why chinese garden?

while planning for our dinner reception,
my husband and i first discuss what we wanted and envision how it would be like.
first topic to discuss was the venue.
we had attended quite a number of wedding dinner receptions in hotels ballrooms and we find that it's pretty much the same thing.
the reason why we wanted an outdoor wedding reception is because we wanted something different and wanted to be close to nature.

we researched online on the suitable outdoor places to hold a wedding and list the pros and cons.
like the accessibility,
the carparks,
the toilets,
the number of people it can hold,
the scenery around it,
the uniqueness of the place.

we had a couple of places in mind however after a dicussion with our elders,
we had to find new places.

so i remember going to streetdb.com to search for the map with greens.
because greens can either represent parks or forested areas.
i zoomed in to the west area and saw a huge portion of greens.
it's chinese and japanese garden.
proposed the places to my husband but he knows nothing of it,
i too know nothing of the places.
even though i travel past the places almost every day,
i never went to the 2 gardens before.

one day,
we brought along our elders to recce the places.
it was our first time going to the gardens.
we went to the japanese garden first,
but we are not really attracted to the place.
so chinese garden was next.
upon entering the entrance,
we were welcome by a bridge,
that itself made an impression.
while walking pass the bridge,

we went around to look for a suitable venue for 200 pax dinner,
and we came across the dragon and phoenix court.
instantly,
my husband and i agreed that this is the place.
his parents sort of wanted us to hold it in a hotel ballroom,
but when they recce with us and saw the dragon and phoenix court,
they agreed that it is the perfect place.

basically,
it is a hard court that is surrounded by beautiful scenery.

it oversees the lake.







from the place,
you will get to see the twin pagodas.


on the other side,
you will get to see the stone boat.




furthermore,
the place is quiet and not much people walked pass so it gives us our privacy.

accessibility - checked!
there is an mrt station called chinese garden which stops in front of the garden.
it would take about 10 mins to walk to the court.
as they walk,
they will get to see some other scenery in the chinese garden.

carparks - checked!
plenty of carpark to go around.
it will take about 5 mins to walk to the court.

toilets - checked!
at the stone boat,
there are toilets and it's clean!

the number of people it can hold - checked!
more than 200 pax!

the scenery around it - checked!
beautiful scenery that gives you a sense of calmness.

the uniqueness of the place - checked!
there is only one chinese garden that has pagodas!

upon agreeing,
i checked out the jtc's website to booked on the venue.
it is quite afforable.
it is $500 per day,
but we need to book one day in advance for the tentage to set up ($50),
and a day later to dismantle the tentage ($50),
for the service and conservancy charges($100).
plus 7% gst.
so total $749 for our venue.

another reason why we chose chinese garden was because if you take the trains,
it is commonly heard,
but have people visited it? (unless you went for the lanterns festival)
so we wanted our guests to explore the gardens.
=D

so from the venue,
we set our theme and get things that will sync in to the garden.

the upcoming posts will be how we get vendors to transform the place!