Novotel Clarke Quay

[busygal]

hi will like to check.. for beer that we bring on our own right, for eg if we bring 50 bottles there and only consume 35 bottles, NCQ will only charge us corkage for that 35 bottles consumed right?

will they actually inform you that the barrel is finish b4 they start openin the bottles?

 

[duffy_75]

Hi All,

I think is better to have free flow beer and get the red wine from them. During the pre dinner wedding meeting with the dinner cordinator, they will ask when you want to start serve the beer, wine or hard liquor. Then you have 1 less thing to worry.

Anyway their red wine is better and smoother this year as compared to last. That why on my wedding many people drink red wine.

 

[ixoral]

HL told me they are using Italian wines now. but i dont know if it's nice not.. always have this impression that house wines will never be that fantastic.

Yoga, do u rem if yours are italian wines?

 

[funfun]

happygal,
yes... u can ask them to inform u b4 they open ur bottles...
same Qs i asked her b4...
she told me if I worried tt they play cheat.. i can assign one ppl at the bar tender to count.. true oso la... hv to trust them lor..

Yoga,
u got free flow of beer?
i wonder if i get free flow of beer, can i serve it during cocktail session but start the red wine serving b4 march in?

ixoral,
the red wine is nicer tis yr.. not so 'diluted'
Is call Corte Viola Merlot IGT VTG, Italy from Top Wines Pte Ltd. I tried during the wedding fair.

 

[duffy_75]

Hi ixoral,

Don't worry their red wine is confirm better than last year. Last year wedding show tried the wine was not satifised. This year when we meet HL to finalise all the wedding stuffs, we ask about the red wine and she told us they change a new batch. We went to try during this year wedding show and was happy and we decided to buy from them.

I can choose either free flow beer or 1 barrel beer + 1 table 1 red wine. If you calculate, I think free flow beer is much better, because additonal barrel is quite ex also.

Since I got free flow beer, I ask them to serve during cocktail onwards. That is from 7pm till end of dinner (since is free flow) so your own cordinator just need to monitor the red wine. For example, you can tell them you want to "buy" 20 bottles 1st, then if after 20 bottles are finished then they will ask your cordinator whether you want to open another qty (e.g. you set another 10 bottles 1st). You need to intro your cordinator to the during the 5pm pre-wedding briefing.

Hopes that help. Anyway the red wine is ok because some of my guest quite fussy about red wine and they drink a lot of red wine so should be ok. Don't worry. I also never check the red wine bottles also. Should be ok, if you want you can tell them before ahdn if you want to see before you sign the final bill.

Hopes it helps. Anyway NCQ no regret. Hehe. Happy Wedding Preparation.

 

[rjwedding]

don't need to worry about NCQ cheating on the beer & wine consumption. For my wedding, Ramesh let us have the look at the beer & wine consumed before settling the bill.. i assign a co-ordinator to liaise with Ramesh if need to open more wine or beer.. anyway just for ur info, Ramesh waive my beer & wine corkages for the wine & beer that I've open.. maybe becos mine got accident in between, that's why he waive the corkages for us.. I think if not alot, u can request whether can waive the corkages..

wow, HL so fast promoted ar.. that's means every decision made by her is final.. no bargaining..

 

[busygal]

i m still thinking how mnay bottles of beer to bring as i have ard 38 tables. is additional 48 bottles sufficient on top of the 1 free barrel?

 

[busygal]

btw i read that Ramesh has left.. anyone liaise wif the new coordinator b4? how is he/she?

 

[pannie]

Hi girls.

I think I very KS lei. My wedding end of dec and i already print my wedding invites and book my food tasting date liao. Haha!!

 

[footprint]

haaa.. not KS la.
Good to prepare early.
Just that, for wedding invites, might be risky to print early in case *touchwood* need to change timing or what?

I also plan to have my food tasting in Jan, though my wedding in May.
Coz can also celebrate my fil's bday.

 

[funfun]

Hi R&J..
good to c u here again..
I not worry if the coordinator is Ramesh.. but now is someone i nv talk to...
then HL said I can't do by request for those banquet coordinator coz ALL the same wor..
So again.. she make us tt we hv to be more considerate la...

So no choice lor..

Hope everythg will turns smooth..

