hi gawain,
such a coincidence ... i was griping abt the same stuff as u r when i sourced for banquets.
u r not ngeow, i'm also like that. n since i dun think i'm ngeow....
by wedding cakes, i'm toking abt a real wedding cake, one that will be displayed, 5 tired etc. the cakes will be served to guests instead of dessert n chocolates. hyatt makes gorgeous wedding cakes, but i figured, most elderly wun appreciate the cakes so there's no point fussy over it.
oriental was never in my consideration list, so i've never tracked its prices. $700 nett for weekend is cheap. my prices may be outdated
but i think hyatt's prices belong to a range where it's slightly higher than 4 star deluxes n slightly lower than luxury hotels (e.g. ritz). thus there's a tendency to compare hyatt's packages with 4 star deluxes. in theory, the number of stars that a hotel has shouldn't matter v. much, what's impt is still the food, ambience etc. in practice however, higher class means that the hotel will charge a premium for their reputation, since this usually (not always
)translates to a slightly diff ambience, more attention to aesthetics, service n other unquantifiables.
hv u talked to the coordinators of various hotels? what is apples in one hotel may be called oranges in another. e.g. "themes" in some hotels may refer to nothing more than different colours for tableclothes/flowers, which hyatt offers free. in others, e.g. pan pac, hyatt, ritz, it translates to more. i've had friends who were promised "free flow beer" n found out later that there were essentially 2 barrels of beer. if u really want that, it adds $1400 total in cost to ur total package price in hyatt.
it all boils down to what u n ur hubby r comfortable with. our final decision was based on 1) i really liked hyatt's hibiscus n grand ballrm
2) the reviews were gd 3) it's centrally located n 4) the total cost (i.e. the cost of tables plus all other things i want). btw, i also bargained for special price for upgrading the fish, tho i'm not exercising that part of the bargain(again). if u go into a discussion with the hotel (any hotel, not necessarily hyatt) knowing exactly what u want, think u will hv a much better idea of the total cost of the wedding.
happy negotiating. i hope u will find a package that suits all ur needs.