Marina Mandarin Singapore

[kazooie]

iciclediamond
No time to panic, gal, you need to write down your checklist and timeline so you have all the things you need to be done at one glance.

If you are just asking about the banquet on the actual day, you will need to meet up with your coordinator to confirm on the general things, such as:
1) Table confirmation, i.e. no of guests, table setup
2) Flower arrangement, i.e. colour, flower petals for the flower girls, stage setup theme
3) Program timeline on the day
4) Vegetarian, Muslim guests, if any
5) March-in effect, i.e. bubble, dry ice, music, other special requests
6) Reception setup, i.e. angbao boxes, pens, guestbook, photo album table, additional easels required
7) Menu confirmation & Beverage arrangement
8) Music arrangement
9) Bridal suite check in arrangement
10) Payment confirmation, i.e. approved credit card
12) Other special requests
Your hubby will be asked to attend a 15mins briefing with the Banquet Manager/ Supervisor on the day itself with your MC just before the banquet. Make sure it fits into
your program timeline.

Request for Banquet Manager/ Sound Supervisor meet up about a week prior for ballroom check/ rehearsal and to test Montage/ Music arrangement with your jiemeis
and brothers.


Lastly, make sure your jiemeis and brothers are properly briefed on all these arrangements so they can double check for you on the day as you and your hubby should
not be stressing over these things (well, don't think you will have a chance to!) on that very day.

As for invitation insert printing, if you can't find any other alternative, just use the one MM suggested. I used AXXA for mine. Get this done asap. Suggest to send out at
least a month to those non-relative guests. Invitation to guests who are relatives can be 2-3 weeks prior as most of them should
be informed already by word of mouth.

Good luck and be a happy bride.

 

[winniethepooh07]

iciclediamond,
you can start to print ur invites already.They need 1-2week to print for u. After that u can send to ur guest to rsvp them.

how many guest are u inviting? if u r inviting alot, then dont take mm's printing recommendation. Go source for other printing company that is convenient located

If u r printing not many, say eg 20 tables, my advice is that u just take mm's recommendation will do.

PS: The location of the printing shop is at Lower Delta.

 

[iciclediamond]

hi kazooie and bigpooh!!
thanks so much for the reply!! i am so thankful for your advise!! suddenly i feel the urgency as i have not done 95% of the things in the list your stated~~ omg!! the list is really useful...

straight away, i called my coordinator to arrange for meet up . and found a printer to print my inserts...( they quoted me $85 for 300 pieces for single side ..) still considering if need to add map as alot of ppl mix up meritus mandarin and marina mandarin.. althought i feel it is v apparent that marina mandarin is the one at marina square *_*"

Can i ask also.. did u all have time to eat during the banquet??

 

[winniethepooh07]

iciclediamond,
$85 for 300 pieces is v cheap, go for it =)
hmmm dont think people will mix up with meritus mandarin and marina mandarin ba, if u want map, need to pay extra $ leh

1 more important thing, your video montage MUST be in dvd format if you want the hotel staff to play it for u. If yours is not dvd, u must delegate to 1 xiongdi to play manually for u. So i think ask the hotel staff to do for u better. now still got time, u try to get a dvd format video montage

another thing, delegate one of the xiongdi to "count" the number of pax per table. This is quite impt. cos during my wedding, MM put short of 1 chair for a particular table. In the end 1 of my guest need to stand there and wait for another chair. This issue not MM fault cos i v v last min revised my seating arrangement. By right i am not able to do it but they just allow me to do it out of goodwill.

Eating time, normally starts at 830sharp. U can start at 820pm if u want.

 

[kazooie]

iciclediamond
No probs, as long as you think of something, add in to your checklist and tick it off as you go along. You should be fine!

I forgot to mention, you will get 3 parking lots outside the lobby for your bridal car, and 2 others, your coordinator will need to know the no. plates of those 3 cars.

