Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre

hi christina and brightstar,

we made an appointment and went down down to HIPV last nite. had a look at their orchid room but there was no wedding so didn't manage to see the actual setup for wedding. anyway, i had some rough ideas after viewing pics in this thread. it's ver nice for the crystal theme. the other theme is zen which i think is too simple.

but the minimum no of tables for orchid room is 15 tables.
sad.gif
cos on the safe side, we will only be able to have 12 tables after including close relatives, friends and colleagues and considering that some might not be able to attend. so we don't really want to commit ourselves to so many tables.

we were told that if there's less than 15 tables, the charge is still as per 15 tables.
sorry christina, do u mind me asking if it applies to u too? cos u mentioned that u had 11 tables + 1 reserved, right?
 


to pris- truthfully fro my experience, the hotel wont call u...hehe...oppss...

for my story ah- in feb 06 i signed up with pauline...in july 06, shue emailed me that she is taking over...then no news till end o nov...when i called....then oppss. shue had left and a new one taking over...that is abt 2 weeks to my wedding

to be on the safe side, it would be good u can call the hotel..just in case ur coordinator change without u knowing...

there is a time sheet for food tasting and last minute confirmation of details....the hotel will give u this timesheet and just follow lor...

calling is good...the hotel takes years to reply the emails...again is my experience....just for sharing
 
to christina - actually my package is quite standard...$3.3K...

mind if i ask what is ur budget?
happy.gif
then can let you know what else can be squeeze out of the bridal shop or any other bridal shop...

from my experience, for BS, may be able to negotiate for slightly more 15R photos, 1 to 2 more coats for groomsmen, another small copy of 5R album, more corsages..

for hotel, hehe...ask for free bottle of wine for suite, more signature books...more free corkages...HIPV initally give 3...ask for 15 after that..they ok...then at the later stage i ask for 40 bottles for 18 tables...plus one more free room
 
Hi brightstar,
mind sharing wif me how u managed to get all these free stuff/perks?
I'm holding my banquet there on 21st this month, so getting pretty stressed. Most stressed abt e duty-free hard liquor...any idea if they are willing to close 1 eye and not charge on e corkage?
Actually, i faced almost e same situation as u..Signed wif Pauline, then Shue took over, then Florence, now its Vasanthi. Headache man! But thankfully, Florence & Vasanthi are both TOPS in service!
 
hi christina and brightstar,

after discussion with my bf over the few restaurants and hotels that we are considering, we decide to go for HIPV orchid room with minimum 15 tables. find that their ambience and decor (crystal theme) is so nice and their wedding package comprehensive and affordable for us.
happy.gif
 
hi brightstar,

i just realise that u held your wedding in orchid room. u have a blog, right? don't mind can share your AD pics with me? thanks.
 
Hi viv&bl,

My dinner was indeed 11 tables and 1 reserve. I think they may have changed their requirements now as I booked my dinner more than a year before and at that time, the min was 10. Agree with you that the ambience and decor is beautiful. Both my hubby and I loved the decor and even though we were in a state of blurness that night, we still took a few minutes admiring the decor during the dinner.
happy.gif


Hi brightstar, I didn't bargain for more stuff from the hotel. Basically I had 8 bottles of wine and 1 barrel of beer free. There is no corkage for the hard liquor. But funny thing is in the end we didn't consume the hard liquor we brought as the guests said they needed to drive etc..haha! My budget for the wedding didn't really come with a figure, we just wanted to go budget.
happy.gif
My bridal package in the end (w/out photography) was $800. We didn't want to take photos at first but my hubby decided to do so last minute as he felt that we should have a couple of shots for memory sake. So we took the package from De Character (the cheapest one) which gave us an album of 10 5R shots with 1 shot blown to 8R tabletop. The photos are in our website as well.
 
hi christina,

i think i know the reason for the increase of tables from 10 to 15. cos i guess most hotels and restaurants increase their price due to the fact that there will be an increase in GST and it's a norm that hotels increase their price every year.

