2 August 2009

we have decided on our date... 2 August 2009....
actually date is chosen by zhiwei's dad... he checked from "tong shu" and 2 August is a good date and it's within the 1 year of my mum's death anniversary.... suitable and at least not that rushing (where got not rushing... haha) for us as there's still like 6 more months before the date....

although date is confirmed, we havent confirm on our hotel yet...
all the friends we have talked to say we have to hurry to get one soon... so that the date and place can be settled first... :p

what we are looking for for our hotel are:
- Function room MSUT BE available on 2 August 2009
- Function room for 200-250 ppl
- For dinner
- Our budget: less than $1k per table
- An extra room that can be used till late so that my dad can use if he needs to rest for a while from the crowd...
- Carpark coupons available for all or most of our guests

These are the few things we were looking for in the hotel that we will be holding our banquet & solemnisation... and we have actually shortlisted 3 based on the quotations that were sent to us and from the pictures and comments online... we chose them from the many quotations that we received from hotels all over singapore because they meet some/most of the requirements listed...

hence, on monday 23 Feb, we went to see the coordinators of the 3 hotels that we have shortlisted... (no names will be mentioned here...)

the result is.... *drum-roll*
we are getting the 2nd one that we went...
reason being:
1) coordinator is friendly and helpful to throw in complimentaries items for us...
2) package includes all of the requirements that we needed
3) function room is beside the pool which i loved it... :D

we also liked the function room of the 1st hotel that we saw... it has a very interesting layout... and it can hold a max of 200 ppl... and they have a small area outside the function room where we can hold our solemnisation...
BUT...
1) coodinator is very inflexible.... whatever requests we want, she all say cannot...this cannot, that cannot... and extra must pay, extend day room for helper must pay... no room for negotiation and not willing to go the extra mile for us....
2) function room may be interesting but inconvenient for elders who have difficulties walking because they would need to walk up and down stairscases
3) have 3 projectors in the room but only 1 in the center can be used.... the other 2 is projected on reflective walls... so cannot really see... and if use the center one only, then 2 tables at the corners cannot see.... i respect the lady on this as she is very truthful on this point...

we didnt manage to see the 3rd hotel... because the coordinator informed us that day that 2 August was already taken up for both dinner and lunch...

actually i think it's good that a decision is made for us... as the 2 of us would have a headache between the 2nd and 3rd if both are available to us... because before we went, we liked the 3rd hotel already... and i know we both liked the 2nd one after we saw the place and talked to the person... we are quite comfortable with the coordinator.... so i'm glad....

Will update you all again when i have new information... haha... will try to be as up-to-date as possible... hehe :]