Wednesday 23 January 2008

Reviews

Due to my busy lifestyle I good not find the time to finish our reviews of the other places we visited when deciding the wedding venue. Here is a summary of our thoughts on each place (You can find the homepage for each venue in the right sidebar):

JAU Center:

Pro's

  • Quite cheap
  • Wedding garden was huge.

Con's

  • The Wedding garden was right next to the car park with no kind of barrier (wall, hedge etc) between. Not good for that romantic atmosphere.
  • The guests sit at round dinner tables waiting for the actual ceramony to finish so they can eat dinner. Very effecient but does nothing for a romantic or traditional atmosphere. Also they will not be flexible and have the guests sitting in rows (like in a church) during the ceramony, and have a separate room for the meal.
  • It is not in Songsu's hometown.


Namsan Art Garden

Pro's

  • Very romantic atmosphere
  • Barrier between car park and garden
  • Management are flexible and will seat the guests in rows to watch the ceramony.
  • The guests eat in a separate place from where the ceramony takes place.
  • It's cheap.
  • Easy to find and it's Central Seoul location means that it's convenient for many of the guests.

Con's

  • The wedding garden is quite small so many of our guest may have to stand up.
  • It is not in Songsu's hometown.

Shilla Hotel

It looked like it was the closest to a traditional UK wedding but we did not even bother to investigate it because the price was extortionate...W30,000,000 minimum. It's the same deal at other hotels so we didn't bother to check out any more.


Children's Grand Park

Pro's

  • Very Cheap
  • Central Seoul location; convenient and easy to find.

Con's

  • No barrier between the wedding venue and the rest of the park (which includes a zoo and a funfair) and it's visitors. The atmosphere will not be private or romantic. Also we will be able to hear the music and announcements from the rest of the park, even above the volume of any music we arrange.
  • The food hall looks tacky, as does the wedding hall used if it rains.
  • Not in Songsu's hometown.

Korea Wedding Town

Pro's

  • In Songsu's hometown. A very big plus as at least half of our guests will be from here and it is tradition that the wedding takes place in the groom's hometown.
  • Reasonably priced
  • Ceramony and meal take place in separate areas.
  • Garden is big enough for all our guests.
  • There is a barrier between the garden and the car park (though not a very good one).
  • Wedding hall/room (used if the weather is not favourable) is not tacky...it actually looks quite nice.
  • The staff are willing to make certain changes so that we can make the ceramony more Western.

Con's

  • The barrier between the car park and the garden exists but not very effective.
  • There will be guests from other weddings walking past the garden while we are getting married.

Overall, we decided that Korea Wedding Town was the best choice. With the venue booked onward with the rest of the planning!!!