 

[vividz]

I did ask HL who will be our coordinator for the banquet, during the choosing of theme & wedding favour, she told me we onli know on tat day itself, quite disappointed also. so I also nvr talk to the coordinator before till the day of my banquet. luckily tat day, I managed to get Ramesh.

tmr I'm going for my friend's wedding dinner at Novotel, got a chance to taste the food again. =P

 

[jiahui]

Is the bridal suite enough for 6 jiemeis to stay in?
I'm still thinking whether to book a helper room for them to rest or have a nap.
So they can save the travelling trip.

 

[xuer21]

jiahui,
i think it would be a good idea to book a day room for them.. cos hor both u and hubby can rest also ma.. then personally i feel its not very convenient la... but up to individuals... and furthermore.. cos my jm wan to bathe so its not very good to let them bathe also since i think the bathtub is prepared and decorated in advance right?

 

[vividz]

jiahui, I think the bridal suite is not enough for 6 jiemeis to stay in,cos I feel the room is quite small so I think is gd to have a day room.

 

[duffy_75]

Jiahui,

I think is better to book another room, the bridal room will be too small for so many people. Later in the evening, your mum and your wife mum need to do make up also. Wait the room damn pack. There us only 1 toilet inside then bridal room also.

 

[rjwedding]

hi happygal: think 48 bottles maybe too much.. i got 50 tables, i brought 36 bottles and left over alot.. maybe my guest didn't drink alot..

hi funfun: think the new co-ordinator wouldn't be too bad too.. just don't worry too much!!

hi jiahui: i agreed with the others, think it's better to have another day room.. although I put all my jiemeis into my bridal suite that day, but they still went over to the extra room I've booked for their makeup.. cos my bridal suite already too crowded with 3 MUAs.. hahaha.. think they will have more space to move ard too..

hi michelle: think we don't have the time to enjoy the bathtub that NCQ prepared.. end of the day will be die tired.. just want to quickly bathe and sleep.. hahaha..

 

[jiahui]

Hi Gals
Thanks for giving me the advise.
I tentatively booked a day room for jiemeis.
And an overnite room for xiongdis to stay in.. coz they got to help hubby to drink.
Not safe for them to drive home after drinking.

I met Huiling today. Quite a nice lady actually.
We confirmed 35 tables to her, With 2 reserves.
Quite relieve to hear that got buffer to cater more tables, just in case of more guests turn up last minute.
But will give her another finalise number next week.
I had confirmed the shower gel as wedding favours.
This is something new to us and is cute.
We choose mix theme (flower and crystal).
For the reception and VIP table, we use flower.

I ordered 60 bottles of wine from NCQ. Beer will be free flow.
Think mine is most exagerating. Coz most of the guest are heavy drinkers.
Esp my colleagues and my in-laws' friends.
So no choice , got to order more.
I forgot to ask Huiling if they practise consignment?
If left over too many bottles, not sure can return or not.

Anyway, another load is off from the to do list. My AD is less than 2 weeks time. Getting excited.

 

[busygal]

hi jiahui, u mean we have to pre-order red wine? I thought they will charge us base on our consumption since we get directly from them?

 

[jiahui]

Oh.. is it, happygal
Because she got ask how many bottles we want to buy from in-house.
I tot must give her the estimated bottles of wine.
And she got write down in her file.
Maybe I misunderstood.
I think she just want to take note only.
So i guess it should be based on the consumption on AD.
Will finalise with her next week.

 

[duffy_75]

Hi Jiahui,

I also choose the teddy bear shower gel as favour. Quite cute and i think i don't have any leftover. Between my red wine i also never confirm my qty to HL. I only confirm mine red wine qty during the 5pm brefing. I confirm 20 1st. After finish, ask the cordinator to ask permission from mine cordinator to confirm want to open another qty of red wine or stop.

 

[rjwedding]

the wine is just a estimate 1st.. so after the estimate number, the banquet mgr will check with u whether to open more anot.. at the end of the day, still depend on consumption.. anything less than the estimate will not be counted.. so jiahui, remember to check the bill..

 

[busygal]

hi R&J, so u r sayin for eg if we estimate 20 bottles, in the end we only consume 15 we shld be charge for that 15 bottles right? but if the 20 bottles finish, they will ask us if we want to con't to open more right? ur beer consumption seems quite little.. wat about your wine consumption? i m really worried that 48 bottles is not sufficient coz we cal n plus the free barrel is like ard 180 glasses for 38 tables.. seems little but i do know not everyone will drink beer oso.. so did u start serving both beer n wine during cocktail?

