Goodwood Park Hotel

[jinette]

hi cheer

relax hor ;p ur big day tiz saturday ;p

i spoke to bee tin too, choosing white roses n gold-sprayed orchids for my decor... had to top up ..... did bee tin ask u to top up ?

having this white n gold theme so m so afraid i will stray out of my budget

hmm.. another thingy.. damnchobo n cheer, do u find the table settings a tad too plain..including the vip table? mi went for the bridal show last sunday n saw the setup...

coz it's a 5*, expected something more elaborate ;p hmm... maybe i expecting too much ;p

thanks for the link !! will go check it out ;p

 

[clover]

Hi cheer,

Wedding coming soon hor? Congratulations to u...

Hope u'll have a wonderful experience and feedback with GWP. Enjoy the day!

CLoVeR LeaF

 

[cheer]

hi CLoVeR LeaF,

yes! and urs not very far away oso
Thanks

n congrats to u 2
how are things going?

hi jinette,

nope i didnt have to top up as most of the flowers i opted are local flowers

so there isnt a need to ...(FH insisted no top up for changes.. coz we dun want to overspend)
yeah,,, for the kind of price we are paying, the kind of decor offered really doesnt justify...
dun worry... u r not expecting too much..
but i have learnt to take things easy up to this stage, else more stress gonna come ... ;p

btw.. how does gold sprayed orchids look like?
how much are u topping up?

 

[cheer]

hi gals,

here is to share with u my experience wif GWP on my wedding day last weekend

Things went on fine but there are a few things u gals might want to take note

1)Air con is not strong enough initially so we have to tell the manager to adjust it ;

2)we only have 23 tables and the ballroom was horribly conjested!!! we have some difficulty marching in the second time... some chairs r blocking the way...

3)the march in music is a little too soft, it dimishes the effect really... same for the first dish entrance music...
(the sound system is fine though)

4)food standard dropped by 30% from what we had during food tasting... my fav dish, ie, camphor n tea smoked duck, don't taste as good leh...

thats about all...

and yes...for the flowers, Bee Tin did not give me Bird of Paradise and Anthurium... if i did not recall wrongly, only saw Fushia Gerbera Daisy and purple/fushia/cream orchids... the centrepiece looks good but the flower stand along the aisle looks a lil messy... well... that was the risk i took i guess... all in all still acceptable...

 

[jinette]

hi cheer !!!

congrats on ur wedding !!

i haven't finalise my menu at the moment.... might be thinking twice about the duck.. was it that bad ?... thought GWP food should be ok .....

m having 22 tables, dun tink it make a diff...

hmm... m topping up ard $300 -$500 for the floral decor .. i better check with bee tin again..

what about the service ? the last time i checked with serina she told me it's 1 to a table....

overall, what was ur guest's feedback ?

sori, kinda of panicky now...

 

[jinette]

ooppsss.. it's 1 to 2 tables..

 

[cheer]

hi jinette,

wah... u topping up so much for floral decor? v rich ah
i sent a mail to all my close friends who attended the dinner, they all like the duck dish

so happy... mayb coz no comparison so...

The service overall is good

our coordinator Hassan is good ... very pleased with him, the waitress ratio is one to one ratio leh... (i think...) strange... how come its 1 to 2 tables?

 

[jinette]

hi cheer

want my decor to be the gold n white thingy so no choice....

okee... mi feel safer about the duck dish liao ;p

issit... maybe i should ask selina again..?

 

[damnchobo]

hello cheer and others,
cheer, congrats on your wedding! got online pics or not? remember to share them leh...

sorry been away for a while, now getting back to wedding prep... going to keep things simple. i like simple decor, gerbera flowers theme.
by the way, cheer, did u take photos outside GWP in the day? if so, what time is the photo shoot? thanks... I have yet to pick a photographer.

 

[cheer]

hello gals

yes i have pixs but me juz got back, need some time to scan the pix

damnchobo me took pix at GWP juz b4 the dinner at aboot 6:15pm... its really beautiful and we loved the setting

will encourage u to do that too!
try going to the poolside (inner smaller one, very balistic setting, u will love it!)
i had Choon Huat for my actual day and he was wonderful!