luckily, the decor for end of this year will still have crystal theme.
happy.gif
the decor is so nice so must admire more. we will definitely take more photos on thedecor on our wedding day.

wow...some of u r so lucky to have free wine. for 2007 wedding package, there's 1 barrel of beer free but no free wine. is it have to bargain for it?
 
hi christina,
could u pls advise me on something?
is ur hard liquor duty-free or duty-paid?
cos mine will be duty-free and i'm not too sure if they'll waive e corkage for me...
thanks!
happy.gif
 
Hi viv&bl, You're most probably right. You won't regret the Crystal theme. I hope my actual day photographers took some photos of that. I have yet to see my pics and they won't be ready till 18 Jan or so. Am patiently waiting.
happy.gif
Yah, we were lucky to have the 8 bottles free. We didn't bargain for it (actually, I didn't bargain for anything else...I just took what they gave me). Maybe the 2007 package have got other goodies in place of the 8 bottles. Packages are always changing and the benefits too, keep changing.

Hi Serene, the hard liquor I brought is duty-paid. Corkage charges are usually waived if the the liquor is duty-paid. From what I hear, it's hard to tell if liquor is duty-paid or not. I'm not an expert at this. For this, maybe the other ppl in this thread can advise..
 
Christina & Brightstar: Thanks! Seems like i'll have to be more pro-active and call up my hotel around March cos i intend to mail out my invites in May.
happy.gif
I also agree that they seem to keep changing wedding coordinators. Now a lady called Sherine/Cherine(?) is taking over my account. I had initially signed the contract with Shue too.

My contract has already been signed but do you think it's possible to substitute the free-flow beer with some bottles of wine? Realised that nowadays, most people will take wine instead of beer.
 
hi christina,

i see. there was good. u saved on buying wine. i also hope there will be a chance for us to have free wine since we have 15 tables. i am sure your photos will come out nice nice. remember to share with me your AD pics after you got the softcopy. thanks in advance.
happy.gif



btw, may i know if there is any dry ice effect when u march in? crystal ballroom has when i viewed karon pics but not sure if orchid room has.
 
hi pris,

what a concidence. when we went down last fri, cherine was the one who explained to us on the package. i guess she will be our coordinator if we sign up package with holiday inn. hope that she will be as nice as other prevoius coordinators that had resigned.
 
Serene, duty-free alcohol cannot be used at all. It is against the law to serve duty-free alcohol in a public place. If the hotel does that for you & they get caught, they can lose their alcohol licence. Which also means they cannot survive anymore (who heard of a hotel that does not serve alcohol?).

So it's not a matter of whether they will waive corkage or not. They cannot use it at all.
 
Dear me.... now the hotel is telling me that corkage is payable for wines ordered from their wedding partners. This is totally different from what was mentioned by Terri and Pauline before i signed the contract. Since both of them has resigned... there is no one to substantiate this claim.

This is the problem you'll have if there is high turnover. Do take note ... BTW my new co-ord is adeline
 
Hi Assirac,

You mean that even if we purchase the wines from their wedding partners we still need to pay for corkage charges??? How could that be? I signed up with Terri too that time, she mentioned if we purchase from their wine partners then the corkage charge is waive. Then what is the situation now? Please kindly update us when you know it. Thanks.
 
Hi viv&bl,

I will upload some of the pics into my website when they're ready. Yup, there was dry ice effect in the Orchid Room too for the entrance. Actually to tell you the truth, I wasn't really concentrating that day cause all that was in my mind was to walk and not trip and fall on my gown...lol
happy.gif
 
Hi hi,

I stood firm on the corkage waiver ... HIPV is going to honour it. Do go through your contract and confirm with your current co-ord if required.
Better play safe...
 
to serene- hmmm..i got put in my blog
as one of the recent posts...

to viv - u can go to my blog romance-fire.com to see my photos

to baby starlet - for free corkage..u can check out with hotel...initally they gif u 2-3..u can go up to 15 (given by Shue)
 
to drizzlestar- check with u where u r going to order from..then ask the shop...normally they will deliever to the hotel on the wedding day.

to play safe, 1 - 2 months prior ur wedding day

if purchase from their wine partners, corkages should be waived...
happy.gif
 
If i remember correctly, it's stated in my contract that wines bought from hotel will have corkage waived. Otherwise it's charged at $10 (or is it $15) per bottle. I think corkage is kinda expensive!!!

