Marina Mandarin Singapore

[enya]

HI HI EVERYONE!

okie, i just hope no one takes the orion ballroom, cos if there is someone, there might be a fair bit of confusion! anyway, is there food tasting provided? how come i dun see that on the brochure?

how about bridal suite? can we ask for one mroe nite? any other types of wedding favours, rather than just chocolate pralines?

i was thinking about creating a garden theme .. hee hee hee!

 

[jenjen]

cowie, but these prawns have come with shells right??

 

[zend]

did anyone bargain for complimentary food tasting?

 

[cowie]

JenJen, Yup! But think they provide those wet tissues for people to clean their hands if they decide to go "finger lickin!"

enya, for wedding favours, I was given the choice of pralines or pineapple cakes (feng-li su). I chose the latter for its uniqueness

Oh, I took the real wedding cake instead of dummy cake also. Although it is only 3 tiers and much smaller in size, I had comments that it looks very unique and elegant

Zend, I think complimentary food tasting will depend on how many tables you are able to confirm with them. If yours is like 50 and above, should not be a prob. I initially confirmed 40 + 2, in the end I had 46 tables. But we paid 50% for the food tasting.

 

[jenjen]

cowie, do u think i should change the prawns?? I didn't like it very much during food tasting but decided to stick to it cos it is easy to eat (no shells) and my parents and PIL are fine with it... wat do u think??

ur wedding cake is sent to ur room right?? it's not the one used to cut cake on stage correct??

Zend, I had food tasting for 6 complimentary after guaranteeing 45-49 tables... sorry i cannot tell u the exact number as each individual couple's contract varies... u have to ask them for it...

 

[dap]

Hi Cowie

does MM give guest book or it's a scroll?

Actually I've been to many weddings and many times when prawns are served, few people eat as people dun like to remove the shell. Am thinking if i should change from prawn to something else.

 

[ohno]

<FONT COLOR="0000ff">Hi JenJen</FONT>

U mean we can ask for 'shell-less' prawns? or different cooking methods have 'shell-less'?

 

[jenjen]

ohno, shell-less ones are only for the weekend menus... they are either oriental sauce or peppercorn... but the rest of the prawns will be with shell... how har?? i still dunno if i should change or not leh...

 

[cowie]

Hi JenJen,
Since you have had it for your food tasting and all of you like it....then just stick to it lor.... In my case, I changed it to the panfried one even before the food tasting cos of recommendation from Irene. I actually took the trio sauce one prior to that. But we were quite happy with the panfried one during the food tasting, so decided to stick with it

No, my wedding cake is a real one...that is, the one on the stage is a real one. After we cut it on stage, the staff will cut up the entire cake into 6 boxes and it is up to us who we want to distribute to. In fact, I prefer it this way cos if they were to send any cake up to our room after the dinner, we will not be able to stomach any anyway. Cos they actually heat up the portions of food distributed to you during dinner (which you do not have chance to touch) and send it up for your late nite supper

Hi dap,
They give a guest book

 

[jenjen]

Hmm... I still thinking leh... I didn't really like the prawns... my dad said it was ok, cos he often food taste and that was the taste of frozen prawns... but my PILs always not much comments... so i dunno if they like or not...

will it not be grander if u have a bigger tier cake?? did u use Daniel as ur MC also??

 

[starfruit]

<FONT COLOR="0077aa">jenjen</FONT>:
The garlic sauce prawns very nice.. dun worry about the shells.. cos its deep fried, some ppl easts it together with the shell. quite tasty

me "fan" about the noodle and rice dish, dunno if i shoudl serve rice instead!

<FONT COLOR="0077aa">dap</FONT> :
Ya its a guest book not scroll.

<FONT COLOR="0077aa">cowie</FONT>:
How big is teh guest book? enuff dor ur guest that night?
so did u try the wedding cake? isit nice ??
I going for a real one tier instead of the 3 tier cos exchanged the cake for an extra night stay

 

[bluebell]

Hi gals,

on the topic of guest book, mine is untouched, so if anyone wans a spare one, pls email me at [email protected]

In anycase, I think not everyone will sign the guest book so shd be enuf

 

[jenjen]

ok, starfruit, maybe I ask my hubby if he mind changing...

 

[cowie]

Hi JenJen,
Initially I also thought that a bigger one is grander looking. But I do not have any regrets about going for the real one. Everyone commented that it looks more elegant and unique this way compared to those tall five tier ones. It is sugi cake.....not bad, taste quite nice. But I got to eat only one piece cos by the time I came back from my honeymoon..... all the rest were eaten by various family members already

Nope, I had my friends as emcees instead

Oh, for the prawns....come to think of it, I think my hubby ate the shell tog also during the food tasting....he said it is very crispy and tasty

Hi Starfruit,
Yes, the guest book is definitely big enough even if all the guests sign in it. But like what bluebell said, not everyone will do so.

 

[zend]

Hi JenJen and Cowie,
thanks for your reply.

I have signed up for the wedding show. Hope to pick up better deals/promos during the show, especially the food tasting for 10 person.