 

[damnchobo]

hi cheer,
how's married life?

just read your message again -- took pix at GWP at 6:15pm ? got time to freshen up, redo makeup / hairdo before the dinner or not?
- damnchobo

 

[den]

hi cheer,
may i know what was in your set-up and where did you take the pic? can email to me at [email protected] as I'm also considering GWP.

Thks!

 

[whitely]

could you e-mail your pix to me at [email protected]? FH and I will have an appointment with Serina few days later.
Quite anxious now because we are still doing survey. Do you have any suggestion on bargain? Could you share your experience with me? I think we will only need 22 tables because we paid a visit to a wedding dinner and we felt that 23-25 tables are actually very packed already.

Hi Den,

When is your big day?

 

[den]

whitely, it shd be in jul 2003. I called GWP 2dae n spoke to Faizai. He said the cant let me book now coz they are in the midist of revising their package..... T.T

Do let me know how ur meeting goes ok?

 

[whitely]

hi Cheer,

could you e-mail your pix to me at [email protected]? FH and I will have an appointment with Serina few days later.
Quite anxious now because we are still doing survey. Do you have any suggestion on bargain? Could you share your experience with me? I think we will only need 22 tables because we paid a visit to a wedding dinner and we felt that 23-25 tables are actually very packed already.

 

[whitely]

Hello Den,

Mine will be in June 2003. My friend passed me
a wedding booklet from GWP and she said the validity date till Sept next year. So I am not sure which is more accurate.

Anyway, when is your appointment with them? Try to bargain on which items??

Sure, it is my pleasure to share with you my experience. Normally, it is quite hard to bargain with them with the things are not in the package, right?

 

[den]

whitely,

erm I heard a gal from my office saying she booking GWP for Jun 03...

I din actually negotiate for anything yet but I think they dun waive corkages for wine from what I saw in the package.

I did not make an appointment yet since the details for 2003 is not finalised yet.

I will be going down this Sat to look at the ballroom with a wedding going on.

 

[whitely]

Den,

I see. Has your colleague book the hotel?
When is her exact big day?

Hopefully will not crash with mine

 

[den]

whitely,

I think she might have booked liao....

not a close colleague so I din ask much

 

[whitely]

Den,

I see, never mind lah, just try my luck and see how thing's going. Anyway, we also decided another alternative date, so no worries

 

[gwpbride]

CHANGES AT GOODWOOD PARK

Anyone aware of changes to GWP banquet management? Heard that some guy in charge of banquet left. And also, there will be a new florist to do up the ballroom decor, and a new setup for the ballroom as well starting in October. any news appreciated.
- gwpbride

 

[whitely]

Hi gwpbride,

I am not sure about the changes to GWP banquet management. But I am sure that serina, the banquet manager is still with the management.

There are the pricing adjustment recently. Not sure they have made the final decision or not. You may need to check with them.

 

[gwpbride]

whitely,
thanks for the reply! yes, I have checked with them. for me, i booked GWP in May for Nov date. The price will remain the same but they will give me a new contract to sign. not sure why but will "study" the contract carefully.
- gwpbride

 

[ava]

Hi gwpbride!

I too will be hvg the dinner at Gdwd!

But i've gone through so many hiccups and the biggest shock was when i called last wk, my Mgr Serina has left!

I've not tried calling again... do you know if its true? dinner is also next yr end.

If possible, hope you'll share if there has been any changes to the contract... there were so many errors in mine, spelling and some items we discussed were not incl...

did this happen to u also?

 

[whitely]

Ava and GWPbride,

Oh dear, serina has left GWP? No wonder we couldnt get any response from her. We are waiting for her to send us a contract

We have only met up with her for the 1st step discussion with her in early July and we will take
the revised package which she promised to send us the detailed contract once it is ready.

We called her in end of July and she said the menu havent settled yet and now what I heard from ava is serina left !!! So shock!!!

Very bad now! we intend to throw our banquet in GWP in June 2003 and now is august already. No commitment is made by the hotel because serina said everything is not settled yet. Wah, they even didnt inform anyone of us?!!

What can I do now? Help~~~~

 

[ava]

Hi whitely,

don't despair...

when i called, another manager Faisal told me she left July 31. *SHOCKED* Serina was with them for 25 yrs... at least th's wht she told me...

I asked y we were not told and no one call to inform us! We've already put a deposit!

Faisal, said not to worry as a new mgr will be joining them in 2 wks... that's all he said!
how not to worry?

i really like gdwp very much...so no matter what headaches we get... we will still take it as long as on the actual dinner everything is ok.

