Banquet

Title says budget therefore hotel is definitely out of the question.
I did a research on all the banquets in PJ mostly.

Here's the menus that I've tabulated, you can view the file from here.
Banquet Menus

I personally picked Palace Group because the menu were one of the most 'worth' because by paying such amount, the rest of the restaurant wouldn't be giving you suckling pig at those rates.

Many would think that the place is small (besides Menara LYL) but to me, what's most important is the place is decent and not too cramp but yet cozy.

Costing:
Per table: RM900++ (menu will change by a bit and cost will increase next year by a bit but the food will be better) - that's what they told me
Beer : RM14.70 per bottle (current pricing)
Alcohol: Budgeting about 2-3 red wines per table, RM28 x 3 x 35 tables = RM2,940.00 (one of my uncle buka winery, so got discount )
Not serving other alcohol, parents said no need.

FOC:
10 pax food tasting 2-3 months before wedding (to confirm the menu)
Up to 5 invitation card (you know la quite fugly one, so top up a few hundred for better looking ones. Plan to design on my own)
RM100 corkage one time fee chargeable for whatever or you want to bring in 1000 bottles also ok
Free flow of chinese tea & soft drink
Free 'fake' cake for you to cut
Emcee is free but is the Captain of the restaurant la
Decoration which is what you see, is what you get
Champagne for the yum seng on the stage

Deposit: Usually 10% or RM3,000 depends on how many tables

Take note: Do not commit to too many tables. Just need to give a rough count ie 30, 40, 50. The banquet would only ask you to confirm your exact no. of table like a week or 4-5 days before. Once you commit you need to pay for them. They usually only prepare 1 reserve table on the actual day. If your guests didn't turn up, then you would need pay for the empty table on that day but you can return to have the meal with half a year validity or so.

Things to consider
Food quality, ask around your friends/colleague (I personally had a few dinner in Palace Group, the dish were big and most of them gave compliments)
Parking issues (is there ample of parking spaces? if not your guest would be so frustrated huh?)
Alcohol (do you really need that much or different types of alcohol?)
Guests to invite (Go through your list, thoroughly)
Convenience (Any hotels nearby, for yourself and guest?)
Room for bride to makeup
Room to calculate money
Any reserve parking bays for bridal car

I personally like this place a lot - HGH Convention Hall located in Sentul's school. The place might not look so good from the front but inside the hall is definitely looking grand and even better than many hotels because there's not pillars and your main table is placed on a platform. The menus were pretty decent, but sadly you need 50 tables for weekend's dinner and we can't meet that quota.




Insentif Perkahwinan Belia
If you're a Selangor's citizen, you're indeed lucky. Selangor government is giving RM500 (previously RM300) for each individual who got married.
Yes, so if both of you are from Selangor, then you will get RM1,000.00
Requirements:
You're born in Selangor with your IC no. 10,41,42,43 dan 44 in the middle
You've stayed in Selangor for more than 10 years, you need to prove this with your school's leaving cert





Link for more info on Perkahwinan Belia
Download the form

Don't bother trying to change your IC address if you're from another state trying your luck for this, the IC department have all your details since day 1.

How to get this done?
1. Download the form, attached all the necessary documents as per above
2. Submit them to your nearest DUN office, acknowledgement copy for your safe keeping
3. Wait, wait and wait (1-3 months?)
4. They will call you to either attend an event to present you the BSN certificate or you can collect from Shah Alam office
5. Another 1 month of waiting for the BSN certificate that was issued ahead
6. Go to BSN with the cert and collect your cash money

This post has been edited by princessgalaria: Mar 18 2015, 12:43 PM

GDL aka Gor Dai Lei List 过大礼

Well, this is part of the chinese tradition to send betrothal gifts to the girl's side about a week before. If you did let the one as above picked the dates, they do come with this date as well.

There's an extensive list of GDL to follow, but here's the most basic one for your own reference and depending on what the girl's parents request.

