Trinity Bride's First post - The hunt begins

Hi all! Before we start the blog post, let me make a brief introduction of myself. I am the Solitaire Bride's (SB) sister, whom I shall call myself the Trinity Bride. SB had done a great job to document her wedding journey and since she has transformed from the bride to the wife, who else could write about the latest happenings on the bridal scene - Me! The new bride of 2012. Therefore, she asked if I was interested to guest blog on her blog on my experiences as a bride. I said yes!

I waited until my wedding is over to write my personal experiences as I wanted to enjoy the little moments of the wedding and for me it was a little more tiring experience since I was planning the wedding all by myself with a foreign spouse (not in Singapore). Of course, a pat on the back for the SB as she helped me a lot and I wouldn't be such a cool bride if not for her detailed blog with tons of information. I would be sharing on my personal experiences as a bride in Singapore in this blog to stay in line with the objective of this blog - sharing our personal Singapore wedding experiences, and if anyone would be interested on my experiences as a foreign bride in Japan. You can pop over to my personal blog.

My journey all started after my husband (then fiance) proposed with a surprise appearance in late December of 2011 with a 3 stone ring that represented the past, the present and the future. (Hence, I decided to be called the Trinity Bride). 

We then decided to have our wedding on Oct 27 2012 and I started sourcing for my venues and wedding vendors in early January 2012. From my personal experience, I think it would help if the couple decide early on the size and budget of the wedding and that would help to quickly eliminate the potential wedding venues. For us, we wanted a wedding dinner reception between 150 - 160 guests and I have to admit it was a little difficult to find a wedding venue that would provide 16 tables with Chinese seat down settings as most were either 12-13 tables maximum setting or minimum 18 tables setting. 

Firstly I was limited by the number of choices I had and secondly at least half of the places I called were booked on the date I was looking at. No wonder, they always say you need at least 1 year in advance to secure your venue. I made at least inquires with about 30 places ranging from hotels to boutique hotels to restaurants before settling down to my top 5 short list. (Well, almost 6 but Mandarin Oriental had me on the waiting list with no confirmed availability date and the nett price per table was little higher than my set budget, so I decide to keep it off my list.)

Here are my top 5 short list after 1 week of cold calling and emails:

1. Sheraton Towers - Topaz Room (12 guests per table, minimum 10 tables, maximum 12 tables)

2. Traders Hotel - Temasek Room (10 guests per table, minimum 15 tables, maximum 20 tables)

3. Grand Copthorne Waterfront - Galleria Ballroom (10 guests per table, minimum 10 tables, maximum 16 tables)

4. Regent Hotel - Tanglin Room (10 guests per table, minimum 16 tables, maximum 18 tables)

5. Shangrila Hotel - Azalea Room (10 guests per table, minimum 15 tables, maximum 20 tables)

I would be writing in detail of my viewing experiences with the various locations in the next few posts. Stay tuned!

disclaimer: all details and photos from my hotel viewings were from January 2012, do get in touch with the hotels for their latest photos/set ups.