Goodwood Park Hotel

[blueangel81]

Richard, I received a confirmation letter from GWP on this Sunday wedding show. Maybe they responded faster with emails? They replied me with the package within the same day of my request.

Me & my finance finally met up with Anthony for the first time after several emails & calls. I share Coco's view abt Anthony...okay with him & his services..I think he is the candid type, straight-forward with what he really can & cannot promise. He seems to have a gd wealth of experience with wedding coordinating. He also shared some practical experiences (when we sugg adding this or that to the banquet) which we think pretty useful. We feel more assured now after a detailed face-to-face discussion with him tonight.

But for the perks-wise, really hard to get anything extra than those in the wedding show. No additional night stay (cos' he said hotel occupancy rate is v high now), upgrade of suite or extra room for helper

but if everything runs smoothly on the AD, these perks dun matter too much. So most likely, we gonna strike a deal with GWP & will have everything draft out in clearly in black & white too

 

[celinepuah]

Wow, looks like there's alot gg on here =)

Was thinking of pop'g by this saturday to see the decor as well....

yea... agree that it's generally pretty hard to get things out of them.. i tried asking for more car park coupons but failed.. additional helper room..also failed... extra invitation card.. also failed... card printing not included...

ohya, my fiancee and I make the coordinator write down on the no. of server per table.. coz some hotel only provide 2 waiter to every 3 tables..

..hmm.. wonder they allow me to swicth to card design from Dreamweaver.. and perhaps a promotional rate to rent the wedding car huh...

 

[strikingreality]

sw (celinepuah) >> Don't go on Saturday, cuz the wedding show is on Sunday. Have you signed with them yet?

What is the ratio of server to tables? 1 server to 1 table? I always forget to ask this also...

Yeah, GWP really quite hard to get additional perks. But I also think their packages are more inclusive than other hotels...

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

Anthony told me its 2 servers to 3 tables. Did he told u guys otherwise?

SW: have u sign the contract with GWP yet? Card printing in most hotels are not included but they do recommend a few places for u to print at a special price but no obligations.

If u take up the DBS promo, u can chose to have free flow of house pour wine after commencement of dinner OR their bridal car but u need to pay for the insurance (cost a few hundred bucks) or put a SGD$12000 deposit in cheque.

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

Anthony told me its 2 servers to 3 tables. Did he told u guys otherwise?

SW: have u sign the contract with GWP yet? Card printing in most hotels are not included but they do recommend a few places for u to print at a special price but no obligations.

If u take up the DBS promo, u can chose to have free flow of house pour wine after commencement of dinner OR their bridal car but u need to pay for the insurance (cost a few hundred bucks) or put a SGD$12000 deposit in cheque.

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

blueangel: i agree with u that Anthony is very generous in sharing his experiences he had while planning other couples wedding. He even show me more pictures of the wedding set up on his iphone.

There are more people joining this thread and I'm getting confused whose wedding is when and so on. haha.. anyway mine is confirm to be on 24 July 2011 at Windsor ballroom.

According to Anthony, the food that we will be eating this sunday during the wedding show is from the renaissance menu.

 

[hoseki]

Yes blueangel I got a mail from gwp stating that they will have received my form and will go ahead with the charges. Thank u for ur information.

May I ask how big is the tudor room? Does anyone Have the dimensions of e room? Tried finding it online but couldn't get any info.

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

hmm.. tudor ballroom is for 18-22 tables. no dimensions on the website, you might have to ask your coordinator. but good thing is that there r not pillars so no worries if you are afraid it might block some of your guests view. i find tudor ballroom very cozy but unfortunately its too squeezy for 22-23 tables.