Male side (To return)
洋酒一对 (Wine or liquor 2 bottles)
迎亲鸡一对 或 红包代替 (Pair of chicken or substitude with angpau)
聘金 (Dowry in red packet)
苹果18粒， 橙18粒 (18 Apple , 18 Oranges)
龙凤烛2对或4对 (Chinese wedding candles 2 or 4 pairs)
红布，男家九尺九，女家最少九尺 （9feet9“for groom, 9feet minimum for bride)
离乳礼金 Appreciation money for MIL
9 样吉祥品双份 (9 Auspicious tray 2 sets)
金猪或红包代替 (Whole roast pig or substitude with red packet)

*Note: All gifts will need to place a red packet

Female side
橙水一对 (Orange juice 2 bottles)
回鸡红包 (A pair of chicken or red packet must be lesser)
聘金 [要回] (Bethoral money): Partial of the money to be returned to groom
礼饼 [要回] (Wedding biscuits)
苹果9粒， 橙9粒 (9 Apple , 9 Oranges)
衣食碗 （Auspicious Dragon & Phoenix bowl）
12谷米 或 5谷米 (12grain or 5grain rice)
大发糕2个
女婿钱包，腰带 （Groom wallet and belt)
9 样吉祥品 (9 Auspicious tray 1 set) 1 to be returned
金猪 [要回] - 切中间猪头，尾 四肢猪腿要回 (Roast pig to cut the middle section and return pig's head, tail and four legs)
新女婿裤，每个裤带要放红包 (A pair of male long pants for groom, with red packet in every pocket)
橙一对 红包一个放在猪头和尾中间，用红纸包上

*Note: All gifts will need to place a red packet

Bedding 安床
This is up to the couple whether they want to do so or not. If no, and your parents are not particular, just go buy a new 'red' sheets and change them for your wedding day. The date is provided by the picking date person as well.

有福气分别男家长辈 (Elder couple)
古钱， 缘钱 ， 红包 ('Old coin', thread and ang pau, normally you can ask the shop and they do sell)
莲子，百合 ， 龙眼 ， 红枣 ， 喜糖 (Lotus , lily, longan , red dates, candy)
生果 （苹果，橙）各1粒 (apple and orange 1 each)
红包2封 （放钱）(ang pau, inside got money one la)

首先把床铺移开，下面就是床板，把一粒古钱和一封缘钱放在红包封里，让后放床板的角位一一扔，一封放中间。
(代表新郎五代同堂）把床铺移回原位，长辈就把新娘带过来的床单往两头两尾盖上床铺，然后床单放好用一个
茶盆把莲子，百合，龙眼，红枣，喜糖，红包，扁柏放在床中间。

This post has been edited by princessgalaria: Apr 17 2015, 04:44 PM

Gowns & Shoes

Gowns

Well, many would ask, are you serious? Buying a gown for your once in a lifetime wedding without trying at all?
Yea, my answer is that I am serious. And the other question is about quality wise that things are literally MADE IN CHINA.
Tell me which is not? Those you got from bridal gallery comes from China too, unless they're by some famous designers in Paris, Rome then I don't know la.
Then perhaps you shouldn't be reading here at all.

There are reasons why I choose to buy from taobao:
1. I'm relatively small size, therefore easier to fit in standard size (not showing off, just drawing comparison)
2. My mum is a tailor, therefore personal service la
3. I pay peanuts and I don't get monkey
4. I get to keep the gown as mine paying such price or sell them away later
5. They're not too bad after all

As of now that I've purchased 3 gowns from Taobao and how to taobao? That's a whole long set of instructions. If you want to know how, PM me and I have already written on a 'taobao guide'.

Well, all I said is that you need to do quite a bit of research, not quite feasible if you can't read mandarin.

I bought 4 gowns in total
Everything costed me about RM750 (That's what you paid for renting one gown here)

Gown 1
About RMB500 (RM270)
I was amazed at the quality of this very gown when I received. The gown is really beautiful with the back about 1m long.
Also adjustable strap on the back, makes that easier for adjustment. Only drawback is the tummy area which is super stiff and hard to sit down. I guess, most of the gowns are like that, just need to get used to this for few hours

Gown looks exactly like what they place on the website




How the gown looks in actual


Gown 2
About RMB220 (About RM150)
This gown looks quite simple in actual but acceptable to me as I don't really want anything too grand in such a venue, not doing in hotel or what so ever.
Quality is not too bad and kinda like the back.