 

[jiahui]

Hi Yoga
Yours is teddy bear shower gel?
Think they got the latest design. Mine will be the cute chinese wedding couple shower gel.

Hi R&J
Thanks for reminder.
Hopefully, we don't drink much, so we can remain sober while checking the bill.

Hi happygal
HL did told me that if you finished all bottles, they will ask your coordinator or you,
whether to open more bottles or not.

 

[rjwedding]

yes. they only charged according to how much u open.. anyway it's house wine wat, so no problem for them to take back and keep..

but if over ur estimate, they need to check with u 1st before opening extras.. this is what Jaime told me..

i also dunno why my beer consumption so low after the free barrel.. my wine consumption is like 54 bottles in total.. extra 4 bottles from the complimentary 50 bottles.. actually my wine n beer consumption is below what I expected.. prob sunday ppl still needs to work on monday, so they don't want to drink too much..

i only start serving my beer n wine when the guest are seated in the ballroom.. actually wanted to serve only when the dinner commence, but my HB feel not so nice to keep my guest from waiting..

 

[xuer21]

R&J,
i hope i will be able to enjoy the bath also haha.. my frens even ask me after that got activity anot.. my goodness i dun pengz already very good liao...

 

[busygal]

i will be meetin wif HL next thurs.. the meet up is more of confirmin the weddin favours n theme right? is there any other special thing to confirm that day?

 

[ryanon123]

Hello, had my wedding at cinnamon ballroom and left with 24 bottles of tiger beer unopened, any soon to be couple keen to purchase from me? PM me. Thx

 

[shi2308]

hi does anyone know how much it costs to do solemnisation by the pool at Novotel Clarke Quay?

 

[rjwedding]

hi happygal: she will guide you thru the meeting.. basically to confirm ur wedding favor, wedding theme, table cloth colours, etc.. i can't really rem much liao.. anyway not need to worry, HL will guide u thru..

hi ryan: how's ur wedding??

i miss the food there.. think must make a trip back for a meal there again..

 

[vividz]

I just went back for wedding dinner. The food portion is enough for 10 pax. The yam ring is gd but the dish inside still abit oily, still the same as in my wedding. I feel the yam paste abit too sweet. Overall, the food is alrite.

 

[happinessbliss]

Iris < when i took the yam paste at my food tasting i actually love it... but cos i am teochew thats y i quite like yam paste. But then my hubby and family could not accept..the whole table only me and MIL enjoying the yam paste... so no choice lor, scared wait youngsters at the wedding cannot accept yam paste so we change to mango pomelo....

 

[vividz]

mine also mango pomelo, cos we dun 1 2 have too many yam as we ald choose yam ring. I also like mango pomelo, so we choose it. my friends said it's nice too.

 

[jiahui]

I'm a teochew too.
We also love yam paste.
But I think majority of guests would prefer something quenching for dessert.
So I choose mango and pomelo, after hearing the feedback that it is also nice.

 

[ryanon123]

R &amp; J,

Everything went smoothly except a few beverage issues. We brought in some liqours for our guests but apparently that was not properly communicated to the servers. In the end, when my guests asked for it some of them said it is not available. However, when my 'brothers' asked for it... because they were the one who helped me to bring it up they were surprised and came to tell me. Ultimately, they went to the bar counter to take it.

I also heard from my dad that his friends said the servers told them they have no more beers, but at the end of the function i still had 24 bottles unopened, so i do not know what went wrong. Then another table asked for red wine and one of the servers told them they had ran out of red wines and offered white wines.. it's amazing llor..

There are also 2 spillage on the guests by the servers...

The settings, the food and others are okay but i guess their servers needs to be trained properly.

When the VIP car comes in, i given HL the car plate no. (not wedding car), and none of the doorman realised it until the driver comes down and ask.

A lot of my guests had problem finding their place from the carpark to the ballroom

Some of the feedbacks i got.

 

[rjwedding]

oh.. that's a few comments and feedback I got too.. but didn't hear anything abt the wine n beer.. mine also got spillage, but luckily it's on my own relatives, so didn't really hear much complain abt it..

but overall i believe it's still a memorable event, isn't it??

 

[xlan]

wa... serious ah.. tink better feed back to NCQ.. let them has such problem with their servers.. btw.. did the banquet manager offer a spare shirt for your guests? last yr i attended my fren's wedding at oriental mandarin.. my fren also kana red wine spill over his shoulder.. but the manager acted v fast n offered him a new white shirt n a new bottle of red wine as a kind of apology.. n they sent my fren's shirt for laundry n delivered to his house a few days later.. did NCQ apologies in such manner?

