#FinallYeeATan Wedding Series - Venue

Finally got around to jotting down the whole process of our 1-year-long wedding preparation!

Post engagement, the first thing Joel and I did was to shortlist a couple of wedding venues for the big day. I literally started scouting for venues a few days after the engagement HAHA (I was so excited to start the wedding planning despite having a year to plan for it).

We had a couple of considerations:

1. Overall look & feel

- I was very sure that I wanted a venue that is bright and light in colour (ideally some place with natural lighting but this turned out to be quite a challenge)

- I didn't want any pillars to block off the view of the stage (this is pretty important if you want to ensure all your guests are able to see you clearly)

2. Size

- Size does matter (LOL), when both sets of parents have SO MANY siblings (turns out - my mother-on-law has 10 siblings and my mum has 9)

- So, it's important to ensure that the ballroom is big enough to accommodate everyone (but small/intimate weddings are on the rise lately so, if you're lucky like that, you don't have to worry about this)

- I also wanted a venue that is spacious enough despite the number of tables we had (~33 tables in total)

3. Budget

- Unless you're earning big bucks, this will not come as a surprise to you

- Joel and I estimated the average amount that our guests will be willing to pay (even though we were prepared to make a slight loss, we weren't ready to break a bank for this wedding HAHA)

- This gives us an estimation of the price range to aim for, which helps to narrow the options down quite a bit (i.e. I wasn't even allowed to include venues like JW Marriott and Clifford Pier, even though they would have been my TOP choices)

4. Available Dates

- Thank God for our modern parents because Joel and I were able to skip the process of searching for auspicious dates for the wedding (but as it turns out, 18 May 2019 was an auspicious date after all)

- I was shortlisting a couple of dates that either had a significant meaning for both of us OR a nice-sounding date because we intended to hold the ROM and wedding banquet on the same day (i.e. that will literally be the day that we will be pronounced husband and wife)

- I provided these dates to the different venues just to do a quick check on availability

5. Location

- Joel and I also wanted to ensure that our guests not be inconvenienced (much) en route to our wedding

- So,  we eventually eliminated all the venues that are a little out of the way (eg. Sentosa/Changi venues)

- Though was a consideration added on at a later stage (hence, you'll see some Sentosa venues at the start)

With that in mind, we shortlisted to:

1. Amara Sanctuary

2. Capella

3. Shangri La Sentosa

4. Park Royal Pickering

5. Shangri La Hotel

6. Intercontinental

It was a good thing that there were a bunch of wedding events going on during that period (March) so, most of the hotels were having ongoing deals.

This was what we looked out for during the discussions with the different wedding coordinators (apart from the considerations mentioned above):

1. If they provide free table(s)

- Some hotels provide free tables based on the number of tables you're having)

2. Solemnisation Venue

- We wanted to hold the Solemnisation + ROM at the same venue given that we wanted to hold a lunch banquet

3. Banquet Menu (you can sometimes make some special requests for 1/2 dishes to be swapped with a higher-priced menu item)

4. Alcohol Provision (most hotels provide a couple of barrels for Beer and 1/2 bottles of wine per table)

5. Additional Complementary Services (eg. free spa services, free room for coordinators, a free room on our 1st year Anniversary etc)

6. Parking Coupons provided

7. Wedding Invite Services

* Special Note: Determine if you feel like you can trust your wedding coordinators. I would have to say that good wedding coordinators are hard to come by and mine was not the best as well (but thank God for my amazing Bridal Party, who made sure everything ran SUPER smoothly).

We eventually decided on Shangri La Hotel and I am honestly thankful for this decision!

The venue was beautiful, super spacious, extremely central in location and somewhat within our budget. The deal we managed to get was pretty good as well.

As you can see, they also have a nice outdoor area for our bridal photoshoot, which turned out amazing :)

I'm sure there are many other different considerations one can think of but I'm just sharing what Joel and I thought of during this wedding planning process.

My #1 tip is really to enjoy this process (because it's once-in-a-lifetime) and to not overthink EVERY single decision (because there are just too many things for you to decide on). Once you've decided on something, move on and DON'T REGRET IT!

I'll come back with another post for another element soon (hint: how we look amazing on the actual day HAHA)!

Hope you find this helpful!