Hi folks,
genevia: Yes there is a first dish dance. Yup, it's catching on at various hotels. Saw dancing too at Marina Mandarin. Personally, we don't like it, so toned it down by having a criss-crossing routine between the males and females instead of a dance. Also changed the song to our liking. The usual songs hotels play tend to be cheesy.
various: I must first say again that Kevin and Liz did fantastic where others have failed...
Anyway...
Firstly, when we checked in at around 2 plus, we smelled very intense cigarette smell when we stepped into the suite. It's really bad - once the door open u will smell it, and we are non-smokers. Given that we did not check in early, I believe the hotel would have had ample time to detect and rectify it. Anyway, we called the front desk twice for them to solve the prob. Eventually, they brought a ioniser which is supposed to eradicate the smell within 30 mins. That didn't happen. In the meantime, the management (including Kevin who came over from BOWS09) came up to apologise and gave us a complementary fruit basket. Given that the makeup artist have already started and it was too much of a hassle, we did not ask for a change of room (they did not offer anyway).
During the banquet, we received two complaints from separate tables. They found thick thread (or "rope" as they put it) in the sharksfin soup. They feedbacked to the staff there and they were offered another bowl. We thought this was bad as other hotels we've been to gave meal vouchers on the spot. Who dares to eat another bowl of that on the spot! It was quite an early dish so it pretty much ruined the appetite of the guests at the two tables. After the dinner, the chef came to explain to us that the thread might be from the pith or one of the ingredients. It was used to tie the ingredients. Anyway, it sounded like excuses. Wedding is a once in a lifetime thing and I cannot accept what he said.. which was such unexpected things happen from time to time. They are in the restaurant business and such things should not happen!
Thirdly, we had asked before hand if we could buy extra carpark coupons if we run out. The answer was simply, yes we can. On that day, there was an unexpected increase in the demand for coupons. We ran out of coupons from our given quota, so we asked for more. The reply was there is no more and after repeated requests, we were given around 5 more coupons - hardly enough! Imagine how embarrassed we were when we had to tell them there's no more coupons. And these are the guests who stayed the longest and were the last batch to leave.
The last straw was when we went up to the suite. The room still reeked of smoke, though much less intense compared to the afternoon. Then we realised our gowns/clothes reeked of smoke! Gosh I wonder how many guests were put off by that. After the mandatory counting of money, we were dead beat and quickly went to wash up to go to sleep. Then we realised there was no toothpaste nor toothbrush. Is that too much to ask for in a bridal suite? Even some of the 3 star hotels we stayed in in europe had these basic stuff!
Best thing is, when we ignored all that and wanted to jump into bed, we realised the bedsheets reeked of smoke. They did not have the common sense to change it. Gosh! We contemplated sleeping on the sofa but thankfully, we were tired and drunk enough to force ourselves into sleep that night.
Feedbacked to Kevin the next day and he did not find excuses for what happened. He listened and tried his best to find the best way to settle the unpleasantness. I'm glad that he did. At the end of the day, wedding is a very important and once in a lifetime (for most people) thing. We only do it once but the hotel does it week in, week out. It should run like clockwork. No excuses.
Yup so that's a summary of what happened. Kevin has ensured that positive changes will be made, so don't let my experience change your mind. Take heart in the fact that the coordinators are capable and efficient in offering solutions when things go wrong.