How the gown looks in actual


Gown 3
About RMM200+ which is RM100+
These whole piece of gown is made of lace. I am also really pleased with the quality, there's no stain and no damage on the gown when I got this.
Only drawback is the neck portion which is a bit big and will have to alter. The rest seemed fine..
Something that is not too grand as well

Original photo

I bought the one without the long dragging part because I wanted to use this for morning, kinda troublesome to walk around

In actual


See the quality on your own, the lace are pretty nice



This post has been edited by princessgalaria: Sep 17 2015, 04:38 PM

Hi Princess Galaria,

Good to hear from you again and this time is on wedding
Congrats to both of you.

I've also went through the same ROM process. I went to Putrajaya and been informed that i need to go to Selangor JPN to submit form. The officer suggested us to go directly to Shah Alam which is Selangor JPN HQ.

Btw, have you registered or is counting down to your ROM?

Misc Items

Teapot set bought from
SS2 https://www.facebook.com/ss2uwedding?fref=ts
Friend got married they gave them vouchers so we were entitled for 30% off for this
Total damage about RM50+
Didn't wanted something that looks too traditional because after that I won't be able to use them.



Wrist flowers - Ji Muis to wear during the actual day morning
Real flowers are really heavy and expensive and the stem ended up cutting my hand previous and leaving a long scratch mark, so why not go for these?
Cheap only about RMB4 which means about RM2.50 each and looks so good



Teddy bears
RMB58 which is about RM32 for a pair of 7-8" tall bears
Initially wanted to use for my bridal car, didn't expect the quality and everything to be so nice. Guess just gonna use as deco for our bed


Bowties for HengDais to wear
The whole theme will be mint blue aka tiffany blue
The quality is pretty good, not the usual smooth type but with a bit of texture. RMB5+ which is about RM3 each


Other misc decorations and stuffs

For glass decorations


Ang Pau



Paper cup for minum teh


Decorations


This post has been edited by princessgalaria: Jul 3 2015, 12:44 PM

how far in advance do you need to reserve the ROM date?

hi babes

congratulations on your weddings



i was once a bride too and can sense your excitement !

i customade 3 gowns (wedding gown, evening gown and qipao gown) which i have no use for right now and would like to let go. need to clear wardrobe.

do PM me if you wish to view my gowns ya !

cheers !

Shoes

To use for the second gown during the night
Bought this from Charles & Keith warehouse sales for about RM70-80


To use for wedding photoshoot
Bought this from Tangs for only RM30, can you believe this? There's a corner in Tangs whereby they will put out all the shoes with minor defects or odd sizes at 80-90% off whereby their initial price tags are over RM1,000
From the photo, you barely see any defect was just a short line drawn by a pen and I don't mind since my photoshoot outdoor in the grass will dirty the shoes as well


To use for the night with my white gown
This is like my best steal ever, just costed about RM120 initially price about RM1,000+
The very moment felt like Cinderalla found her glass slippers


Christy Ng
To use for morning
Everyone knows Christy Ng I bet..
I got this pair when they were on sales at 50% which was only about RM130+
Initially I was contemplating for Kate Mozella for the quality but whatever la, since I am just wearing once and there's this pair here which is good enough



This post has been edited by princessgalaria: Sep 17 2015, 04:25 PM

Waiting for the updates on banquet

Any suggestion for small size Chinese wedding banquet for about 15 tables and price at about 1k to 1.2k range? Needed privacy so best to look for small size Chinese restaurant.

Picking of Wedding Bands


In all, I'm quiet a cincai person or easily pleased la. But I'm quiet petty on certain stuffs when it comes to planning I will draw down to little details.

Picking of ring was quiet an easy task, we only spend less than 2hours in a mall and just made our choice immediately.

Initially I saw some catalogs online and thought that Poh Kong might be a good choice since the rings looks pretty good. However when I stepped into the shop the quality of the rings disappoint me very much that they are so light and I didn't even realise if I were to drop them.