No, we did not have time to eat but our banquet supervisor, Mr Moorthy (?can't remember his name), he took care of us, saved and served all our food nicely on a
bigger plate and made sure we had a chance to finish our bowl of sharks fin soup and eat our dessert. So, we ate everything, except it was chop chop kinda thing. We
had 3 clothes change so we were quite busy. We never wanted room service, preferred to eat with everyone in the ballroom.

Your's is a lunch, right? So was mine. You can request to eat before or after if you have time to.

 

[~sblbee~]

iciclediamond,
glad dat u found ur printer....wah it's really cheap wor, it's a gd deal

oh yes, i agree wif big pooh, there was some miscommunication wif MM coordinator so there were 10 chairs instead of 11 chairs so my guest has to wait for q some time b4 she got her seat it's gd if ur helper can do a count on those tables wif 11 or 12 chairs to prevent ur guests frm standing ard
same wif kazooie, i had 3 changes of clothes so i dun have time to eat during banquet (only managed to eat d 1st dish n a few mouthful of my dessert) so it's better for u to have pre-banquet snack n den have some food after ur banquet is over

 

[iciclediamond]

hi kazooie,
oh.. really? ok , i will rem to tell her when i meet her next week

oh so at least u get to eat etg.. which is really good! and u stil managed to have 3 clothese change!! haahaa.. the 3rd one is to send guests off is it? i wanna change too but afraid my timing is too rush ! but since u did it for your lunch, i guess i will be ambitious and aim for that too haha...

how long did your lunch lasted? i m intending to have my solemnization during the lunch , just before the 1st dish. i heard that there is a dance done before the first march in. did i rem correctly?

did you go for food tasting?

hi meiling!

it is quite affordable but then hopefully the quality is ok also la haha... now economy no good.. can save then save

 

[taichan]

Hi Kazooie & Meiling, I am thinking of using 3 gowns (1 bridal and 2 evening gowns) too. May I know how did you schedule your change of gowns e.g. after second dish go for change etc...

Thanks for sharing!

 

[~sblbee~]

iciclediamond,
dun worry, im sure everything abt ur wedding will b as beautiful as a pretty bride like u....

yah i agree dat we must really save up but den i juz spent another sum of $ for ur honeymoon

tai chan,
for me, i went in for a change in makeup, hairstyle n gown after my 1st dish n den went in to change again to a CS wif a simple change in hairstyle during after my 4th last dish....so i had enuff time to mingle wif my guests when they were having their dessert n proceed to send them off at d door

 

[kazooie]

iciclediamond, taichan
Okay, 3 attire change:
1) 1st March In - Wedding gown
2) 2nd March In after our 3rd dish for champagne popping - Dress
3) After Photoshoot, go change into Kua to send guests off.

Yes, there was a dance for the food march in. That was memorable for some of our guests!

My lunch was from 12.30pm - 3.30pm. The banquet supervisor and his team were pretty organised and efficient, took initiative and helped adjust our time accordingly
when we were a little behind schedule. I think they worked really hard together with my jiemeis for us that day and my hubby and I didn't have to sweat all the things
happening behind the scenes.

We had food tasting for 10 pax done approx 2 months prior to our AD.

Our solemnization and tea ceremony were done in one of the function rooms on level 6 between 10.30am - 11.45am. Having everything done in the same place saved us
a lot of time, hassle of rushing around and of course $$.

MM coordinator was really accommodating in doing all this for us and we were grateful for that.

iciclediamond
Because it's a lunch, make sure your program timeline is able to fit in your specific tasks. Have to be very realistic. If you are rushing in the morning from your place to
grooms place, make sure you have ample time to reach the hotel, distance & traffic. Another impt note: Solemnization also must start on time as some JPs are very
particular.

Apologies for the long post. Hope it helps.

 

[ladys1st]

kazooie (kazooie) ,
For you lunch do you have food served?
Meiling,
how long did your phototaking ends?

 

[winniethepooh07]

eh..a question
Enough time to change to kua after photoshoot meh? after photoshoot is almost the last 2 dish already. Changing time plus go up and down needs abt at least 15mins.