 

[celinepuah]

I signed the old contract.. my actual day is 11 Dec 2010 ….@_@ .. getting really closer and closer to the day…

The original GWP invitation card is really very plain… hope am able to make a switch..haha..

hmm.. so all 2011 btb here? any 2010's?

i believe they'll offer a better rate at the wedding show... perhaps a discount on the actual rate or something... try to compare with other hotels that u are shortlisting.. it'll help in the 'negotiation' process.. =)

 

[blueangel81]

Richard, like wat coco said, Tudor ballroom is v cozy (but will be cramped if u put >18 tables) & we like its reception area better than Windsor. Alas we feel Tudor ballroom's ceiling is kinda low so doesn't give u the 'grand' feeling & we wanna have dessert buffet too so Tudor will be too squeezy. Anyway, you will be able to see both ballrooms being furnished up this Sunday. But Anthony said dun expect the same 'grand' set-up on yr AD per the wedding show (unless u willing to dig deeper into yr pocket) cos' in the wedding show they are presenting the best of the best from ambience to food. So we r getting quite a bargain on this Sunday lunch for $58/48 per couple.

I forgot to ask the ratio of the waiter to table too. Is it normal to include that in the contract too?

sw, I dun think we are getting discount on the actual rate. In fact, the old package price is definitely cheaper than the current one...each table increases by at least $50. I guess we are compensated abit with the additional perks given in the wedding show.

Ya I find the orginal GWP invitation card either too plain (white) or too old fashion (red). But Anthony told us if we choose to take Dreamwaiver's designed cards, it is mandatory to let them handle the printing (which costs higher than the printer recommended by GWP) too.

 

[strikingreality]

sw (celinepuah)>> why dun you email dreamweavers and ask them what is the rates during the GWP wedding show? Are u going?

Personally I dun see the need for fancy invitation cards... cuz no matter how nice, ppl will still throw away in the end. I rather spend money on nice solemnisation invitation cards since I am going to invite close family and friends only and they are more likely going to keep them. Just my thought!

 

[hoseki]

thanks blueangel and coco. i asked this lady called Queenie for the ceiling height of the tudor ballroom and she told me its 3.2m. So far i have been to raffles and the height of their ballroom is 3m, while Hibiscus ballroom in hyatt is 3.4m. So i think i roughly have an idea of how high tudor is. i think i would like the cozy feeling and do not mind that it does not feel 'grand'. actually was thinking with only a few tables (like mine around 20-21 tables) in a big ballroom like winsor, i am afraid it would feel rather empty.

btw, there is a free 45min band if we sign up during the wedding show right? but if i am intending to get own band, can i ask for an exchange for another nite stay or a helper's room e.g? or do you all know which band group is the hotel going to provide?

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

I am not sure the company that is going to provide us with the musicians and Anthony says that he is going to email me the contacts of all the vendors in time to come.

Richard, you can try asking for an exchange but dont pin much hopes on it because I heard, whatever that comes free in the wedding show, you can choose to have it or not. If you are not taking up, you are not allowed to exchange for other things as it is part of the wedding show perks. Something like that.

 

[strikingreality]

Richard (hoseki)>> Windsor minimum is 25 tables, and yeah, too few tables in a big ballroom will feel very empty. You can also consider Marina Mandarin Vanda ballroom which can hold up to max 30 tables, this one also quite cosy. Four Seasons ballrooms are also quite nice.

 

[blueangel81]

I ask Anthony abt the band too. He said we can check directly with the external vendor (the band) who will be there this Sunday too. 99% cannot exchange the additional perks since its a freebie from GWP's external vendor. As for the additional night stay or helper room, tink can forget it too..got my reply from Anthony ytd...still No..

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

blueangel: u sign already?

Richard: Anthony told me that we can speak to the vendor and we can choose which instruments to be played.

 

[celinepuah]

^-^ yea, perhaps will ask my coordinator ...

if too ex.. then forget it , anyway, like u say.. ppl will just throw away ^O^

 

[blueangel81]

Coco, I have not signed yet. We will be asking Anthony to draft the contract & mostly make booking fee this Sunday to get the early bird $100 dining voucher (since we are quite cfm to go for GWP now). Other than the complimentary usage of projector, sound system, waiter-table ratio, can share what other clauses you ask him to stipulate in the contract?

