The date is 13th April 2014; it's a Sunday cos my mom says that she would be rather stressed out if the dinner is on Saturday...I said that the guests would be more relaxed on Saturday and also give more Ang Paos on Saturday (cos Saturday dinners are typically more expensive than other days- I was trying to appeal to her practical side..)...she turned her nose up at the latter suggestion and said that she would have to work on Sunday..she's be working on Saturday too...I guess the whole wedding dinner is for my parents anyway and I should respect her wishes...and it's true that she has longer working hours than any one else attending the dinner..
So! The program! We'd have the Chinese pastor from the church which I'm currently attending come preach and bless the marriage..I'm rather excited as he used to be a medium of sorts before turning 180 degrees and becoming a pastor and I hope that he'd share a little bit of his testimony...I don't know of any other Christians on either side of my parents' family so I will be praying from now that the Holy Spirit will start to soften their hearts to receive Christ..
That will be the best gift I can give my family before I leave...
Update: urgh. I might have jinxed the wedding venue by writing this post too soon..... Was supposed to go pay the deposit next Tuesday and requested for a draft of the contract- lthe assistant sales and catering manager emailed me a copy and I noted errors in the time of the wedding (she had wrote 12-4pm for a wedding dinner) and also an extra '0' in the cost of the set Muslim menu and also the number of complimentary hotel room nights that was agreed upon previously... During the face to face discussions with the assistant restaurant manager and the senior banquet manager, they had promised a number of perks including:
1. use of day room
2. two nights' stay in a club room (increased from 1 nights' stay deluxe room- the only difference in the club room is that it comes with free tapas and drinks at the bar from 5-8pm..)
3. dinner for the couple
4. food tasting for 10
5. choice of either 2 barrels of beer or fruit juice (I wasn't keen on either)
6. a pair 'special' pillows worth $276 (not interested too)
and then after the menu revision, I asked for a further discount and did not want sharks' fins on the menu- the assistant restaurant manager reverted with a slightly revised menu and said that he can't do the beer or fruit juice and I thought that it's fine, I didn't have to squeeze them dry and make things too difficult for them and just shrugged it off...
and in the draft, I thought that the assistant sales and catering manager has also made a mistake when it came to the rooms as it was one night instead of two....I told her nonchalantly that it was supposed to be two nights and she can check with her two colleagues...
Imagine my shock when she returned my call and said that both of them confirmed that they had only promised one night.... and I could choose from the use of the day room and one night or two nights with no day room....
hmm.
Not sure if they have bad memories or are trying to pull a fast one...
Spoke to a couple of people...a friend had suggested that if I should want to continue with the venue, I can suck it up and then write a non-glowing review for them after the dinner or also let them know that I will 'share' my experiences with them on forums...she thought that they were being rather dishonest...
my younger sister's opinion was that perhaps the assistant restaurant manager had over-promised during the negotiations and has been reprimanded by his superiors and now they need to rein it in...and she suggested that I go to a different vendor cos if the restaurant manager is so upset, he wouldn't be motivated to do a good job and everyone would be rather unhappy in the end...
her version calmed me down somewhat and I thought that it's rather true....so now I'm waiting for the restaurant manager to call me back to verify the facts and yeah, if it is so hard for him, and he's not happy to do my business, maybe I should take it else where...
Was really disconcerted and upset yesterday but this morning, I thought..."meh, God provided such a lovely wedding for us in Kentucky, He can do the same in Singapore.... if this venue does not come through, He will provide a better one."
So yeah...it's back to the drawing board....
criteria:
1. The food has to be yummy
2. Venue has to be pretty
3. Stage set up where everyone can easily see and listen to preaching :D
4. Relatively easy to get to
Hmmm. The other places that I am considering are My humble house at Esplanade- pricey but really nice food - need to check about stage set up.... or Majestic Restaurant at Gardens by the Bay- pretty place but a little bit challenging to get to and also more logistics to cordinate.....OR I can go to Ban Hiang- the best Hokkien restaurant in Singapore! OLD school....YUMMY food but no stage set up and rather dated.......hmmmmmmm. Oh well, it's an adventure....my friend asked if I'd be able to find another venue and I told her, "remember, you said I am resourceful?"
And I forgot to add...I also have a good God.
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