Grand party, hotel and budget

Grand party, hotel and budget

Sudibyo M. Wiradji
Contributor
Jakarta

For a husband-and-wife-to-be wishing to celebrate their love
at a grand wedding reception at a hotel, Jakarta offers many
choices of plush hotel with first-class service.

With luxury, elegance, superb catering and professional
services, the city's top star-rated hotels offer wedding packages
tailored to the needs of couples requiring a comfortable,
memorable and unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime fiesta.

Besides luxury and service, some hotels have gained popularity
with couples-to-be mainly due to their easy access plus spacious
ballrooms and parking lots. Price and pride is another story.

Hotel Mulia Senayan names its space and cuisine as the top
reason for many to choose it as the venue for a wedding party.

"Our hotel can accommodate up to 6,000 guests," said the
hotel's public relations manager Ratna Sjamsiar Idris.

In comparison, many buildings offering services for similar
receptions could only serve 1,000-something people.

Other hotels, like the Hilton, Borobudur, Mandarin, Gran
Melia, Sahid, Le Meridien, have their own selling points.

The beautiful and natural gardens of The Dharmawangsa Hotel in
Kebayoran Baru provide a different option for newly-wed couples
and also wedding organizers.

"We have received many requests to use part of our gardens for
wedding parties," said director of sales Rini Dyah Anggraini,
adding that the gardens can accommodate some 900 guests.

Regular customers to the increasingly fashionable wedding
banquet at top star-rated hotels are mostly from high-income
groups, business people or dignitaries, with no fear of budgetary
constraints.

The banqueting rooms of popular hotels in Jakarta are often
fully booked on weekends, particularly at certain periods or
months that followers of certain faiths believe to be a lucky
time.

Ratna claimed that the banquet rooms of Mulia Senayan had been
fully booked for weddings to mid-2003.

A wedding package at the hotel, which was once used by the
royal family of the sultan of Brunei Darussalam, includes a one-
night stay at its suite, a bottle of champagne, breakfast and a
one-night stay at two superior rooms for the wedding committee.

Different hotels have different approaches to attract people
to spend money on their ballrooms, beverages and food.

Normally, wedding packages include free-flow mineral water,
wedding car service, one-night stay, ice-carved initials,
massage, album and photo shoot.

The Mandarin offers a Garbera Package and Lotus (Chinese
wedding) with the bridal couple entitled to a free night in the
hotel suite, a box of chocolates, a bunch of fresh flowers,
breakfast for two and a towel embroidered with the bride's and
groom's initials.

Other incentives offered, said the hotel's public relations
manager Dhaneswari Retnowardhani, include a deluxe room for one
night for the bridal family, and a red carpet leading to the
bridal room.

"Decorations and car services are excluded from our wedding
packages because we see that the needs and interests of the
bridal couple and their family are private matters.

What we can do is give them references or recommendations on
decorations and car rentals," Dhanes noted.

She said the hotel could accommodate a standing party of 1,000
guests or 400 persons for a dinner reception at 40 tables.

The months of June, August and November are the hotel's peak
season for wedding parties, she said. "During those months,
between eight and ten wedding receptions are held at our hotel
per month."

According to Rini of The Dharmawangsa, the hotel catered for
six wedding ceremonies per month, each with an average of 200 to
1,500 guests.

The Dharmawangsa's package includes use of its Bentley car and
a one-night stay for the couple at its uniquely designed Rosewood
suite.

"The bridal couple is also entitled to a one-night stay at the
room when they celebrate their first wedding anniversary," she
added.

"We also provide what we call a 'wedding re-vitalizer', which
has become of primary appeal to bridal couples. With this
package, the couple will receive spa treatment that includes
massage, mandi lulur (traditional herbal masque), hydro facial,
manicure and pedicure, at the hotel's private spa suites," Rini
explained.

At Arayaduta Hotel Jakarta, couples are offered a choice of
packages arranged in cooperation with several bridal salons.

"We are now trying to establish cooperation with other top
bridal salons in town," public relations manager Fika Kansil
said.

The hotel offers three different packages with standing buffet
for a minimum of 350 guests. The bonus include a one-night stay,
breakfast and evening cocktail, red carpet, a voucher for dinner
for the couple's first wedding anniversary, and two years'
membership at the hotel gym.

And the price of all this?

Mulia Senayan has a price tag for a wedding party of Rp 250
million (US$28,735) for weekdays and Rp 275 million for weekends.

The Dharmawangsa prices are from Rp 46 million++ to Rp 85
million++.

Mandarin packages are from Rp 30 million++ to Rp 42 million++.

Aryaduta prices are based on the number of guests attending
the party. They range from Rp 65,000++ to Rp 80,000++.

So, uninvited guests would automatically be charged to the
couple's bill.

Most of the top star-rated hotels acknowledged the importance
of providing top quality food when it comes to menus so as to
maintain customer loyalty.