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

i did not ask him to include the ratio of the servers per table into the contract. I ask that out of curiosity. Actually you can meet up with him on fri or sat or even after the wedding show to sign the contract because you still get the $100 dining voucher. This Sunday is gonna be a very busy day for them so not sure if Anthony will be free to go through the contract with you. I sign my contract on Monday and i get the $100 voucher too.

erm.. i think thats pretty much what i ask him to include into the contract. Oh.. i ask him to amend the contract by saying its free flow of beer upon cocktail reception instead of just free flow of beer. Thats about it.

Blueangel, so ur having 7 or 8 course dinner? If you are having 7 course, did you change your dessert menu to the dessert buffet?

 

[blueangel81]

Yup I think better sign the contract on another day to make sure we have ample time to 'study' the T&Cs afterall this is a big committment!

That additional clause is a good one. I will ask for the same thing too. Thanks for sharing!

Yes we shorten the standard 8 course to 7 course (i.e. 6 mains + dessert buffet) so that the dinner wun have to end too late (esp on a weekday) due to the dessert buffet.

 

[celinepuah]

hmm.. anyone know about the "music rights" issue?

will the hotel provide a list of music/ cds.. or we've to apply to the authority ourselves to the songs we intend to play?

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

blueangel: did you top up $ for the dessert buffet or u give up 1 course for the dessert buffet? I am wondering if having the dessert buffet will make the whole ballroom very messy. The buffet will be located inside the ballroom or outside?

 

[blueangel81]

I did ask Anthony on the "Pay or Face the Music" issue. What I understand from him was: thou the hotel has been paying compass fee to play music during the banquet but the rules will become much stricter than b4. For instance, what they did previously was to compile the different love songs into a single CD so that the music get played continously. This is going to be a big potential issue cos' according to the rule, u should be playing from individual ORIGINAL CD (where copyright has been paid). But this is not practical (in my view) unless the hotel has a multi-disc player where they can continously swap from CD to CD. Then the next question is: can we ensure that there is no 'pauses' during the switching of discs? Anthony said COMPASS is still fine-tuning the details so for now, they have no clear direction on this issue too. However, one thing that he mention was: whatever you want them to play on their projector, like your video footage & photo montage, the responsibiliy of making sure that the background music in that video/montage, falls onto you. Therefore you will have to make sure the videograper/photographer who prepare yr video/montage pays a tribute to COMPASS. The costs of these services will definitely rise as these service providers are definitely passing on the costs onto the final consumers. Btw if you decide to DIY, you also have to apply to the authority & pay for the copyright fee as well. I am not sure of the amount..prolly a few hundreds. I am sure there will be pple who will still proceed to 'play without pay' esp during this gray period. Well, u can do whatever u deem, juz a matter of 'dun get caught'

 

[blueangel81]

coco, we have to top up $100++ per table for the dessert buffet. That's an additional of $2.5K++ for the dessert buffet. They are not discounting it thou' u may argue that they r taking away your original dessert. And, you must top up for each guaranteed table too. We tried to ask to top up for 23 instead of 25 to reduce the food portion (to reduce wastage) cos' we expect some guests will still leave earlier before the dessert buffet. But GWP dun allow; you just have to top up for all the tables.

Anthony told us the dessert buffet will be set up at the back of the ballroom, 2 tables (left & right) so there can be a total of 4 queues. I hope its not going to be messy too. The main reason why we wanted to add the dessert buffet at the end so we can mingle around with our guests instead of the usual 'sit through out' dinner.

We gave up one main dish to make more time for the dessert buffet but the package price was not reduced as we had another dish upgraded.

