hi btbs,
im had my wedding dinner held at MBS begonia jr ballroom on 14oct 12. just want to share my reviews here.
For the reputation of MBS hotel, guests were very excited to attend our wedding. Overall we were very pleased with the service and everything went well for my wedding! The chandeliers outside the ballroom make it look grand, just a pity that the lightings inside are not as nice, but see my attached photos by PG and Im proud to say, i think the ballroom looks great!
1. SERVICE. I would like to express special thanks to my wedding coordinator Jeremy! He was very helpful in accommodating with my needs. His response was prompt and he even replied to me emails at times he was out of office! I informed him near to date that I might have a small tea ceremony after my ROM and he arranged for red date tea to be prepared. I also have DIY polaroid photobooth and quite abit of DIY candybar items. He helped me arranged extra tables and even offered me serviettes for my candybar. I thought Jeremy really did a great job as he has to handle so many weddings and so many details with all the bridezillas! Kudos to him to make sure all my requested special meals, baby chairs were all arranged accordingly. The servers were very polite too. On the actual day, I saw the staff even helped to pour candies into my jars as time was running out. The banquet manager Mohammed was also a great help. He did a dry run with us and ensure that everything is under control. I even had friends who ask me for MBS contacts as they are interested to hold their wedding there. So i guess it must be good enough for them to want to hold their wedding there! =)
2. FOOD. I requested for food to be individually served and that is probably why some guest find that food is not very hot. Family is available upon request and I noticed some of the tables change to family serve instead. I didnt have a chance to eat my food, but overall the food was ok, probably 7/10. Dishes like shark fin have bad feedbacks, chicken tasted alil salty, but the other dishes like lotus leaf rice and prawn dish were well received. I dont expect very good food reviews from wedding banquet as this is kind of expected. We ask the wines to be served by glass instead of bottles so that we dont exceed our alcohol budget. In the end we opened only 8 extra bottles for 23 tables (we chosed 1 bottle of wine for each confirmed table and a barrel of beer for our wedding wish).
3. FLORIST. I went to visit the 3 vendors.
Like Singseesoon and Woodsville best but I find Singseesoon has more designs to my liking so I took them. Jody the coordinator was very friendly and she calls to make sure the bridezilla is not stressed. She doesnt blindly ask me to top up coz she says what matters most is that I'm comfortable with my budget. I did top up for my VIP tables but I have no regrets. The giant VIP flower decor made the whole ballroom look luxurious! I also paid alil more for my ROM room to be decor with flowers and ribbon sash. I wished i have paid for the white silk rose carpet but i thought that the extra $500 is too much to add on to my cost, and decided on original red carpet instead. Go Singseesoon facebook and you can choose your decor from there too..=)
4. SUITE. I was wowed by the suite coz we had one big room with dining area, living area, pool table and a main bedroom with a huge bath area. I wished we could stay a few days at the suite!It was spacious and view was nice overlooking gardens by the bay. But sadly, we didnt have our PG to take my makeup shots there as groom needed to be at briefing at 4.30pm. The ballroom is at the convention side so I would suggest bride to have their makeup down at the changing room provided near your ballroom. Even my makeup artist suggested that is is better to do makeup near ballroom side. it is really quite a bit of a walk from hotel to ballroom, especially if you want to stride in your wedding gown. And it can be alil stressful if you are running late.
5. EXTRAs. We were given 2 FOC in-room dining choice and also a free breakfast at the skypark which i think was fabulous. We didnt eat much during the banquet and was famished by the time we finished. The wagyu beef is amazingly good and we ordered it twice...hahaha...
MBS does cater to different ballroom sizes. It wasnt easy to find a hotel with minimum requirement of 20 tables for weekend. Be prepared that if your wedding is a hot date, you might expect weddings to be held side by side. I was lucky my 3rd floor didnt have another wedding.
My tips:
1.Guest list is the major headache as you will get alot of last minutes dropouts. For eg if you have 23 tables expected, i think confirm with hotel 22+1 is the safest. usually you wont have more than that unless your relatives bring all their kids without informing you. heeheh...
2. Do prepare your actual day itinerary early. go through your dinner coordinator or head XD/JM and ask them to check that the timing, duties are all arranged well, and everyone understand their roles. Some of my sisters came late to prepare, some hired makeup artist and etc etc.. so you must make sure you assign someone you trust to take care of everything for you. My dear sister helped me with most of it. coordinating the timings and rooms with makeup artist, JP, PG VG...it is alot of work but trust that person and dont think about it on the big day. Be a happy bride and keep your smiles! I wish you btbs all the best for your wedding prep!! =)