Our Honest, Unfiltered Review of our Wedding at Chijmes Hall, Singapore
We had our wedding dinner banquet (and tea ceremony prior to the dinner) at Chijmes Hall, Singapore in July 2023.
We wanted to share our candid experience working with the venue and the amazing coordinator. It inspired us to create Bridely.sg - Singapore's only wedding review website - so that we can encourage more transparency for wedding venues and vendors.
The Charms of Chijmes
Selecting CHIJMES was an easy task. This historic venue is simply STUNNING, both inside and outside. The high ceilings and stained glass would make a great backdrop for our wedding photos, and it was a distinct alternative to the conventional hotel ballroom.
Additionally, its central location made it accessible for our guests, whether they preferred driving or taking the MRT.
Booking the Venue
Securing a Saturday wedding dinner at Chijmes for July 2023 was surprisingly hassle-free. We made the booking only 6 months prior to the wedding date!
Even though Chijmes is not a traditional hotel ballroom wedding venue, they offered a competitive wedding package similar to what other hotels will give. Notable highlights:
- Free hotel room night stay (with upgrade). We could choose from 4 different hotels, and went with Capitol Kempinsky.
- 2 bottle of wines per table. (We had the choice of 1 additional wine per table OR 1 barrel of beer)
- Wedding favors
- Wedding flower decoration (basic ones for free, but you could purchase add-ons)
- Lots of design options for the linens, chairs, and chair seats.
The true hero of our wedding planning journey was our dedicated wedding coordinator, Serene. Her meticulous attention to detail and efficient planning made the entire process stress-free. In gratitude for her exceptional service, we expressed our appreciation with a generous tip (angbao). On top of that, my mother gave her a SECOND angbao to thank her for her tremendous help during the planning process and actual day coordination.
Planning the Wedding
Serene's organisation skills were incredible. She created a minute-by-minute timeline for us, which she flawlessly executed on the day of.
We planned the whole wedding programme flow with her by email, and she was quick to respond to our emails within 1-3 business days. She was able to accommodate many requests and changes to the programme flow.
Our friends were shocked at how laidback we were with the wedding planning! I only spent about 30 minutes each week reading and writing emails to Serene to plan our entire wedding.
The Food
While we only had great experience with Watabe Weddings, our experience with some of the partnered vendors, particularly the catering team, left us with mixed feelings.
Our parents were quick to approve Chijmes as our wedding venue simply because of the Chinese menu by Tung Lok, a highly reputable brand name. However, our initial optimism wavered during the food tasting. Despite providing feedback on the food, the actual day's experience was mixed. Standout dishes included the chicken herbal soup and cold appetizers, but disappointingly, the second half of the meal fell short. The roast chicken was too dry, and the glutinous rice was overly sweet and salty, leaving our guests deeply dissatisfied. One of our friends even saw a parasite in their fish.
Serene promptly addressed our concerns and conveyed our feedback to the catering team. We were glad when they responded positively, expressing a commitment to improvement. As a gesture of goodwill, they offered us a Tung Lok voucher as well. Hopefully they will stick to their promised improvements to make the food much better for future weddings at Chijmes!
We learned our lesson the hard way, but to everyone reading this, DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AS WE DID! I can't stress enough the importance to read reviews first!
We created Bridely.sg after our wedding experience, where we show ratings on the food, venue, and service separately for every venue in Singapore.