 

[blueangel81]

To add on...the dessert buffet is another reason why we chose the Windsor ballroom cos' there will be no space to put the dessert buffet inside Tudor ballroom itself even if you only have 18 tables. The dessert table will have to be placed at the reception area if you go for the smaller ballroom

 

[celinepuah]

Sigh... really don’t understand why we have to pay for playing music during a wedding dinner… we are not make any profit out of our own wedding dinner…

For me… as long as we have the original cd and that we are not making profit out of anything…that should b okay..
Haha, that’s why I’ve decided to hire a wedding singer/band, that should solve all the problem ..=)

 

[blueangel81]

Exactly! Not as if we are holding a concert & selling tickets. So unfair that we have to start paying now where previous wedding couples had no such concerns since donkey years back.

We are planning to get a live band cum wedding singer too but still will have a concern. They will have break intervals too. So during these intervals, you still need to have background music played by the hotel right? unless the band you hired can take of this too. Then how about your photo montage? That's another headache too..haiz..

 

[altiora]

hi all!

Oct 2011 bride here. I will going to the wedding fair this Sunday. We have abt 20 tables, looking at Tudor ballroom.

See you there! =)

 

[blueangel81]

The wedding show was awesome! super value lunch + dessert buffet for wat we paid for! Love the dessert buffet, glad I am taking up the dessert buffet in my package & I ended signing the contract today too. Another thing off the to-do-list

Btw anyone hiring a live band & wedding singer on yr AD? can share the details? thanks.

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

the singer that sang during the wedding show yesterday was superb. Her voice is so sexy. tempting me to get a singer for my AD. I love the ice cream dessert yesterday, so unique and i love the presentation.

Windsor ballroom was sooooo beautiful, made me felt confident of GWP but of course we all know what we see during the wedding show is always at its best. The bridal suite is quite small though. I went to the bridal suite at four seasons before and I thought it is small but GWP's bridal suite is so much smaller. but good thing is that it is very near to the windsor ballroom.

I love the cards design by dreamweavers too. Anyone won anything during yesterday's lucky draw? hehe.. i had no luck..

Any new GWP brides from yest's wedding show?

 

[celinepuah]

Wow, the dessert sounds yummy… I tried to sign up for the wedding show… but it was full…
My coordinator advice me not to hv a dessert buffet if I’ve 30 tables.. coz I’ll b really cramp…

Went there ytd noon to peep on the ballroom décors and the cards =)
Card printing from dreamweaver seems expensive.. @ $1.50/ piece (w/o the card) is that the market rate? Am not sure..

Ohya, anyone have the contacts for the wedding band? Am still searching for a good one =)

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

yes the printing of the card is abit expensive as compared to other printers. But it all depends if you want to customise your invitation card. If u do not want to customise your card, just get the GWP standard card and print it outside its cheaper. Think $100+ for 200 cards or something, cant remember.

The singer yesterday was from flamingo.

 

[celinepuah]

Huh... never heard of this band b4... thought flamingo is the bridal studio..?

any contacts ro website?

 

[strikingreality]

$1.50/ piece just for printing alone is definitely on the high side! Sigh. If including the card, it gonna be much more ex... Think I just stick with the original GWP card...

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

Kass: if you get dreamweavers to design, u only need to pay for the printing. So u do not need to pay additional for the cards.

sw: I'm not sure, i didnt manage to find their website, it was stated flamingo in the programme card.

 

[strikingreality]

cocotintin >> But if I get dreamweavers to design, which means it's just $1.50 per card? Is there any design cost, since we are getting them to design for us?

 

[flyinghoof]

from what i know, they have a few template design for you to choose from. ie: if you get the initials design, then they will just change it to yours n your partner's.
I suppose if you want customized design, gonna add $.

 

[celinepuah]

hehe, that's alright, thanks anyway =)

I tried searching for it online.. but couldn't find too.. will get the contacts from my cordinator ^-^

 

[flyinghoof]

cocotintin: yes! Windsor is very pretty.. uh?! you mean during the lunch, there's actually someone singing? i thought it was from the cd..

by the way, you are taking the Windsor or Tudor?

I pop by four season yesterday after the show to try my luck to peek at their ballroom. hehe.. Its a total different feel for FS.