 

[ryanon123]

NCQ waived off the extra bottles of red wines i had opened during the dinner because of the 2 spillage.

I say "spill more" .. HA HA

Overall, ya it is a good experience. No regrets choosing NCQ because i find those beverages problem minor issues. On a positive note, a lot of my guests complimented the food. They like the yam paste very much. They also like the settings.

Aside that, my colleagues told me the staffs are very polite. Don't get over carried by my previous issues. Haa.. go and choose NCQ.

I had Rico in charge of my banquet. He's a very nice and he is good. I shall recommended him highly. He even came up to our room the next morning and help us carry the luggage down to the reception, then waited for us before carrying down to the taxi stand, load it up to the car booth. Quite impressive eh.

More good things to say about NCQ. I overslept the next morning, woke up at 12pm + and called HL and she helped to arrange late checked out at 3pm. (called HL because i dialed the reception but nobody pick it up 3 times).

The room is perfect, they even had the towels tied up nicely with ribbons in the washroom, and i didn't know there are a free bottle of champaign in the room which i took home. Also have mineral water, perrier water &amp; welcome dish on the table when i checked in. ( although my brothers 'helped' me to finish the welcome dish

) ah... My relatives who came up to the bridal suite was very impressed with the set up.

One last thing to note. NCQ upgraded my helper's room for free so that it is next to our bridal suite. Smart gesture!

 

[happinessbliss]

My wedding is over on Saturday. I also had Rico as our coordinator for the nite... he is impressive... called us up at 4.30pm to remind us of the briefing at 5pm... then explain to us step by step what to expect before the march in and stuff... he was very very patient... he even call us the next day after we check out to check if everything was ok... a very very nice gesture that we really appreciate...

The food that nite was better than the food tasting... my MIL compliment on the food...

 

[blurgrooms_bride]

Good to hear so many good comments! Congrats Happiness&amp;Bliss and Ryan! Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience. I think i'll request for Rico. =)

Went for food tasting last week. We chose shark's fin soup, deep fried chicken with garlic, red garoupa in hong kong style, yam ring, spinach with abalone mushroom, frangrant rice and red bean paste with lotus seed.Food was overall good. Both our parents are satisfied. Except that the red bean paste was too sweet and my mom complained that the yam ring had too much flour mixed into it, cant really taste the yam.

Btw, does anybody have any picture to share of the ballroom with floral theme? I've seen the mixed theme and the crystal theme, but havent seen the floral theme yet.

 

[rjwedding]

congrats happiness.. time really passes so fast.. ur wedding is over now..

think overall NCQ still did a very good job in this area.. just minor and little hiccups wouldn't spoilt such lovely night..

u all got chocolates?? my hubby love the chocolates so much.. keep eating n eating.. i told him wait he can't put on his pants already.. hahaha.. i like the strawberries chocolates alot.. big strawberries..

 

[happinessbliss]

Thks Blurgrrom's bride and R &amp; J for yr well wishes.

R &amp; J < I love the strawberries too...hehe and Oh the chocolates are wonderful.... i kept eating too... hehe...

 

[xlan]

congrats to all for ur successful event!

wow.. sounds really nice of NCQ.. can't wait for mine to happen.. hehehe.. still a long way.. july 09.. ;p

 

[ryanon123]

R&amp;J,

My 'brothers' ate the strawberries chocolate.. but lucky both she and me managed to grab a piece each.. ha ha

Didn't really had time to enjoy the welcome dish lor.. quite regret now. heh

Happiness,

Ya, Rico called me up the next morning .. that's when i told him i needed help with the luggage and he came up himself to help me. I thought he would had arranged someone else up. He is quite good.. ya.

Blurgroom,

My colleagues had good comments on the yam paste as dessert. Maybe you want to consider it. Their Yam ring is their specialty food... so it's a surprising.. maybe your mom had a different taste bud? heh

 

[jiahui]

Happiness &amp; Bliss and Ryan

Congratulation!!
Btw, do they take long time to serve drinks and food.
Overall, really glad to hear that NCQ is doing well.

I'm getting very very excited.
Now counting down to my big day this sunday.
Already took leave to finalise things and have rest.

I love strawberries.
Think I will keep all the snacks for ourselves to enjoy. haha...
Or else xiongdi and jiemei will be like "dinosaurs", finish everything without saving some for our own.
heehee.....

