Supplier's Review: Reception Venue & Caterer : Oasis - Orchard & RichGold

VENUE: Oasis – Orchard

Peso Power: Php 135,500 for 100pax

AE: Ms. Maan Iglesias

Inclusions: 4 hours use of the venue, cake, photo booth, in-house lights & sounds, LCD & projector, caterer, doves, free use of the oasis compound for pre-nup pictorial, valet parking, bubble machine

I choose this place mainly because of logistics consideration. Some of my guests will be commuting so I want to lessen their hassle by making the church and reception venue near to each other. Also, to avoid the traffic this is already common in Manila.

With our AE, Ms. Maan Iglesias. Photo by Bryan Yap.

I booked the church and the venue at the same time – constantly emailing Ms. Maan while calling up Ms. Carla in order to check the available dates and time. I was half-hearted with the Pavilion then because it’s too pricey for a 100pax event. Luckily, Oasis was building a new wing that time. Yes, I booked Oasis-Orchard base on its 3D images only and my trust to Oasis. And when I went home for my vacation, and saw it in actual, I know I made a right choice in booking the place.

PROS:

•         With their package, my work of scouting other suppliers was cut into half. Something that is helpful for an overseas bride like me who doesn’t have the liberty to meet the suppliers personally.
• With white drapes and hanging crystals, you really don't have to decorate the venue.
•         The AE assigned to me is pro-active, she replies to my queries and emails promptly. And in times that she was on-leave, someone else will reply in behalf of her, making sure that I’m not leave hanging. She was there also on our wedding day, and even came to meet me after our reception.
•        The ballroom is beautiful. AC is cool. Unless you have a “specific theme”, you really don’t have to decorate it anymore because there are lights and white drapes on the ceiling with hanging strings of crystals already.

CONS:

•        The area for the photo booth is in the hallway which is inconvenient because it’s so warm in that area especially if you come out from an AC room. Only few guests notice the photo booth because it was outside.
•        The hallway in-front of the ballroom is narrow. It’s not enough space for a cocktail hour. If I were the architect, I could have provided more space there, instead of the high-ceiling that only the 2^nd floor ballroom can appreciate.

CAKE: Hearts & Bells

From the list of choices, Hearts and Bells is the most recommended by Wawies. So I selected them. I emailed the design peg for the cake design and color to Ms. Maan and she forwarded it to the supplier. I just received a phone call from the supplier a few days before the wedding to confirm the designs and color. It’s a customary in Bangladesh to serve the cake to the guests, and it is considered rude if you will not serve it. For this reason that’s why we decided to have a 40 pieces of assorted flavors cupcake tower and a 6” vanilla flavored satellite cake over the 3-tiered fondant cake where only 1 tier is the real cake, and the rest are Styrofoam. And it’s more practical paying for something that you can actually share and eat than a fake cake, that’s mainly for decoration and pictorial purposes. I wasn’t able to taste all the flavors, but the one that I ate was yummy, I think it’s the carrot walnut cupcake. But from my guests’ feedback, the cupcake is indeed yummy.

PHOTOBOOTH: Pose & Print

Actual lay-out and output, and the Pose & Print guy manning the booth.

The original lay-out that I want is not in their template. I had a tough time communicating what I want to the AE that was assign to me. She was not prompt in replying to my emails that I felt I will not have enough time anymore if I will still insist with my original lay-out in mind. Because I don’t want to stress myself with this small detail, I decided to choose from their template, gave them the quote, the picture and the font design that I want. The package is only for 2 hours with unlimited shots but there were 91 shots in total only. I’m not sure if it is because it’s only for 2 hours or because the location of the photo booth is in the hallway just outside the ballroom. Some guests didn’t know there was a photo booth and maybe because it was warm outside that they don’t want to go back after a few shots in the photo booth. The Oasis provided an industrial fan outside but it’s not enough to cool the place. I noticed they have lesser props and you can’t really choose in that small box on the floor. The location is not their fault but it would have been better if they have newer or more props to choose from and if the props were spread out in a small table like one of the supplier’s during the W@W Christmas party, but again there’s a question about space. For the output, it’s clear and fast but the copy they gave me in CD contains only the actual picture with the lay-out and not with the individual shots which I noticed from other suppliers.

Lights & Sounds: In house L&S LCD & projector

Oasis' actual in-house lights. View from the entrance. Photo by Bryan Yap.

View from the right side. Photo by Bryan Yap.

I’m G.T. or Genuine Ilocana; I didn’t splurge in additional lights and sounds which is another Php 5000 and up. I’ve just use the in-house lights and sounds, and the LCD & Projector provided by Oasis. I know the Lights & Sounds can create different ambience and mood but these are small things that I can and I have to live without. Our wedding reception was still fun, romantic and wonderful even without the mood lights, and other lighting and sound effects. It’s a good thing that our quartet doesn’t require much of the sound system; the basic sound system is good enough for them. And with the ballroom’s ambient lights, I can see all the smiling faces of our guests.