Anyone else going for the show? There is free flow of beer for those who sign up during the show. I will definitely take this option as I have about 45+ tables.

 

[starfruit]

Hi All:

How do u sort out ur vegetarian and muslim guest. does anyone ahs any feedback on the muslim and vegetarian menus? Pls advise.

 

[starfruit]

<FONT COLOR="0077aa">cowie</FONT>:
Hwta bout ur ang pow box, how many did u use that night?

 

[cowie]

Hi Starfruit,
We just put our muslim guests and vegeterian guests with the rest....that is 9 (chinese menu) + 1 (veg or muslim menu). Don't know about the muslim ones cos they are my FIL's guests...but the vegeterian didn't compliant about anything

I asked for two....one for my ILs' collections, one for my parents.....

 

[starfruit]

<FONT COLOR="0077aa">cowie</FONT>:

Thanks for the feedback. so any no show for ur muslim and vegetarian friends?

can i aslo check with u. did u managed to break even for the cost of ur banquet. I have lots of feedback from friends who had their wedding dinner recently, many complained that they made a loss. so want some feedback so that we know how much extra to prepare.

 

[canfused]

Hi gals,
I need to rent a projector cos MM does not provide any. Would appreciate if you can provide some rates at which you rented for reference. Anyone will be sourcing for rental of a projector as well? Thanks!

 

[cowie]

Hi Starfruit,
Unfortunately, yes.... I think there were no show for some of my FIL's muslim friends. But what to do? Once confirmed, have to pay up

Yes, we managed to just break even for the dinner. Okay lah, considering with have 46 tables....

 

[starfruit]

<FONT COLOR="0077aa">cowie</FONT>:
wow.. so just breakeven eh. did u have to give like 8 or 10 tables to ur mum? or did u get to kepp all the ang pows from the dinner?

 

[cowie]

Starfruit.....uhm, I am counting the breakeven as in if I balance the total amount in the bill with total amount collected. To keep things simple, I did not take into consideration how many tables given to whom or who keep the ang paos since this differ from couple to couple

 

[jenjen]

so cowie, if counted the giving of tables, the bride got profit, the groom got loss lor... standard on lah...

canfused, i think MM can rent u a projector... but u have to pay lor... ask pauline...

 

[dap]

Hi Cowie, Starfruit and JenJen

my hubby and i also very worried about whether can breakeven. heard many comments that many make a loss. Also my brother-in-law has his banquet in restaraunt recently and he only earn $1K. so very worried.

cowie - so you mean if total 46 tables, then you pay for 46 tables?

Jen Jen - sorry ah, brain not working. If Cowie breakeven means already covered for the tables given to the bride's family liao. and bride's family keep ang pow so how come groom make a loss???

Gals - very dissapointed with MM's centrepiece. It's just a small purple vase with 3 stalks of roses. This is the worst centrepiece I've seen in all hotels. very sad.

 

[jenjen]

Yvonne, when can u pass me the extra inserts??

dap, cowie said that she collected all the 46 tables angpows and breakeven mah... if u give 10 tables to bride then u are supposed to give the 10 tables angpow to the bride's parents... so they will have a loss of 10 tables lor!!

huh, I did not see the centrepiece deco leh... so jia lat meh??

 

[cowie]

Hi dap,
Something like what JenJen said lah....but I really do not see it as a lost per se. Cos right from start, groom side already know that they have to give to the bride's side mah

Dun worry so much about the center piece lah. If it is a big one, it will definitely be removed once food is served.

Moreover, this small one is for the guests tables.... usually the elaborate ones in other hotels are for VIP tables not for guests. So, if you look at it this way, well, the VIP tables do have BIG centrepiece

 

[dap]

Hi JenJen

hee...missed out on the part about all ang pow collected to pay for 46 tables. now i got it. thanks.

Hi Cowie- but first impression counts mah. it's really very unsightly to have 3 stalks of roses in a purple vase. so ugly. spoil the whole ambience.

 

[jenjen]

dap... must be ur brain not working that time... hehehe...

 

[cowie]

Hi dap,
To tell you the truth....I dun think anyone noticed it!!

Imagine if there is a big centrepiece and guests sitting at opposite side of the table have to peaked at each other around the centrepiece

Feel better now?

 

[dap]

Hi cowie

feel better looking at the emoticons..haha....

 

[jenjen]

dap...

I give u more emoticons to see lah!!

