It is an exciting day as we booked our wedding venue, and with some crazy luck, we won the lucky draw TWICE!
For $28 (per couple), we attended Shangri-La Sentosa wedding show.
This is the first time we attend a wedding show, and we went there not expecting much. She even thought we can reach there late, as there can’t be so much to do from 11.30am-5.30pm. She was wrong. And luckily I insisted to go punctually.
For friends who have never been to a wedding show, here are some advises:
- Go on time, as the programme is packed, and you need time to ask your many questions and negotiate terms
- It is worth the $$, as they provide very good 6-course lunch
- There will be extra perks for confirming during the event
- Be prepared to bargain for perks!
Of course, I only speak for Shangri-La Sentosa wedding show, organized by Style:Wedding.
Why Shangri-La Sentosa
The first time I went to Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa is during a 24-hour hackathon.
I fell in love with the place during the hackathon, as the hotel building itself is very beautiful, and it faces the sea, with a good beach.
What’s more, during the night, I witnessed their outdoor wedding dinner on their sandy beach.
I wished my wedding to be (almost) that way.
The price is also reasonable for such a good hotel. (new 2014 prices here)
Perks
During the wedding show, you get to choose 3 perks, 1 from each category.
But, they are flexible, and will let you choose 3 from any categories.
And with some negotiation, they offered us any 3 perks, plus the 1 complimentary table perk. That’s the most we could get..
Lucky Draw
This is the first time I am so lucky for a lucky draw.
There are:
- 7 prizes worth $130-$3000
- 130 couples
- each couple start with 1 chance
- any couple who make downpayment of $200 gets 5 additional chances
Before they start the draw, they said each person (they meant each couple) can only get 1 prize. So if you win the $130 prize, you cannot get the $3000 prize later.
However small that chance may be, they called out same names, for 3 person that day!
And it happened for us too.
Though fortunately, we accidentally wrote different names on our chance cards.
They called her name, in which she won a $130 fengshui voucher.
Then they called my name, in which I won a 2 night stay at a Panorama room! But after I took photograph on stage, came down, the person-in-charge explained we are not suppose to win again. And we can’t exchange for the higher priced room stay..
I relented.
But after the event ended, and we went talk with the person-in-charge, explaining the honest mistake on both sides:
- They never say before the draw that each couple can only win once
- They never say we must write the same name on the chance cards
- They announced before the draw that only each person can win once (not each couple)
They gave in to our disappointment, and hence gave us another perk where we can stay 1 additional night in a Panorama room! A discount from 2 nights to 1, but already lucky!
A suggestion for Shangri-La:
They should let a couple choose which prize to keep, then return the other prize back to draw again. Who would complain, when a person is so lucky and get drawn twice?