I'm giving them a little time to settle things as my dinner is late next yr. If not i'll call them up again at the end of this month.

As for you whitely,

I suggest you call the hotel/banquet mainline. Ask to speak to a manager...any manager and make sure they attend to you.

Tell them the dates you are looking at and arrange to meet them. No point if the dates are not avail.


Advise:
Make sure you are happy with all the details in the contract first, signed it then put the deposit.


Don't panic yet okie?

still have time

Any advise Chin Leng?

 

[ssl]

Hi

Dont worry gals. Am sure Faisal will be of good help to you. I liaise with him on corporate matters.

But its abit irresponsible that serina didnt inform u that she has resigned. At least she could have arranged for the new manager to meet up with u before she goes off. Thats what happened to my case at Orchard Hotel.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[den]

Me too! have been waiting for the new menu and contract to be drafted for us! Din even noe that serina left until I read this...

Think I better call them just in case they forgot about me!

 

[gwpbride]

okay everyone,
moh hussein and serina have left and now serene lok is in charge (at least for now) of my banquet. I got the contract from her, but it's actually the very same contract we've signed back in april. I think since she's now handling all these "new" cases left by the other 2 managers, she's sending the contract to me to make sure everything is correct, etc. She said she will honor all the items in the contract that were negotiated before. So, don't panic.... if anyone should panic, it should be me since my banquet is in Nov *this* year! (anyway have too many other things to worry about...) It's good to double check but have a little bit of patience w/ serene lok since all this management changes just happened. good luck to all!
- gwpbride

 

[cheer]

hi all,

how are things with GWP now? just read the past postings, very shocked that Moh left....
any updates?

from the kpo n concerned cheer

 

[den04]

Here's some update. well I spoke to new new co-ordinnator, Candice. She was from Orchard Hotel. She is much friendly and helpful than the previous staff. Those interested can actually get in touch with her.... The new package is finalised already btw...

 

[damnchobo]

candice ong is indeed very nice. she's new and not sure about a lot of details but willing to work with us on our requests. we went to food taste and "spy" on a ballroom deco setup already. very satisfied. only minor adjustments needed. i think the changes at GWP are for the better!

 

[joko]

hi gwp brides,

Lets gather here and share our experiences and make this thread active!

With the new mgt staff and changes, i believe there are (and will be) more gwp brides....

Cheers!

 

[gwpbride]

hi all,
just had my wedding there. phew, it's finally over!

a few comments:

- ballroom is short, so march-in is short too. If you have flowergirls and bridesmaids march-ins, you should time the music carefully... or ask for a rehearsal.

- decor still a bit weak. But I think the ballroom's coziness makes up for it...

- number signs look too big for us, so we chose to make our own number tags.

- the main part of ballroom can fit at most 23 tables. The aisles can fit another 7, but these tables won't be able to see the stage.

- reception area is small, so forces guests to take seats inside, which means dinner can start earlier.

- small ballroom means you can wave at your friends sitting at the back.

- a portion of the food was reserved for us and was sent to our room after the banquet. Also asked for any left-over beer to be sent up to your room.

- free room service breakfast was a plus

- Candice and banquet ops staff were very nice and helpful throughout. Candice was responsive to my queries and requests.

- sound system seems fine. No glitches or noise. By the way, we didn't want the rostrum, so we had a microphone stand instead.

All in all, we enjoyed our stay at GWP. If you have a small number of tables, I would strongly suggest you consider goodwood park!

gwpbride

 

[jinette]

hi gwpbride !!

how was the service n the comments on the food ?

 

[samantha]

Hi I'm Sammi..

Glad to hear positive comments on Goodwood..Am going to sign the contract with them tomorrow...Actually other option was Four Seasons but costly.

 

[beanie]

Hi Sammi,
When is your big date? Mine in May. You work with Candice? I find her a very nice lady. Finally I find someone with GWP like me...

 

[samantha]

Hi Beanie,

Mine's in October. Today signing the contract with Candice...she's nice and responsive. Is your waiver of wine peg to no. of table as well? I tried to negotiate with her..but not successful leh...

 

[whitely]

hello beanie and samantha,

I am GWP bride too but mine in June, one month
later than beanie.

just congrad to both of you first.