Dun be

abt this small vase with 3

in it... although it seems

to you... i agree with cowie that not much pple actually notice

...

wat is impt is u enjoy every moment of the night

where all attention is focused on u 2... and keep looking at each other like this

... ermm... just dun get too

... else u might not hear the

... and may even

!!!

at night if u still got the mood to set ur heart

... heheh... can do some

in bed legally leow!!

okie... I think I have overdone the emoticons thingy... hehehe

dun worry... focus on the big picture... the centre of attention is supposed to be u and not the centrepiece of guests tables right??

anyway,

with ur prep...

and of cos

Jen......

p.s. there are 20 emoticons... heheh... *I think*

 

[jenjen]

oopps!! overdone it... there are 22!! hehehe

 

[jowie]

Well done JenJen!

beri nice to read this emotionally fulled message of yours!

dap...if this is of any comforting effect to you, i onli get <FONT COLOR="ff0000"><FONT SIZE="+1">ONE</FONT></FONT> pathetic stalk

 

[cowie]

Hi JenJen,
Dunno if you made dap's day with your emoticons....it certainly made mine

 

[starfruit]

<FONT COLOR="0077aa">cowie</FONT>:

Chec k with u har, isit necessary to meet up with ur banquet manager again maybe like 1 week before the wedding to reconfirm all the details?

 

[cowie]

Starfruit,
No need. Anything we needed to clarify after the meeting to talk about decos etc was done through the phone

For my case, I decided last minute that I wanted to set up a little photo gallery, so I just called Irene to arrange for a suitable table and she kindly did it for me. Otherwise, they will just carry out whatever was discussed at the meeting

 

[starfruit]

<FONT COLOR="0077aa">cowie</FONT>:
Thanks for the advise. i feel so bad, been calling my banquet manger up quite frequently to discuss things with hi,. found out that i always have new stuff cropping up and ended upcalling him so frequently. so paisay. hehe.

 

[dap]

Well done JenJen!!! You made my day

Thank you so much to made me cheer up. really happy.

okie maybe i should focus on the bigger picture.

Hi starfruit
haha i thought i always bug beng khoon and kind of embarrased too as hubby always scold me for troubling people. now i also think it's quite normal lor.

 

[cowie]

Hey Starfruit and dap,
Uhmm, initially I also felt quite uncomfortable about calling up Irene. But there were certain times when it can really help to clarify our doubts with them.... gives us a peace of mind

Cos there are so many things which they can easily solve for us and we somtimes just "over worry".... I think they are professional enough not to mind our constant enquiry so long as we remain polite and grateful at all times

 

[ohno]

<FONT COLOR="0000ff">Hi Cowie</FONT>

I've made abt 3 to 4 phone calls to Irene since last year till now. Glad to know that Irene has been clarifying all your doubts. Think my calls to her will definitely increase as the wedding date draws closer.

 

[starfruit]

<FONT COLOR="0077aa">ohno</FONT>:

aiyo, 3 - 4 since last yr, so little. i have been calling beng khoon like once to twice a week.. hehe

 

[cowie]

Aiyoh, aiyoh.... you girls dun too guo fen also lah.....

 

[starfruit]

<FONT COLOR="0077aa">cowie</FONT>:

Y alor.. so paisay. can i check with u. do we need to inform the hotel beforehand if we need them to set up baby chair?

how about 11 pax/table? isit too squeezy? i plan to put my muslim frens and pack them with my chinese fren as the 11th guest. u think the table is too small to fit 11?

 

[ohno]

<FONT COLOR="aa00aa">Starfruit, Cowie</FONT>

This shows that I've not start much preparation yet

.

But am very glad to know that the MM brides here are so helpful... I can post message here and some of u will actually help to call respective manager to clarify even if u don't know the answer, unlike me... too lazy to call.

 

[jenjen]

heheh... hi gals... wah... u dunno the number of times I have to click browse until i oso blur... heheh... anyway, I like it too!! so colourful and active...

heheh...

jowie, cheer up too!! Though poolside must have fewer freebies... I'm sure the ambience will be sooo romantic!!

 

[cowie]

Hi Starfruit,
Nope, don't have to confirm baby chairs before hand. On the spot, just ask the waiter to put in a baby chair.

Erhm, I do not know if it is going to be too squeezy cos we put the muslim and vegetarians as 9 chinese + 1 muslim/veg. But I think it should be okay lah....otherwise they will not allow such arrangements

Maybe someone with such experience can help you instead?

 

[peach]

Hi gals,
congrats on your weddings or forthcoming weddings.
would like to find out, what's the colour of the table cloth for the VIP/normal table in the Les Oiseaux ballroom? or any other parts of the ballroom that's red?
cuz my friend is holding it there and her EG is bright red, scared that will clash.

thanks!

 

[jenjen]

hi peach, it depends on which theme she choose...

if she chose:

A) Peach theme: VIP table red, other tables peach
B) Silver theme: VIP table silver, others white
C) Gold theme: VIP table gold, others ivory

gals, pls correct me if I am wrong...

 

[ohno]

<FONT COLOR="aa00aa">Starfruit</FONT>

Irene told me that some couples nowadays will pack 10 chinese + 1 muslim/veg. Parents will normally pack 9 chinese + 1 muslim/veg. She advised us not to pack 'oversize' guest in the 11 pax table. Are u going to pack 11 pax in a table? I'm still considering but afraid people may talk... look stingy anot?

<FONT COLOR="aa00aa">Starfruit/JenJen</FONT>

Have confirmed choosing the mee sua dish after so much of struggling, Irene recommended that it's their 'house' dish and double happiness noodle will look more like 'zi cha'.