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.