 

[beanie]

Hi Sammi,
Yes, the waiver of wine corkage is peg to the no. of table. I think is not enough leh, sure have to pay for corkage. What do you think. BTW how many tables do you have? I have 20 tables. How much beer and hard liquor do you think we muct cater, on top of the wine? Any views? Me sotong and have no idea at all. Heehee. Your wedding is on a weekday or weekday? Mine on Friday. All the best to you today for your meeting with Candice.

Hi whitely,
Thank you and nice to know another GWP bride. Congrats to you too. Have you sign with Candice?

Do you think there is a possibility to pay extra for another dish to make it nine course? Have you tried the food? I personally have not attend any wedding in GWP and do not know how is the food but heard and read in the forum, is not bad. What do you think? What I like about GWP is the colonial feel from the building. You leh?

 

[fgwpbride]

hi beanie,

m sourcing for my dinner.. thought gwp minimum is 22 tables ? how did u manage to get 20 tables ?

 

[beanie]

Hi fgwpbride,

Actually I told them I am looking at 23 tables but am thinking I may not hit 23 tables and therefore, cham siong with them and told them I mayhit 23 tables and will let them know. hee hee. Who is the coordinator you speak to? Maybe I can help. Got to be thick skin leh.

 

[samantha]

Hi Beanie,

Mine's on Sat. I quite lucky, got a good deal with GWP as my buddy's ex-colleague is the F&B Director there...so managed to negotiate for waiver of 30 bottles of wine and increase the beer to 30litres. Other than this, i also asked for 8 persons for food tasting and an additional nite stay. But of course all these must be done before signing on the dotted line....

Hi fgwpbride,

U should try to ask as much as possible and get the best deal...now market v competitive. For min. no of table, as their ballroom can accomodate comfortably 23 tables, 20 min. is possible...I asked for min. 20 tables too as I have not really draw out the guest list...at least on my FH side lah...U should get Candice as coordinator as she's really friendly and helpful.

 

[samantha]

Hi Beanie,

For liquor and wine consumption, I am getting 30 bottles of wine (30 x 4 glasses = 120 glasses), 10 bottles of hard liquor. Beer would be the complimentary one...any additional will be by per glass as I don't think worth getting another barrel. Also nowadays pp hardly drink alot due to strict traffic rule...

My brother had his wedding last year and he catered about the amt above.

 

[beanie]

Hi Sammi,

So which menu are you taking? I am afraid I have to cater for an additional barrel. My colleagues are all alcoholic. So we are taking the same number of tables. Yah, indeed you got a pretty good deal. So do you intend to have your PS at the hotel? Wonder if they allow a day use room for PS?

 

[sammi]

Wud be nice as their setting v colonial...am not sure abt the day room. I asked Candice about day room use for my bridal helpers, she said they charged a special rate of $160 per nite stay...no free use. You shd ask Candice..if its not a peak season, shd hv rooms to spare i guess.

Menu - hv not really selected the items...must say their menu not v exciting...

 

[beanie]

Hi Sammi,

Yah lor, menu not very exciting. Have you eat at any of their restaurant outlet before? I had and their camphor duck is good. You may want to consider that dish.

Yah, must check with Candice on the day use room. Will update you if I have other info.

 

[whitely]

beanie,

according to my friend who attended GWP wedding in September last year, the food is really delicious. But I am not really sure the cheft
will leave by the time of my wedding or not (touch wood )

The menu is not 9 courses? Oh, I cant remember already becoz signed with them in last August.

Sammi,

the day room for brides helpers is charged at $160? What about the night one? you are indeed lucky because you request for free flow of beer. probably we signed the contract quite early and didnt try to
negiotiate more. Luckily the guests are not really heavy drinker.

 

[sammi]

Hi Whitely,

The room charge is for the whole day...so can stay overnite...think its quite reasonable if u intend to let your helpers have a room of their own to relax...my gf will probably be in the bridal suite with me as its big enough and fun to hv all girls to do make up etc...

If your dinner is on weekend, it shd be 9 course, weekday is 8.

Where did u sign up your bridal package?

 

[beanie]

Hi whitely,

Thanks, I am glad there is good comment on the food. Yah, I will need to book some rooms with them because I will be having some overseas guests and I think it will be good if I get some rooms for my helpers and my family. The rooms charge at 165+++ per room night. As for day use, really got to check.