 

[flyinghoof]

sw & blueangel: you can check out a little dream or wedding harmony too.

http://www.weddinginharmony.com/
http://www.alittledream02.com/

they seems pretty good.

 

[leen999]

anyone has michelle as their co-ordinator?
any reviews abt her?

thanks!

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

kass: I have not spoke to dreamweaver in particular about the design that we choose. But yes if they design for u, u only need to pay $1.50 for printing. I guess part of the design cost is already incorporated in the printing cost and that explains the higher printing cost.

(red): there was a lady on the stage singing yesterday, she is call Audrey. Her voice is good and that is if u like jazz singers. My sis had her wedding at four seasons last time, the ballroom is beautiful. I guess 4 seasons and GWP is totally a diff feel. GWP is more colonial english style. 4 seasons i would say has the romantic yet westernised feel. I am taking windsor ballroom. What about u? when is your AD? mine is in Jul 2011.

So happy to see this thread getting alive.

 

[strikingreality]

cocotintin >> You don't say. When I first signed there was only me and one other BTB. So happy to have ppl to chat with here now... we should do a template like how Pan Pac BTBs do it, but put in on GoogleDocs, then everyone can update on their own.

 

[blueangel81]

Yup Windsor ballroom was so nicely done up ytd..loved the candles & flower petals along the stairs. Happy I'll be doing my AD there & pretty pleased with Anthony's service so far too.

Coco, I had no luck with the lucky draw too. Anthony told me he got one lucky couple who won the 2nd top prize just after he processed their $800 deposit.

Saw the customised card from Dreamweaver..personally, din feel it was v special but v pricey. First, u nid to let them do the printing, then the remaining 30% of the cards, they are charging $5.50 (incl printing) which is v pricey. So on 2nd thot, we decided to stick with GWP original cards afterall the guests are most prolly gg to throw away the invitation cards after attending d wedding. Anthony said I can choose 50% red & 50% white if I prefer, thot dats a nice idea since old folks prolly like the red one better.

Red, thanks for the links. I just emailed 'A little dream' ytd, hope to get a gd quotation from them. I think having a live band & wedding singer further liven up the ambience. Other than Flamingo, my fren oso recommended 'musique fondue' which she hired during her wedding but I found their rates v high after checking so may get 'A Little Dream' or 'Flamingo'.

 

[strikingreality]

Besides A Little Dream, u guys can also look at Yours Truely.

There is also Vocalise Artiste Management which can provide different genres of musicians (Jazz band, orchestra etc etc).

 

[eliza83]

Hi pple,

I'm interested to know the packages they are offering, can any one (who has gone to their workshop yesterday) share with me the info please? I tried to email the hotel but no one respond at all...

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

kass: i agree with u, we shld do a template because im getting confuse who is who and when each of our wedding will take place.

 

[flyinghoof]

coco: im looking at GWP Tudor and FS Crescent ballroom. I love GWP more but their Tudor ballroom ceiling is much lower than FS Crescent. Their dessert buffet is interesting too. Sadly, I missed the FS wedding show.. Thus i'm still deciding between this two.. Kinda headache.
I'm looking at either may or june 2011.

 

[coco_mademoiselle]

(red): cool.. better check on the dates see if GWP's date is still available for you or not. I just sign mine a few weeks ago and some dates in may and june is not available (weekends). I initially reserve 5 June for tudor ballroom but end up i took up windsor ballroom so i think 5June is available.

Hope you can be part of us here.

 

[altiora]

hey cocotintin,

I signed up during the sunday's wedding show.. Oct 2011 bride heh. 18 tables, tudor ballroom. I fell in love with the ballroom immediately after seeing it, heh. I agree that the dreamweaver cards a bit ex, so I will ask to change to the standard gwp card.. hopefully it can be done. I actually asked abt their standard cards but someone told me that as they are promoting dreamweaver so I didnt get to see their standard cards.