to 13 based on super simple criteria.
So our criteria for the dinner location is:
- Food has to be good - we'd prefer restaurants vs hotel banquets
- Our budget for food only is $20,000, including any external vendors we'd like to bring in
- There has to be room for a dancefloor and photobooth
- It has to be pretty!
1. The Chapel @ Sculpture Square, Middle Road
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| sagg |
Cost: $1,800 for the venue from 3-11pm. Food must be catered separately.
Capacity: 60pax comfortably with a dacefloor
Notes: Sculpture Square is now defunct so I'm not sure what's going to happen to the venue. It was my dream venue for the longest time, though.
Overall: Well, obviously not. haha
2. 22 Dempsey, Dempsey Hill
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| 22 Dempsey |
no information for this venue
Notes: There's a tender open for this venue, so I'm not sure if they're going to retain the place. Why all my venues like that ah. Anyway this restaurant used to be Oosh! and it's where we had our first date!
Overall: Since they can't confirm whether they're retaining the space until next February and the wedding is in May, we'll have to say no.
3. HOUSE, Dempsey Hill
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| via the HOUSE facebook page |
Cost: $20,000++ minimum spend
Capacity: 120pax seated, 300pax standing
Notes: Food here is really good - brought Daryl here for his birthday!
Overall: Favourite option so far!
4. The White Rabbit, Dempsey Hill
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| Julien + Theora via theweddingscoop |
Cost: $25,000++ minimum spend
Capacity: 120pax seated indoors, 60pax outdoors
Notes: Lots of people do their wedding here so I guess they must be quite adept at handling weddings!
Overall: The minimum spend is over budget, and too many people have had their weddings here so we'd rather not anyway.
5. Burkill Hall, Singapore Botanic Gardens
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| Dinesh + Janani via theweddingscoop |
Cost: $4495 for the venue from 1-10pm. Food must be catered separately.
Capacity: 80pax on Level 1, 100pax on Level 2
Notes: Only classical or light music is allowed and dancing is "discouraged".
Overall: No dancing??? nuuuuup.
6. Halia, Singapore Botanic Gardens
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| journalisticmoments |
Cost: From $108+ per person for food only
Capacity: 200 people for the entire venue. Any less and you may not get the entire venue.
Notes: The events executive is super nice. If your party size can't fit into 1 dining area, they'll separate your guests into 2 dining areas. I've not eaten at the SBG branch, but the food at Halia Raffles Hotel was really good!
Overall: Not too keen on separating guests so we'll have to say no.
7. Food For Thought, Singapore Botanic Gardens
Cost: $10,000 minimum spend, from $70 nett per person
Capacity: 180pax
Notes: The outdoor grill must remain open to public - a regulation from NParks.
Overall: Menu doesn't look suuuper interesting but it's not too shabby overall!
8. Boathouse, Fullerton Road
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| Beven + Jennie via theweddingscoop |
Cost: $16,000++ minimum spend for both indoor and outdoor areas (or $8000++ each), and $3000 for use of the patio area. Buffet at $98++ per pax.
Capacity: 60pax indoors, 150pax outdoors
Notes: The food looks amazing if you like French food (which Daryl, sadly, doesn't)
Overall: No, parce que c'est français (I would've looked into it further if not for that haha)
9. Da Paolo BistroBar, Rochester
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| jeraldinephneah |
check out their wedding brochure here
Capacity: The total capacity is 199pax but they're all separated into different areas
Notes: I've heard rave reviews of da paolo weddings from my colleagues and food at da paolo itself is pretty good!
Overall: Not too keen on separating guests so we'll have to say no again.
10. Nosh, Rochester
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| Katrina + Isaac via Samuel Goh |
Cost:
$15,000++ minimum. Buffet from $60++ per pax, set menu from $65++ per pax.
Capacity: 220pax for entire venue and 150pax for the alfresco area
Notes: The food looks good enough but the venue is goooorrrggggg.
Overall: Definitely will consider this for the sake of photos! I am superficial and proud of it.
11. Spruce, Phoenix Park
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| chope |
no information for this venue
Notes: the menu looks pretty good!
Overall: Location a bit out of the way and there are prettier venues on our list... So we'll say no.
12. Shangri-La Hotel, Azalea Room
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| mysolitairewedding |
Cost:
$1,588++ per table, minimum 150 guests
Capacity: 150pax minimum, 200pax maximum
Notes: The food fairly okay. I actually contacted the Shang with the garden terrace in mind but they proposed... this.
Overall: Noope.
13. Masons, Gillman Barracks
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| Lu + Kat via theweddingscoop |
Cost:
From $8,000++ per 50 guests
Capacity: 120pax seated, 150pax standing, separated into indoor and alfresco areas
Notes: The menu looks suuuuuuuper amaziiinnngggg.
Overall: Sadly, it's a bit too out of the way and, again, we're not too keen on separating guests so we'll have to say no yet again.
And there you have it. One dozen PLUS ONE (lol wedding pun) venues that we (or I) considered.
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| Don Draper is my spirit animal right now |
It was actually REALLY DIFFICULT to find and shortlist venues that suited our party size, budget, and food preferences. Some venues were too big, some too small, some took FOREVER to answer my emails, some of the locations were too out of the way...
But we've finally decided to shortlist
HOUSE, nosh & Food for Thought
And based on this, we're going to work on a party size of about 120pax.
I'll do a more detailed post about our 3 shortlisted venues soon!
I'll do a more detailed post about our 3 shortlisted venues soon!
xx,
Miss D.
