Warning: longass post that is probably only interesting to myself.
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Our initial plan was to throw a 9-course banquet on the grounds of a nice baroque style bungalow up in the hills, which I found through extensive googling.
The pictures of the place online completely blew me away, and for a while I was super secretive about the venue.
I was even hesitant in telling my friends the name of the place because I fear word might escape and another couple might end up using the place before my wedding takes place!
# – Inspiration 1.
I even made G drove me to the place to have a look at the entrance before making an appointment to check the place out and even then, I was already like totally & utterly in love with “the grand gate that has an old tree towering over it”.
I fantasised about hanging loads of long ribbons & fairy lights on the tree branches which would greet my guests upon their arrival.
# – Ribbons in tree. I wanttttttt.
If we were to have our wedding at this place, we would have to handle the food bit ourselves so I was also researching frantically for a caterer that could do sitdown 9-course banquet and let me tell you, it’s tough.
Most caterers in Klang Valley only do buffet style. Of the 9 or 10 caterers I contacted, only a grand total of 1 was willing to take up the job. ONE!
I was so desperate to have my wedding at this bungalow that I had already decided in my mind on using said caterer eventhough their experience of handling a sit-down banquet was a major suspect.
Said caterer also happened to have the style of chair that I wanted and according to the quotation, it would cost us almost RM10,000 just for chairs alone. I am ashamed to say that I was mad enough to think that ten thousand ringgit for chairs was okay.
NEVER MIND right, as long as I can have my wedding at this bungalow with the grand gate and the damned old tree and my bleeding chairs!
# – Inspiration 2.
Gareth is awesome. Even when I mentioned the stupid chairs, he was merely silent for a few seconds before giving me his approval. I was like, “REALLY????”, he’s like, “As long as you’re happy”.
That said, have you seen a white man turned a whiter shade of pale? Well, I have.
And what do you know, after that I got an email from the management of the bungalow saying that they had a look at the place recently and they didn’t think the garden could fit more than 100 people.
I WAS CRUSHED. I hadn’t even seen the place and my dream was being single-handedly torn apart by this damned email.
I was so upset I wrote back immediately to cancel the recce appointment, only to write back several hours later to un-cancel the cancelled appointment.
I refused to let my dream die. I must see the bungalow (and its garden) with my own eyes before making a decision.
# – Inspiration 3.
So, with the impossibility of hosting more than 100 people at one time, we started considering holding two wedding functions.
First, the dream wedding at the bungalow (with smaller crowd) and second, a 9-course banquet at a decent chinese restaurant for tradition’s sake.
With this new development, I was thrown another thing to stress over – finding venue for the 2nd function. Almost all the chinese restaurants we went to were fully booked through the year!!!! WTF!?
2012 is really a popular year for weddings.
Anyway, the only place left available with my desired date was one where I would have to make my grand bridal entrance from an actual roadside curb, with the pride & joy of the restaurant – a gigantic dried shark fin staring back at me.
And although this was supposedly the 2nd “unimportant & unsentimental” function, it still chewed me from inside out that I might have to associate my wedding with it. I was a complete wreck from then on.
Long story short (hurhurhurhur), finally, we went to see the bungalow. No more pictures. No more text description. Real, brick & mortar, grass and all.
We saw it with our own eyes. And my very first reaction was….. “Meh”.
MEH.
And right just then, my shoulders felt lighter. Random urges to choke myself with my own bare hands stopped. I started breathing normally again.
My dream had been extinguished and in its place, an epiphany.
I was freed! I don’t have to worry about finding marquee supplier that’s willing to drive up a hill anymore. I don’t have to worry about inexperienced caterer anymore. I don’t have to worry about where my guests have to park anymore. I don’t have to worry about the weather anymore.
Wow, I wish I had seen the actual premise much, much, much sooner!
With the evil, all-consuming dream now a definte no-go, we also didn’t have to go through with the 2nd function at the chinese restaurant. That made me really happy too, you know.
Hence the start of our search for the right hotel. Which took only a day. So yeah, finally, we’ve confirmed our wedding venue! Sorry for the anti-climax.
The moral of this story is: don’t get conned by professionally taken pictures on websites. Go see the premise first before pre-maturely filling your head with illusions of grandeur.
Now all I need to do is attempt to bring the initial plan into the hotel’s ballroom. But that’s after finding THE PERFECT DRESS!
Thanks for reading.
Signing off,
Kimzilla.