My last photoshoot ends at abt 1030pm. Mine only 22 tables. Cant imagine if 30+ tables

Do re-consider if u want the 3rd attire change =)

 

[necrosis]

hey babes,

know when i should open the dance floor to the guests?

 

[taichan]

Thanks ladies for your sharing. It has been very helpful.

By the way, what flowers did you girls choose? I'm thinking of gerberas but it may seem a little untraditional. Any comments?

 

[kazooie]

Its my life
Our lunch banquet was similar to a dinner banquet. It's a sit-down 8 course meal, one dish less than dinner.

We had 27 tables. I need to emphasize that your helpers (bros and sis) need to organise tables in advance for photoshooting so there's no delay for you. Make sure
they are well briefed prior to the event. Our photoshooting took about 30 mins. Straight after, I changed into a kua, about 10 mins (kua's really easy to pop on). Please
assign a jiemei to help you dress/ put on your accessories! After, we still had about 30 mins till the end of the dinner, so still in time for dessert before greeting the
guests goodbye. But it's not necessary if you want to spend more time taking more pix with your guests. I liked my kua so I wanted to wear that at the end of the day
so I pushed for a 3rd change. A girl only gets to wear that once! Haha

nec
Cocktail reception is about 30 mins. The banquet staff only start work at 11am (Lunch) 6pm (Dinner). So, whilst they are setting up, no guests will be allowed into the
ballroom. My cocktail started at 12.00pm, guests can walk in and find their seats at that time. Guests will be invited in to be seated around 12.30pm. For dinner, it's
7pm cocktail hour and 7.30pm-8.00pm banquet begins.

taichan
Gerberas are beautiful. The big bright ones will brighten up the room. Not untraditional at all, in my opinion. I had roses for mine.

 

[~sblbee~]

big pooh,
my coordinator actually prepared a changing room beside my ballroom for me so after table-to-table pic taking, i went straight to change into my CS....i was in time for my dessert b4 i move off to send off guests at d door

nec,
u can open d dancefloor to ur guests once d ballroom doors r open dat shd b ard 730 pm to abt 8 plus b4 u march-in

tai chan,
yup i agree wif kazooie, gerberas r beautiful but i chose d normal themes given by MM....if there's no additional charges, i think u shd go ahead cos i think it'll look special

 

[iciclediamond]

hi kazooie,
thanks alot for sharing your experience with me.. that is really useful.. now iknow how to plan my time properly. Ya i think u right about having JM who knows exactly what needs to be done!! good coordination saves alot of time

seems like urs went on v smoothly. As for a lunch, u actually still managed to change 3 gowns with ps with 27 tables..

Sorry ah.. wanna ask u what time did u managed to get the hotel room in the morning?

i think i will definitely try to change into a 3rd outfit.. now got excuses to find another gown to wear

hi meiling,
that is really nice of ur coordinator to prepare a changing room beside the ballroom. i din notice there is a place to change? unless u r talking about the smaller ballrrom at the side??

Oh talking abt HM.. hee hee saw that u r gg to europe.. wanted to go for ur one too.. urs from asa right?? but in the end i took the 14 days one.. urs is v exp!!

 

[kazooie]

iciclediamond
Re: Bridal Suite Check-In

Suggest to assign a trusted helper to check-in for you in the morning and to check that the room is ready for your arrival. If possible, request for early check in, my
helper checked in around 9.00am. The helper will need to bring your approved credit card to the level 4 reception to check in, so pass it to him/her in advance. This
way, once you arrive, just meet your helper at the lobby, take the keycards which he/she has already collected on your behalf and go straight up to your room. We
arrived approx. 9.45am.

I recall my coordinator told me MM has a VIP arrival treatment for bridal couples. But as we arrived after checking-in was done, we did not have this. But I rather have
the room ready and save us time to check in ourselves.

All you should be concerned with on that day is to look happy, stress-free, handsfree and be gorgeous.

Leave everything else to your good helpers.