Anyone going to order white wine? I'm wondering whether i should order a few bottles.
 
hi christina,

that's great to hear that there's dry ice effect in orchid room also.
happy.gif
guess i will be nervous like u to notice my surrounding in the orchid room. it must be a very happy day for u. i have to wait till end of the year for my wedding. most probably pay deposit package by this week.
 
hi all,

the corkage for wine is $10 nett per bottle for my 2007 package. i also think that they should waived the corkage for the wine if we buy from their partner. but i don't think can get it waived. if not, it will be stated in the package
sad.gif
 
a trick is to blow up a matter and use it to negotiate for other offers like waiver of corkages...my other friends who have just married taught me this
 
Hi,

For me I don't think I paid corkage for wine as mine were from the hotel. I was given 8 bottles and I purchased another 4 bottles extra just in case (didn't consume them in the end, so brought them home).

If the hotel insists on having corkage for wine purchased from wine partners, would be it better to purchase from the hotel itself?

I think mine was $18+ per bottle. We had Shiraz and it was v nice. Brand is Yellow Tail.
 
i agree with christina..yellow tail's brand is highly recommended....

as for crystal theme...im now blogging about my wedding dinner... here shows the reception area of the orchid ballroom...tml i will post photo of the orchid ballroom so all can see and make a better decision
 
hi christina and brightstar,

i am also looking at yellow tail's brand cos it's the cheapest and also seems to be nice and sweet wine with berry flavours though i never try before. it's 18+++ in their wine list.

brightstar, i saw your wedding photos already. seems like u are putting them up stage by stage. just curious. u seems to be thin in your AD but u look bigger size in photo in your home page. did u slimmed down for your wedding? i am looking forward to see more of your photos in orchid room. thanks in advance.
happy.gif
 
to vivbl - hmmm..im naturally "slim" or thin la....maybe the photos make me look bigger...but eventually i get thinner cos super stress of wedding
 
hi brightstar,

oh i see. i thought should be your wife who will be stress rather than u. cos normally. gals will take care of the wedding as we are more particular about it while guys paid for it...hehehe
 
to vivbl, for me, it ry to take charge cos she is very busy with school..in a way we help each other...when she is busy, i took charge..when im busy, she helped me lor...

for me, i want to be involved too cos it is oncea lifetime
 
hi brightstar,

wow...seems like nowsaday, gals can study and prepare wedding at the same time. cos 2 other btb in s'pore bride also told me that they are still studying. has your wife finished her studies? all the best to her in her studies.

yup, should be this way. husband and wife to help each other out. AD is a memorable day so it will be best if both parties can be involved actively in the wedding preparation. i guess on top of stress , it is also a happy process. me look forward to it.
happy.gif
 
to vivbl, yup..she is working..in fact, i was studying, working and planning...super stress le!!!

btw, i uploaded photos of my march in...feel free to browse thru it... hope can give a clearer pictures to those considering HIPV
 
Hi Serene,

I chose cream for the roses as my colour theme for the day was cream and green. I had touches of red during the daytime as it made things look Christmasy (my wedding day was Boxing Day). But for night, I went simple with cream so that the Crystal theme does not get overwhelmed.
 
to fifi - oic...hmmm...u may wan to reconsider the venue cos since they are already so slow in wanting ur money?

the other way is gif them another chance and u call them up and ask why they didnt call...if the reason they gif is reasonable..then up to u lor..fix an appt and sign lor... hope this helps.
happy.gif
 
Thanks brightstar & christina,

i tink i'll either settle for cream or deep red...
tink this 2 colours are the safest bet!
i initially wanted purple, but thot it might not turn out nice after all...

anyway, thanks for ur suggestions and help!
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top