It's so unreal that the wedding going to be in 4 months!
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| Kristen, I hear ya grrrl |
(Brace yourselves. It's gonna be a long ass post)
SO. In part I we covered ALL locations that we considered, shortlisting to 3 possible venues. We decided to meet with the event executives from these venues not just to look at the venues but also to see the actual vibes of the place - do lots of random people walk past? is there a lot of noise from the road?, and also to see if we could "gel" with the events executives.
I have to say that all the events people we met with were super nice and accommodating and bothered to stay late after work to meet us, because we both have 9-6 jobs and couldn't schedule meetings during working hours.
ok so here goes!
Option #1: Nosh, Rochester Park
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| Katrina + Isaac via Samuel Goh |
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| Joanne + Joseph via Ivan Tan |
CAPACITY
- 220pax across the entire venue
- 150pax for the greenhouse alfresco area (pictured)
COST
- Minimum spend $15,000++
- Buffet menus from $60++ per pax, (we were looking at the menu for $80++ per pax which includes 3 appetizers, 4 mains, 3 sides and 2 desserts)
- Set menus start from $65++ per pax
- Free flow beverages start from $15++ per pax, and alcoholic free flow beverages start from $55++ per pax
AMBIANCE
- Super dreamy and makes for beautiful photos
- They're open to DIY-ing your decor, if not they have a recommended vendor for you to work with
FOOD
- Fairly exciting menu
- They can do dessert tables if you're interested because the selection on their recommended menu isn't that extensive
PROS
- Wonderful venue with ample space to do what we want
- They're very experienced with weddings and private events
- Food sounds good
- We'd be able to work with their bartender to customize his/her cocktails for the event
- Within budget
CONS
- Alfresco dining is beautiful but not very practical in the May heat
- No handicap access for elderly guests
- 2 bathrooms for the whole venue
- Can't customise the menu with food options from their regular menu
Option 2: HOUSE, Dempsey Hill
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| yes I know my photos are mortifyingly bad |
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| via the HOUSE facebook page |
CAPACITY
- 150pax seated (although the ideal party size would be 120pax)
- 300pax standing
COST
- Minimum spend $20,000++
- Buffet menus from $48++ per pax, (we were looking at the menu for $68++ per pax)
- Free flow beverages start from $10++ per pax for 3h, and alcoholic free flow beverages start from $54++ per pax for 3h
AMBIENCE
- Very casual and hipster
- They're open to DIY-ing your decor
FOOD
- Great looking menu
- You can add on items from the regular menu at additional costs and as long as the item is buffet-friendly
PROS
- Venue vibes are very casual and very "us"
- Food is really good
- They're open to us having a "french fry bar" and adding their beef sliders which are super good
- We had super good chemistry with the event executive
- Air conditioning with an alfresco deck which we can use for cocktails
- 2 private dining rooms we can use for changing/makeup
- Ample and spacious bathrooms
CONS
- Space may be a little tight with our number of guests and a dance floor
- The space at the back of the restaurant would be the dance floor is a little separated from the dining area
- No handicap access
- We'd have to add on a lot of unnecessary extras to hit the minimum spend, which would leave us with less room to bring in external vendors for some things if we want
Option 3: Food for Thought, Singapore Botanic Gardens
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| hm + jy via Ivan Tan |
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| Kenneth + Karen via Wedley |
CAPACITY
- 180pax seated
COST
- Minimum spend $10,000
- Buffet menu is $70 nett per pax including iced lime tea and hot brewed coffee/tea
- You can pre-order soft drinks and alcoholic drinks (beer & wine only) from them, if not you can bring in your own and pay for corkage
AMBIANCE
- Very casual and hipster
- They're open to DIY-ing your decor, if not they have a recommended vendor for you to work with (in fact they have an extensive list of external vendors you can take advantage of)
FOOD
- Great looking menu
- You can add on or exchange items from the event OR regular menus, as long as they're buffet-friendly
PROS
- Venue vibes are very casual and very "us"
- Huge (okay huge in relation to the other venues we looked at) venue
- Food is good
- They've got the option for a buger bar at an additional price per pax (we love burgers!)
- Air conditioned
- Ample toilets
- Handicap access
- Minimum spend is low, which gives us a lot of room to add on fun extras (um, hello, ice cream cookie sandwiches???)
CONS
- The outdoor grill will still be open to public, and the bathrooms are common
- Venue is open till 9pm, and to extend to 11pm there's a charge of $300 per hour
- A lot of work and time and money will go into decor for the space since it's so massive
- Bringing in drinks from outside vendors because the available options aren't suuuuper great
And we decided on... (Are you ready for that drumroll again??)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT!
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| via singaporebrides |
It was really a toughie deciding on the venue, I tell ya.
HOUSE was our favourite because of the food, and because Dempsey is where we had our first date. We weren't too keen on FFT because the menu they proposed at first was a little "meh-looking". When we found out that neither nosh nor HOUSE had handicap access, we decided to be more open and went to meet with FFT anyway, and WHAT A GOOD DECISION THAT WAS!
It turned out that we could customise the buffet menu with virtually ANYTHING from their menus (the menu they proposed was meh but their regular menu is awesome btw). The grill being opened was easily solved by putting up long streamer curtains (um, hello, photobooth backdrop). And they're willing to let us come in on a weekday to put some of the decor up!
One of the most important factors of all is that he asked me to be his girlfriend at the botanics so everything kind of worked out!
Okay but now everything's decided, it's time to get realz and start DIY-ing my life (and weekends) away.. FUN TIMES! (no I mean it)
xx,
Miss D.
