Settled on a venue! Finally!

And it will be Furama Riverfront Venus ballroom =) At first, I thought the ballroom was rather old and outdated, with a funny, rather 'muddy' color of carpet, however after seeing the room being set up several times (I actually went back to the hotel twice more to peek at Mercury and Venus ballrooms haha..), I grew to like it. The size is just nice, pillar-less, and quite beautiful after being set up.

Further, I will be able to put in good Indonesian food inside the menu! yay! If there is a 'dream wedding' item on my list..maybe this is it.. I'm so happy about it! Also, the service is very good, I read a lot of rave reviews about the coordinator I'm assigned to, he did throw in lots of perks and even a tasting for Fiance and I at the Indonesian restaurant. (No other hotel offered me tasting if it's the international menu, not the regular chinese banquet menu >< )

(Almost?) Complete Wedding Venue Listing Singapore

The headaches of venue hunting... (hopefully!) coming to a close.. and really, this seems to be the most 'headache' part of wedding planning together with determining the guest list. Since I've spent so much time finding out about things, unwilling to just let things come to a close quietly hahaha.. I'm putting all the useful links here, and hopefully future brides to be can start their search here to take advantage of all the links provided. No need to sieve through tons of google result!

Venue Hunt: Singapore Hotels

Hotels. The standard wedding venue in Singapore. Initially very reluctant to pay the high prices associated with using hotels, but in the end, considered that hotels do brisk business in holding weddings because heck, they know what they're doing. Peace of mind is priceless, right?

Then again, a bit of shopping around and 'site visit' necessary, since by meeting directly with the hotel personels, some of them readily threw in perks! It's kind of fun too.. Opportunity to drink copious amounts of tea and eat cookies for free ;p

Here are some hotels I've visited and pictures of their ballroom.

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.

Venue Hunt: Hotel Re!

Yep, the name of the hotel comes with an exclamation mark.

Found out about Hotel Re! as it's listed in wedding venue directories as one of the hotels with more affordable food, and they have international /Asian buffet option just like we want!

So, after confirming that they can accommodate 250 pax, Fiance and I came down to take a look.

Gotta say, I'm impressed. Some pics of the venue:

Venue Hunt : Grand Banquet at Hotel Royal @ Queens

Accidentally spotted this venue in Bras Basah when I went with a friend to eat at Standing Sushi Bar nearby. What attracted me was how it's just across the church of St. Peter and St. Paul. Can just ask guests to cross over after solemnization!

Anyway, the next day went to enquire with Fiance. Turns out their wedding venue is the Grand Banquet / Fu Lin Men restaurant.

Pros:
1. Packages quite affordable starting at $498 per 10 persons table (without GST). Still I think this price is unmatched for a central area banquet
2. Location right beside Bras Basah MRT very easy to get to
3. From internet reviews, the food is not bad

Cons:
1. We don't want very Chinese style sit-down banquet, prefer international buffet
2. The hotel facade and restaurant does look a bit 'old-fashioned'.. not sure if they can customize decorations according to request

Keeping it in the list for now mainly for the price and location.
The hunt continues!

The Headaches of Venue Hunting

To get married, a woman needs a groom, yes, but the next important thing is the venue. And here in Singapore, it's this venue problem that means you have to plan your wedding at least a year beforehand. Enquiring here and there, some venues do get booked up fast! (e.g Serangoon CC is very popular for Malay weddings, St. Francis Xavier church very popular for solemnization)

My wish is to get married at a venue like this:

Since that does not seem to be possible, well, let's forget the wish and get on with actual venue hunting!

Our wedding is going to have 2 parts, church wedding and lunch reception, me and Fiance originally thought Toa Payoh CC will be the perfect as the church and CC (for lunch reception) is just side-by-side.

The fiance even very excitedly told me, "To show my sincerity, I will carry you with my own hands from the church to the CC!" (Originally was supposed to be from my house to the church.. but after a test run.. well.. anyway he still has 8 months to train his biceps ;p )

So, we went to enquire on the availability.

Me: "Hello, we would like to ask if the multi purpose hall is available for hire for wedding reception on Saturday, 27 July next year, for wedding reception?"
CC staff: "Oh sure, let me check for you... hmm.. sorry but on that day we have a line-dancing event.."

What about the week after, 3 August? There's a CC event. The week before, 21 July? Some racial harmony event. The week before that? Another line dancing. In fact, the CC has very limited availability and even if we book that, there's no guarantee everything will go smoothly as, if some minister chooses to hold an event on that exact day, it will be given priority.

Haih. Scrap the idea of getting married in CC if you are eyeing a central one. As far as my enquiries go, less centralized CCs like Punggol, Anchorvale, Serangoon are still okay though they also will prioritize community events. (Leave a comment if would like to know prices) A small discussion ensues with Fiance.. "Wha, like that, no wonder Sg getting less babies! Aunties and uncles line dancing more important letting people get married and make babies!"

Oh well, in the end we decided to use restaurants or hotels, with the advantage that we don't have to worry about table set up, caterers, decorations and waiters. (FYI it costs $17 to rent a table with table cloth, $1 for plastic chairs, $6 for cushion chairs).

The hunt continues, with our criterias being:
1. A space that allows 250 - 270 pax
2. Space and stage allowing capoeira performance and activities
3. Cost not more than $650 per table (This instantly narrows down the search a lot!)
4. Location not too 'ulu', near a Catholic church if possible

Some info and good links on wedding venus in sg:
7 ways to cut your wedding venue cost in Singapore
Singapore wedding venue directory
Singapore wedding banquet price list 
(For the last one, you have to be a member but I find it very easy and worth it as the discussions have a lot of recommendations and info. Even grooms-to-be register!)