 

[~sblbee~]

iciclediamond,
yes, they convert d function rm beside d ballrm to a changing rm for me, really felt like a mega star wif my cloth rack pushed into d rm
oh i changed to dynasty 15D europe trip cos asa departure is not confirmed....so it's a saving of abt $100+ after i changed ba

 

[star_diamond]

dear all,

I have abt 20-28 bots of brand new Red Door Melot 2004 (the same kind of wine that is served at weddings in MM)wines that I would like to let go...pls do contact me at [email protected]...

 

[happy_ting]

hi all

does anyone has a photo of how the function room for solemnisation look like? thanks alot

 

[taichan]

Hi all,appreciate if you ladies can recommend a florist. Thanks a bunch!

 

[ladys1st]

Thanks kazooie..

 

[mthm]

Hi all,

I had food tasting yesterday. The food was bad. roast chicken is bloody, fish is not fresh, sharkfin is salty. The cold dish is not really fantastic too. I wonder what would happen during my AD? Hiaz....

 

[octo]

HI mthm,

Oh my.. shocked to hear these. Did you feedback to your coordinator? How did she respond?

I never expect to hear such thing about MM's food as food quality was one of the considering factor for us during venue selection. I thought they have high standards on their food.

 

[ladys1st]

meiling
you took asa too? me too and they cant confirm and i ask for a refund and i took free and easy book sq and all europe internal flight myself..
When are you going europe.. share we me where you going okie...

 

[ladys1st]

mthm,
My fish also not fresh i told wendy and she will make sure the fish will be fresh on my event day .. tell your co ordinator

 

[jelly_bean]

hi all,

Do u know if they will keep the reserve table when the dinner starts or they will just leave it there even it is not opened?

 

[~sblbee~]

its my life,
yes...i took asa n den switched to dynasty when they cant confirm d flight, they gave ma a full refund....im going on 1 dec n will b flying to italy. switzerland n france for a 15-d tour

 

[winniethepooh07]

hi jellybean,
they will leave the reserve table there. They will not keep it

hi mthm,
all of ur family members feel the same way? or just u feel that its bad?

during my food tasting, all of my family members are enjoying the food, they helped me rate it also

 

[a1211]

Hi all, juz view the vanda ballroom this morning..attach a new concept (seat cover) of ballroom FYI..

Feel the ballroom is good enough for 25-28 tables.. juz a bit worry about the food bcos of some feedback from this site a bit scary me.

 

[mthm]

I dunno about the rest of you but we saw that some of the food were wrapped in plastic wraps with the plates..

Actually both hubby and myself are not very good food tasters which was why we brought 2 very close friends and 1 of them is from F&B line to the food tasting. Even my dad & FIL had negative comments.

Seriously we were very very disappointed following the outcome. When we saw the bloody roast chicken (supposedly the Chef's special), we immediately demanded to see both the chef and our sales manager but the chef was attending to the other wedding and our sales manager had gone home.

We had chosen Marina Mandarin because of it's food reputation but now seriously we are quite apprehensive. We have yet to go through with our sales manager to voice our displeasure. Sigh......

 

[~sblbee~]

mthm,
im sorry to hear abt ur bad experience during d food tasting....i had a wonderful food tasting session n all of them commented dat d food is tasty n hot....on my actual day, my guests commented dat it's one of d best dinner banquets dat they went to cos d sharksfin is full of ingredient n den d food is yummy....hope dat u can resolve tis matter quickly wif MM n b a happy bride

 

[kazooie]

mthm

Maybe the standards of MM have dropped since?

I had the same experience as Meiling though. The other 8 foodtasters besides myself and hubby were quite pleased with the food. It was only a matter of what style of cooking we preferred. And we were only concerned with whether the food will actually be just as good on the actual day, which it was!

Anyway, that's what foodtasting is about, anything not right must let them know and ask them to speak to the Banquet Chef to get things right on the day for you. Good luck.

 

[baylee]

mthm...thats really scary to see what you have experience..

