Supplier spotlight: The Glass Garden

Last week, Mr. J and I officially started with our wedding preps.  Actually, we (especially me) have been doing countless research already.

Me: the wedding gowns I like, the decor I want, and other potential wedding suppliers (photo, video, etc.)
Mr. J: deciding on whether he'll be wearing a suit or a Barong Tagalog (local embroidered formal garment worn over an undershirt), and what gown he likes on me.

Anyway, since we already agreed on the church we'll be saying our I Do's in (we've already attended mass there so no need to do an ocular anymore), the first ocular that we did is to check out our first choice of reception venue: The Glass Garden.

Located in Pasig City, this events place that is reminiscent of an English greenhouse is perfect for what I wanted.  First, I didn't want a hotel's ballroom because I wanted a garden ambience for the wedding reception.  And quite honestly, even with all the flowers in the world and the uber-talented event stylists out there, that ballroom carpet is simply off-putting for a garden theme.  Next requirement is that wherever we decide to hold the wedding dinner, it should be indoors.  And because we wanted to hold the wedding on an already significant date to us (we celebrate two anniversaries on June and July), it was definite that we will be having a rainy season celebration.  This means that an open area garden setting would be a no-no.  We could use big white tent to solve the roof issue; however, this will not address the problem of the entire grass area becoming wet during the rain.  I also didn't want just a roof with no cover/wall on the sides because strong winds may displace some of the rain shower on the sides of the venue.  For all this issues, The Glass Garden had an answer and more.  Actually, there's another venue that is bigger and has an indoor forest ambience to it.  Sadly, I don't really care for any of their accredited caterers and superb food is a big, big deal to me.

Mr. J and I liked the place and are definitely leaning towards reserving them for our date soon.  Meanwhile, check out some of the pics I took during the visit:

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I like that there's a receiving/lounge area away from the main hall where you could have your cocktail hour and/or guest registration area.

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The inside (can't remember which hall this is - they have two).  It wasn't too bare inside; there were plants surrounding the main hall with some trees as well.  It was air conditioned though it wasn't switched on when we had the ocular.

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View from outside the bridal room.  The room itself was nothing to be too excited about so I didn't really bother taking a picture of it.  It was clean and spacious, so that was good enough for me.

From our talk with the venue's General Manager, Camille Garcia, she had this to say on some of my questions:

Ingress/Regress - They don't really have specific allotted time for pre and post wedding preparations.  To them, the 5 hours that they will be charging you will be from the official start of the party.  Putting on/off of decorations and the likes are not included in the 5 hours and are, in essence, free of charge.  Our understanding of this is that whatever free time available before and after your party will be your ingress and regress.

Corkage fees - They only charge for non-accredited caterers.  Bringing in of food from other suppliers like lechon (so long as you don't do the actual roasting inside the venue itself) and alcoholic beverages are free of charge.  Can you imagine how much money hotels will be losing if they did the same???

Refunds - I specifically asked what their refund rule is if in case of cancellation due to disaster (think Ondoy).  She said it was a case to case basis but they'd usually just move the event on another date.

Price lock - As of writing, the rates below will also apply for 2012 weddings since they don't have new rates yet for that year.  We didn't discuss about putting a price-lock clause in the contract but she did say that if we reserve now, they will honor whatever amount is in the contract that we sign on.

Rates for 2010 venue rental (Emerald or Diamond Garden):

Monday - Thursday          Morning: Php 60,000
                                    Evening: Php 80,000
Friday - Sunday               Morning: Php 70,000
                                    Evening: Php 85,000

For more information, they have a website with details on accredited suppliers, maps, etc.  I also have a copy of the terms and conditions plus catering packages available, so if you want a copy, just leave a comment as to where I can send them. =)