 

[blurgrooms_bride]

Hi all,

I was just discussing abt the detailed schedule with my HTB yesterday and we have some issues that we're unsure of, hope some of you can give us some advice.

1) what is a reasonable time to allow the hotel staff to start serving alcoholic drinks to the guests? Before the dinner starts or only after the dinner commence? My HTB's concern is if we start early, they might consume a lot, but I tot we should serve them while they wait for dinner to commence. Wat's the common practice?

2) It is usual to have cake cutting followed by first march in and champagne pouring after 2nd march in?

3) Roughly how long does it take to finish table photo takings of 30 tables?

4) Any of you had solemnization before the dinner? What is a reasonable time? We wanted it at 6, but on second thoughts, we're afraid that those who attend the solemnization will have to wait very long for the dinner. So thinking of postponing it to 630 instead. Any advice?

 

[xuer21]

blurgroom,
1) it depends one.. if ur guests drink alot then i suggest serve only after the dinner commence.. for me.. i serve the min the guests are seated..

2)yes

3)i guess if u have bros helping to adjust the guests to the "picture taking" position then should be fast...

 

[staybeautiful]

Hi all, here is my personal review on Novotel. I just attended a wedding at Novotel last friday and sunday. I went to the cinnamon ballroom on friday and the grand phoenix on sunday. Cinnamon have lower ceiling as compared to the grand ballroom. I was liaising very closely with the banquet mgr on friday. The banquet mgr, Rico is very patient and I would say he is very experience and professional. The bridal suite was nicely decorated with fresh flower petals with jacuzzi. The food did not turn out to be fantastic and the only dish that i really appreciate was the Steam prawns and the yam paste. The fish was overcooked and tasted abit dry. Jellyfish was too blant. There was nothing to scream about the food but it is definitely not one of the lousiest banquet that I tasted so far(because I have tried banquets 10times worse than this). Overall, it tasted okay but not up to standard. So, since i will be attending another wedding on sunday. I told myself to give Novotel another chance coz sometimes you may just be "suay" on that day.

This time more as a guest instead of wedding helper on sunday. I decide to rate them differently. The service turned out to be different from Cinnamon ballroom. My wine glass was cleared with another one when it still left with at least 1/4 full. I think they are trying to clear the free confirmed wines given so that they can charge corkage for the extra wines open. Staffs was abit blurred this time. I have to instruct them what to do each time they clear the plates and food. The decor was quite similar but the ballroom was bigger and ceiling was higher. This time the fish turned out to be slightly better than friday but I realized there was always leftovers for the food. Yam ring was nice. Steam Prawns maintained the standard. Cold Dish cannot make it as the jellyfish turned out to be too spicy as compared to friday, pork was too salty. Shark fins maintained its standard but nothing to rave about, Cream of mango was simply TOO SWEET that I only ate 2 mouth. As i was seated among the more elderly people side, I saw many uncles and aunties shaking their head while eating the food.

Overall, I think Novotel won more on the service and ambience rather than food. The chances of breaking even on your budget is quite high too. I think this place is worth taking a look if you are looking at good location, pillarless ballroom and not too bad decor. I think as for food, it depend on whether you are heng or suay lor.

 

[happinessbliss]

blurgroom's bride <

1) Mine, the beer was serve once the pre-cocktail start as mine is free flow of beer...

2)yes we had the usual...

3)it really depends on how yr helpers and how fast they can get the people ready for the group pic taking... for ours thou we only had 18 tables our finish quite fast...cos my hubby xiongdis are all quite efficient... we are moving from table to table quite smoothly...

 

[ryanon123]

Blurgroom,

(1) Originally we decided to start serving beer when the dinner starts, because i did not want to drink before my march in cos my face turns red and wouldn't look nice. However, people starts asking for beer during cocktail time so i ask Rico to start serving beer midway through. Alternatively, I can suggest you instruct beer to be serve at cocktail time upon request only.

(2) Cake cutting before 1st march in? That is a little bit strange i think because 1st march basically is to show everyone your wedding gown but then if you had your cake cutting first, everyone would had seen it. But it's normal for champaign pouring after 2nd march in.

(3) 30 tables ... i think 30 to 45 mins will do.

(4) Even without solemnization, i was quite busy before the cocktail because many details to attend to. I cannot imagine having to have a solemnization right before the cocktail, unless you can find a really good person to be in charge of everything.