schedule for the past 2 weeks has been packed due to meet-ups with sales representatives of various venues. much as it was a real headache, the final offers made were very much similar eg. free flow of beer/wine, waiver of corkage, conversion of day use room to overnight stay in standard room, decoration of event venue, wedding favours, guest signature book, red packet box, invitation cards, complimentary self-parking. our first consideration was the capacity of the ballroom and that very much axed a few options eg. carlton singapore, crowne plaza changi airport off the list as we had a neither here nor there number. marina bay sands was a good choice for its flexibility of capacity but we had to give up the location as the possibility of waiving corkage charge is almost zero. next consideration was the auspicious dates availability. there was so much delay in getting our dates chosen and definitely had to put it to practice. it was hard as many of the weekend dinners had been taken up. last but not least, the price per table has to be taken into consideration. putting everything together, i was torn between intercontinental singapore and orchid country club. the differentiation of the former from other hotels would be the $200++ per table reduction and their choice of 2 pre-event packages for 100 persons. dear love the idea of the sweet confections counter and roasted duck crepes (peking duck) station. for me, i adore the ballroom's chandeliers and solemnisation foyer where our march-in is via the stairs leading from level 3 to level 2. orchid country club on the other hand is offering free flow of both beer and wine. on top of that, we can exchange the 3 trips of exclusive shuttle service to and from yishun mrt to a trip of shuttle service to and from designated point, which is my in-laws original intent. also, there will not be any parking issues as they have 600+ lots and invitation cards are provided to 100% of confirmed attendance. the most important deciding factor is the price per table of the latter, a good $500 off after service charge and government tax. both dear and myself have sort of decided on orchid country club, however, my in-laws have reservations on the food quality. will be bringing them for dinner at peach garden tomorrow evening to celebrate the dad's belated birthday as well as for food tasting. hopefully this item on my list can be checked tomorrow.