Personally, my family enjoyed most of the dishes served during food tasting except the fish which was tough and has this fishy smell and the sharksfin has grainy texture and is curly which is so Weird haa

Sianz..my AD is coming real soon..hope MM buck up...if not i will be seriously very disappointed..

 

[winniethepooh07]

i agree with meiling and kazooie,
All of my food taster likes the food tasting session. I chose MM becos of its food also. One of the nicest food i have ever tasted for wedding banquet. My guest commented that the food is superb also. The only negative comment is the waitress service are slow only.

 

[winniethepooh07]

Comments:

1) Cold dish comment - Got lobster, and the combination is nice. V good comment from my guest

2) Sharkfin - yup its v thick and alot of quality

3) Steamed Live Garoupa with Soya Sauce - hmmm depends on individual i think. i feel that the fish is v fresh, i like fishy smell, so i dont know how strong it is.

4) Chef Joe’s Special Crispy Roast Chicken - I took the chef recommendation chicken also, the crispy skin chicken. Its v tender. didnt realise its bloody cos the crispy skin and tender chicken makes it so nice already

5) Braised Abalone with Seasonal Vegetable - this is best. I didnt see any banquet with so big abalone. One of the best dishes

6) Pan Fried Prawns with Butter & Garlic Sauce : 1 guest 1 BIG prawn only. So 10pax table only serve 10prawns. Prawn is v fresh. I cant remember how good it is already

7) Smoked Tea Duck with Mini Pancake - This is very unique, the mini pancake mix well with the duck and sauce

8) Fried Hokkien Mee Sua with Assorted Meat - no complain. I like this..v yummy

9) Mango Sago with Ice Cream - hmmm no other better choice. Not good for older generation pple but alot of younger generation like this

Now think of all these dishes, i still cant forget. The combination is all so nice. Yummy

 

[necrosis]

hungry....

ask you gals,
how's the chicken w plum sauce?

anyone took the other soup instead of sharkfin?

 

[winniethepooh07]

nec,
At first i took chicken w plum sauce during food tasting...taste like mixed rice's "lemon chicken". Lucky during that food tasting, there is another function room with pple having food tasting too. So we got the chance to taste some of their roasted chicken, then decided to change it

 

[cho]

hi all, i juz finished my dinner with MM a few weeks ago.. and comments i received aft tat were pretty disappointing..

despite good review from my guest abt e food (chicken was still too bloody, which was my comment during food tasting as well), my guests were unhappy with the service of the servers:
- plates were cleared too fast even b4 guest had finished or touched their food. while watching montage, their plates were cleared when clearly food was not even touched
- food was served too fast, sometimes there were 2 dishes served at the same time
- prior to the wedding banquet, my helpers who went round checking on utensils discovered obvious chilli stains on the seat covers which can be easily discovered if someone had gone round to double check
- number of table settings did not match number of seats (e.g. 11 chairs but only 10 sets of plates, utensils)
- prior to food tasting, i have requested for dinner fork and knife to be set. it was there during food tasting but not on actual day
- guests were not happy tat after the last dish, b4 guests leave e table, servers started to clear the chilli sauce etc by emptying them to the dessert dish (v hawker centre style) and this was done in front of guests who have not left
- server oso poured tea on the lazy susan to clean e lazy susan when guests have not vacated the table
- i had 2 tables of guests not receiving any wedding favours (not sure if MM forgot to provide or could be guest fr another table who went earlier took everything), so best to have wedding favours given at reception.

overall, it went pretty smoothly for us during the dinner.. and the food was good.. (other than chicken too bloody and fish nt so tasty).. i had great compliments abt sharksfin dish and that food was more than sufficient but a pity that service of the servers was not as great and guests had to go for round 2 aft e wedding dinner tat night

which i felt was a pity as e wedding coordinator really put in alot of effort to ensure that deco and food was great but as the service of servers was not up to standards, many guest did not leave with a good impression..

and e service of e servers was still e same despite comments from serveral guests directly to the manager/server..

so, to all, pls take note!