These actually cost about RM1k plus to 2k, not worth at all because the middle part is totally hollow
Then I proceeded to Tomei where I got a voucher bcos of my engagement ring

Most of them are over budget, the ones that I like is over RM5k, good wife la I don't want my hubby to spend too much and we stick to our budget as close as possible. Once in a lifetime don't apply for everything.


Then I proceeded to Wah Chan and theirs was priced at a much more reasonable price
That's how we found this pair at a very decent price for only about RM2k plus after discount given

Initially wanted to go home and think think first, but well then we just decided on the spot that we should just get this pair

The pair that I love the most is this from Love&Co.
Hubby promised to buy these at some point of our anniversary once we reach that financial state in our marriage. Actually leh, we are not really that poor just weighing what's worth not after buying a house and with such economy, perhaps it is better just to save for rainy days.


This post has been edited by princessgalaria: Sep 17 2015, 04:56 PM

Thank you for this. Very informative.

Let me help Princess here on a non-traditional Chinese wedding. My and fiancee and I are going to get married at church and these are the things we had for costing:

1) Rings - RM1,200: For this, if your wife to be is not very fussy about having designer jewelry or stuffs, this budget is enough to get a decent pair from Wah Chan. They look nice and are sturdy too.

2) Shoes - RM70 (guy), RM150 (girl): I seriously cannot suggest anything. But for a pair of black shoes for a guy that costs anywhere between 60 to 150 is a fair deal for me. As for the girl's one, you can try shoe places around Bukit Bintang areas to get fair deals.

3) Bridal Package - RM3700: I had to choose and take this. Simple. Everything is done and no hassle. From gowns to tuxes and all, just everything is given to you. Be sure to bargain for the better deal as you know you can. Avoid taking packages from Bridal Fair periods as they might not give as much additional bonuses due to standardisation among vendors in the fair.

4) Church - RM1050: Alright. This one I am not sure how much will be charged if you 2 are from the same church and getting married there. My case is different as I need to get a third party church to do it as I am from a Protestant and my wife to be, a RC. Not included is the Token (ang pow) to the pastor of the church.

5) Make up - RM850 (day and night included): I found this lady online who runs a small make up academy. Berry Lim from Facebook gave me a very good price as I am the groom and I am asking instead of my fiancee. In this deal, 2 free basic make up for the morning session is given free to any 2 ladies of your choice. Add in RM50 per person for basic make up for your other bridesmaids. For night, I am getting a free basic make up as well for free.

6) Wedding Dinner - RM6000+ (100 pax): OK, here's the deal. I was looking around places to do a buffet style dinner as to me, Chinese style dinner is not what I want. I have asked places around KL and PJ but I came across one place which is extremely good in price and good in buffet spread. Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club. Not sure if the Chinese Banquet side is as good in terms of pricing but this is definitely a good place if you are on a budget. Cockage is one of the lowest as well.

7) Church and Dinner Hall Deco - RM3550: Here's the catch. I found this place that gave me a good budget for Deco. For my church, I only will spend about RM650 while RM2900 is for the dinner hall. Quite good deco and all. SomethingSpecial2You is the shop name and it's located at SS2.

These are all for now.

Thanks Yea, indeed a budget wedding is possible. IF only the parents and girl is ok.
Will update the thread slowly. Been busy with ROM and work.

No probs. Just want to help people too. And I have been busy too hehe.

Thanks for this. I am also in the midst of organizing my wedding, non-Chinese style in Church. But my location is in Malacca though.

Any example photos of your wedding would be super helpful as well.

phone up the restaurant, they will charged additional 16% for less than 25 tables.

I see, mine is 35 tables so there's no extra charge and they threw in FOC food tasting 10pax for me.

You called LYL ? Try Mutiara Palace. They were open to negotiation.
I heard from Kepong restaurants are good too.

I belum done by wedding yet wor, in the midst of planning a year ahead
But I've purchased misc items, gowns, teddy bears and also decided on banquet, pre-wedding shoot, got quotes for MUA and also actual day.

Wah...you really do so much research already. What about manpower4x4?

GST coming, what to do. Hahahaa, no la just do as and when I have the time. A year sometimes is just like a blink of eye.