ROM venue selection - tired

His parents agree to no wedding dinner happily. I strongly suspect it is because they are worried that we may spend their money.
Well, this is fine with us. This is what we've always wanted, but we'll still hold a simple reception to officially announce our marriage to our relatives and close friends. I won't settle for anything less.

One day, he mistakenly mentioned to his parents that he wanted a wedding dinner (which he quickly corrected with the words 'dinner reception').
His mother jumped (literally, her torso jerked upwards) and asked, "What dinner? How come?" Her face displayed unhappiness.
WTF. She thought that we'll just walk into Registry of Marriages, solemnize and then go home and make babies?
Fat hope.

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The search for a good ROM venue IS extremely tiring. A couple of visits, rounds of analyzing, and one-sided inputs (from yours truly), left me mentally drained.

I striked off all my previous choices.

1. One Degree 15 is a hidden gem - really hidden. My biker friends will find it extremely inconvenient as Sentosa is off limits to motorbikes. I'm a biker myself!  We initially wanted a buffet style reception but I suspect that will attract criticism and a huge loss. You know, Singaporean chinese. Typical.
   One Degree 15 provides sit down Chinese dinner too, but I read somewhere that the food is not delicious. The glass building is pretty attractive, though.
2. Siloso Beach Resort is another hotel on Sentosa. One of the reason is its location (see above remarks). It seems to have mainly outdoor venues, which is a NO in our humid weather. Although, I must admit, its outdoor rooftop venue is a difficult choice to give up. Oh! Did I mention that I love its pool?
3. National Museum of Singapore has a small & cosy bar/restaurant. Once, we witnessed preparations for a wedding going on there. But the dining place is enclosed, no windows, only 4 walls. Furthermore, the museum has a sleep-inducing effect on my fiance.
4. The One TwentySix choice did not receive a positive reaction from my sis (maybe cos' it is in East Coast). I think that its indoor area is too small to accomodate guests who hates the warm and humid weather.

Basically, I did another round of research (on my own) and found several other websites which were especially helpful in providing venue information.
Here they are.

Singapore Brides
Flowerpod
Style Weddings
Tivole

This time, I chose The White Rabbit, Chijmes, Rochester Park and Flutes by the Fort.

The White Rabbit
Former chapel, now it is a secluded elegant european restaurant/bar near Dempsey.
The management kept most of the chapel decor, so when we visited the place, we fell in love with it immediately. Tall ceiling, glass doors, frosted windows, the air-con is good, the lighting is good, and lots of walking space. They also have a bar and a sound system available.

BUT, the service is a less than attentive. While we were there (alright, maybe I wasn't dressed posh), the waitresses did not seem to be alert enough. We had to walk to them to pat them on their shoulders to get them to come to our table for the bill. They did not notice our vigorous waving.

7 days ago, I sent them an email enquiring abt their packages. No reply yet.

Chijmes
Chijmes Hall was a chapel in a former school, now a hall to hold events. I contacted the management and was told that they are changing hands in Jan 2011. For this venue, I've to choose from a list of approved caterers from Chijmes. I went online and found some not so positive feedback abt the food. The venue rental is expensive.
This place is out.

Rochester Park - 1 Rochester, Min Jiang, Da Paolo, Graze
There are several restaurants to choose from at the Rochester Park, somewhat like Dempsey.
Min Jiang is likely out. The chefs roast ducks in the view of guests. My vege relatives will pass out.
1 Rochester has held several weddings before. But they have not replied to my email after 7 days. In one satellite map, I saw that there are construction works going on somewhere near them. Not sure until I go there for a casual visit.
Da Paolo seems good. I love Italian food. We have to check out this place.
Graze offers 4 course meal. The website is informative as they put up the wedding packages on it. Nice place. We will check it out.

Flutes by the Fort
I love this place! The food is good. The service is good. The house is beautiful! It has an old colonial atmosphere. Adore!

But my fiance complained abt the heat, even though we were seated indoor with air con.
He admitted later that he feels uncomfortable in fine dining restaurants.
He said no.
Fcuk. :(

On with the search... on my own again.

ROM venue selection - in progress

It is extremely tiring to select a near perfect venue for a memorable wedding solemnisation.
My criteria for the venue...

• bright
• preferably a glass house or large glass windows
• can accomodate at least 30 pax
• indoor (I need aircon, or I will melt)
• offers good buffet selection or sit down lunch (preferably chinese, my future PIL do not like western food)
• must have halal and vegetarian choices
• has a water feature background... like waterfall, or a lake or the sea.
• church setting
• a dressing room
• budget : 3k

I had wanted just solemnisation, followed by a simple lunch involving our family and close friends, and probably some distant cousins, before we consummate our marriage.
But our parents are typical Singaporean Chinese, so a wedding dinner is almost unavoidable, for 'face' (面子). What a headache.
The most bothering thing is, I cannot decide whether I should invite my dad to my wedding. Afterall, he already has his own family. It will be so troublesome if he brings them to my wedding. My mom will likely break down.
But... he is my dad. After all, I have used his money for my education, insurance and some splurging.
Sigh.

Well.

I haven't selected a suitable venue yet. I do have some choices in mind.

1. One Degree 15 - yacht club in Sentosa
2. One TwentySix - bar / restaurant in East Coast
3. National Museum of Singapore
4. Siloso Resort - where he proposed to me! :)

I was also looking at church weddings, but I am not a Christian so I guess no pastor would want to solemnise our matrimony, even though my fiance is a Christian.
Most of my local Christian friends tell me that. Usually, pastors won't do it for a non Christian union.

I cannot decide whether I should hold my solemnisation on the same day with my wedding dinner or should I have them held on separate days? And the Chinese customary ceremony...?

Sigh.

Oh, why do I seem more concerned than him? He was just casually looking around while I end up the person analysing each venue like scrutinizing a marketing proposal before submitting for my boss's approval.
Damn.

Sometimes I feel like I am marrying alone.

Entrepreneur world

After watching Social Network, I am again inspired by how intelligent and daring some people are.
But I am again deterred by people around me who refuse to believe in giving things a try... to describe more appropriately, they are afraid of failing.
I don't know.
Seriously, I am sick of working for people and taking that miserly pay. No satisfaction.
I have so many ideas running wildly in my mind. It will be such a waste not to put them into good use.
Somehow, I feel that it will be very wrong if I do not even try a taste of it.
My cousin owns a chain of fashion shops and a blogshop. My fiance's friend gave up riding, went back to school at age 26 and started his men's fashion blogshop.
I feel like I am bursting with enthusiasm but no support from people around me, esp my fiance.
He keeps telling me that, we cannot afford to fail at our age now. He says it is different from when we were 18.
OF COURSE IT IS DIFFERENT.
At 18, we didn't have enough money. We were only out to have fun. We were immature. I didn't even pass my Dip in IT and all I knew was how to copy C++ projects from my classmates.
Now, we have a job, we have an income, we are more mature, we have an idea of what's going on.
I needed his support.
It sucks to be alone.

Sigh.

I wish I have a supportive fiance who is not 'wrongly' stingy with his money.
'Wrongly' stingy - spending money on depreciating automobile is OK. Spending money on starting a business is not OK. Spending money on unnecessary 5 star hotels in Japan is OK. Spending money on gold is not OK.
DUH.