CATERER: Richgold

AE: Jed Ng

I highly recommend RG. I can say that this is a W@W find.

My journey in choosing our caterer was a long way. I want to make sure that the food that we will serve on our wedding day will make us and our guests happy. I went for the known caterers – old, tried and tested, RG was not even in my shortlisted. I’ve been to three food tasting with the known caterers but still couldn’t make up my mind. There is always something missing.  Whenever I attend an event especially in Oasis, it’s always catered by Hizon’s, thus I was half-hearted and having second thoughts in selecting them. I don’t want our event to be just another “Hizon’s Event”. No offense meant there ok. Ms. Maan was telling me to try RG since they are new in the wedding industry but they have been catering to corporate events. But I was scared because I haven’t read any feedback regarding RG until Ms. Benz posted in her wall about them. That’s the only time I decided to try and check RG.

My first AE was Carlo and my first food tasting with them was not a “love at first sight”. It was not successful that I already strike them out from the list. It’s not entirely their fault since it was raining during their FT in an open area. The present state that time messed up the whole experience, and Carlo was so busy that he barely had time to discuss things with me. But maybe, RG is really destined to be our caterer. When I went to Oasis to give another payment, there was a Ft that day and one of them is RG. Ms Maan convinced me to try RG again, and even called Jed Ng, who would be my new AE since carlo left RG already, to assist me. And, good thing I gave them another chance. Better ambience, better environment, better AE and better FT experience, they won my heart that day. Had another 3 food tasting with them because I just want to make sure I’m choosing right. First Ft, it was a one-on-one discussion with Jed at their office and food tasting, I was alone. 2^nd, my sisters and bro-in-law was with me and I have selected our final menu, and 3^rd, was during a wedding exhibit, it was to discuss also the decors with their in-house designer.

Couple's divan and backdrop. Photo by Bryan Yap

VIP Table Basic set up: Spring Theme by RG. Photo by Bryan Yap

Guest's Table Set up. Photo by Bryan Yap

What I liked about RG, aside from the fact that Jed is good-looking and pro-active (did i mention that I had a penchant for suppliers who are good looking or presentable) and the food are delicious, is their basic set-up is already great, you don’t have to shell out again another pesos for an upgraded set up. Their set-up portfolio is awesome that I selected from there. I selected their “Spring Design” as it is the one nearest to what I really want. And it’s a good thing that at the last leg of our preps, they already have a “damask-like pattern backdrop”. I just requested to put violet or lilac fabric behind it since the walls in the Orchard is already white.             

Photo by my brother-in-law.

The food were delicious, obviously it’s all edible. It’s not an “orgasmic food experience” but it’s something that you can be proud of to serve to your guests. I enjoyed the food, and besides I can’t really please everybody, and we have different taste buds too. What is good to me maybe good or not good to others and vice-versa. Like what the saying goes “different strokes to different folks”. Our menu were Nachos with cheesy dip and cheesy crackers for appetizers, Pumpkin soup, green salads with balsamic vinaigrette and/or thousand island dressing, Pasta fettuccine and penne with creamy pesto sauce and/or pomodoro, Medium spiced korean beef stew, pan seared dory fish with white wine mushroom sauce, chicken cacciatore, pork scallopine with tartare sauce, open faced lumpia with deep fried wrapper, steamed rice, bread pudding with nuts and chocolate sauce , and creme brulee, and we had unlimited lemon iced tea.

PROS:

• Jed is very accommodating, he replies to my emails promptly and reminds me also whenever I forget something.
• He gave me us a chocolate fountain for free and a jar of welcome drinks
• Honey loves their blue lemonade
• I loved their Korean beef stew, I heard my guests enjoyed the food too and the open-lumpia was a hit too.
• There were lots of foods. There were lots of left-overs even if I have a total of 85 guests + kids out of the 100pax, and some of them had 2^nd servings too
• The waiters assigned to us at the VIP table were attentive, too much pro-active that it ended up to be a “CON” because they took my platter of desserts when I haven’t eaten them yet nor touch it just because I left the table to greet some guests.
• The waiters served the desserts from Purple Dish’s Dessert Buffet bar to all the guests.

CONS:

• I’m not sure about it but my cousin-in-law who was seated with us at the VIP table said that “not all the food was served to them.
• The waiters are too eager to clean up the table. I just went to see some of my ex-colleagues but when we went back to our table, the desserts platter that they serve us was not there anymore. I just ate a slice of the matcha cheesecake and honey took a bite of the éclair only, while the rest of the desserts on that plate are still un-touch but the waiter took it away already.
• They didn’t pack the left-over foods equally. My instruction to our OTD coordinator was to divide all the left-overs equally into 3 so that we can distribute it to three families. When I asked the waiters if it is divided equally, they told us yes, only to find out later that my family went home with all the pastas and some fish, chicken and beef, while my grandfather went home with all the meats.