 

[cho]

big pooh, juz realised ur menu is e same as mine!!
yup, i agree e food's yummy.. but e chicken seems to be bloody for many even thou many have feedback during foodtasting that it was too bloody..

as a fish lover, e fish was not q to my liking.. alt i guess it could be coz by e time i completed 2nd march in, food was already cold..

oh ya, 1 more thing to note.. for vanda ballroom, if u r choosing e taller aisle stands, do make sure if guests at e back will be block by them from the projector screen..

i had e misty xxx theme for my aisle stand.. (roses on top with teacup candles below).. guest at e last table were blocked n cant see projector screen.. also, as my EG was quite puffy, it was kinda difficult trying to maneover in between aisle stands 2 prevent my skirt catching fire..! so do take note also..

 

[winniethepooh07]

cho,correct!the aisle stand is too tall,its blocking my guest's view to see the projector screen.

oh u have the chance to eat fish on the that day? we only have the first 2 dishes. The rest of the dishes we didnt eat at all

 

[sunqian]

Hi cho and bigpooh, do you have any idea if the shorter stand is short enough not to block views?

 

[winniethepooh07]

sunqian,
i think shorter stand is confirm no problem.

 

[cho]

actually i dunno if there is any "shorter" stands la.. but my stand cfm block view lo.. summore mine in vanda ballroom so ceiling is lower..

(sunqian: if u're worried, u can ask MM to show u e different type of stands lo.. but for Vanda ballroom i guess safer to go with e shorter stands ba..)

big pooh.. i got to eat.. hee hee.. aft 2nd march-in they served me those food which they kept for us but i din hav much appetite so we had 5 mins to gobble everything down b4 photo-taking..

i ended at 10.30 which was a bit early considering i started at 8.30.. servers served too fast already.. my guests had e impression i was chasing them home..

 

[~sblbee~]

nec,
my guests love d chicken wif plum sauce.....though it's really like boneless fried chicken wif sauce but den it's easy to eat n sth different ba

 

[jelly_bean]

hi gals,

sorry side track abit. my ad this weekend. i forgotten abt the lst dish song.. do we need to choose the lst dish song or MM have their default?... which song did u all use ?

 

[winniethepooh07]

hi jelly bean,
do u want the waitress/waiter to dance with the 1st song or not?

- If want, u must chose MM song. They will give u 2 songs to chose. Today is thur already. Its better u select the song today, latest tomorrow

- If u dont need them to dance, u can provide ur own song

 

[min0511]

hi all...i'm not a MM bride...& i'm also not here to spoil the mood...just want to highlight to all brides & grooms here that please ensure the servers ask the guests whether can they clear the plates before clearing them....as i experienced before (Nov'08) that the servers clear them w/o asking even thou' i havent eat the food that was on my plate...it didnt happened only on me, my 2 other friends experienced the same thing...maybe u all would like to highlight to MM for service improvement...

 

[kazooie]

cho
Gosh, you had so much bad feedback on your wedding. How come I never heard anything from my wedding? Perhaps, mine was a 8 course lunch so not so rushed for time. How come your banquet started so late? Sometimes, banquet staff will be asked to rush because otherwise the hotel has to pay staff a lot of overtime. After the wedding, the staff usually will knock off at 11pm. So, all the clearing has to be completed by then. So for other MM BTBs, do try to start on time or as early as possible.
How come your helpers didn't check the tables for wedding favours prior to the banquet?

The chilli stains on seats, pouring of tea on the lazy susan and the clearing of chilli sauce especially before the end of event sounds really like those lower class restaurant type of service. MM should take note of that.

Anyway, hope you had fun despite all that! It's your day, after all.

jelly bean
For waiter/food 1st march in, you can choose either your own or go with their own. I don't know what song they use coz we selected our own song which they rehearsed prior to the banquet and danced accordingly.

min
Not asking guest before clearing the plate - to be fair, that's a common poor service in many other places, not just MM. For banquets, there's always a lot of casual staff working so I'm not surprised. They only get briefed prior to the event and unless they are regulars, many don't really care about service standards as they just come in to work for that one event and go many other places to work too.