Venue Hunt: Singapore Community Clubs

Originally, Fiance and I wanted to hold a wedding in community club. Aside from being relatively cheaper, this venue would allow us to hire our own caterer. We know Chinese restaurants are out, since we don't want  a sit-down Chinese dinner, so we thought this a good option. Furthermore, we want to have performances during our wedding, and community clubs with its high ceiling and proper stage set-up seems very conducive for this.

Complications soon arise though. Different community clubs have different requirements for booking, e.g. some can only confirm the booking 6 months in advance, others 3 months in advance. Also, the venue has to be really set up from scratch including tables & chairs arrangements, decorations, projector & AV equipments, no waiters, etc. Well, if I've organized a wedding before, perhaps I won't be daunted, but this being my first wedding (maybe not last? Don't get me wrong! Maybe I find organizing my own wedding fun & will do it for someone else next time! ) and knowing the event will happen when I'm in the midst of full-time architect work.. also the fear because in case any community event suddenly happening on my date my booking will be cancelled and I'll be scrambling for new venue.. well.. in the end I relented to just hiring hotels.



For the benefit of brides-to-be who are looking into using community clubs, you can check the rates for each CC in the rental facilities website of OnePA here. Then, call the CC and enquire how early can you book the hall, and whether the date you want is available (i.e not clashing with some community event). Next, fill up the application form and wait for your application to be approved, and pay the deposit.

Below are some CCs I visited, keeping in mind my requirement of at least 250 pax.

1. Punggol Community Club
Near to the church where my solemnization will be, Nativity Church. Well, not so classy looking and you can only book 3 months in advance. Nice big stage, though.

 

2. Serangoon Community Club

Quite expensive compared to other CCs, though hall looks so nice with parquet flooring and a nice, albeit lower, stage. VERY popular for Malay weddings, events etc. In fact, when I enquired in October, bookings for Sept 2013, Aug 2013 were already full. Book way in advance, they are able to confirm around 9 months in advance.

 3. Toa Payoh Central CC
My favorite because of the central location, nice hall, nice stage. Located right beside Church of the Risen Christ so initial plan was to have solemnization then no need transport for guests to access the reception at the CC. Well it is EXTREMELY popular with events.. technically you can book 6 months in advance but we could not get the date we wanted in July, nor anywhere in July, Aug, Sept and Oct! Various events - line-dancing, racial harmony, ping pong tournament etc etc.. Forget about this CC ><

 Other recommended CCs (by the PA staff) includes Toa Payoh East (less bookings than Toa Payoh Central) and Anchorvale CC (nice view of the estuarine park outside.. and can hold 50 tables but much more expensive rental, counted per hour as opposed to per 8 hours)

Feh... Gave up my ambition of co-ordinating my own wedding, really starting from scratch.. but I guess just as well, since now that I'm delving deeper into all the intricacies of setting up a wedding, with none of my close family members/ relatives being here to help, I realize it was overly ambitious!