If you want to hold your wedding dinner at our hotel, you have to promise not to wear your wedding gown or evening gown. Oh, and you cannot greet your guests at the hotel lobby either.

These were the 'rules' laid down by a Singapore hotel for a bride whose wedding was to have taken place there this weekend.

According to the mother of the bride, Mrs Liang, 50, the family was informed of these 'rules' only four days before the wedding dinner.

Mrs Liang said that her daughter, a 28-year-old Singaporean engineer, decided to marry her long-time Malaysian boyfriend.

As the couple planned to hold a larger-scale wedding dinner in the groom's hometown of Sabah, they decided to host a smaller celebration with only five tables in Singapore, with only family and a few close friends in attendance.

Mrs Liang told Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao: "In early March this year, we decided on this hotel in downtown Singapore. We found the hotel's prices to be very reasonable,and it offered good food and was at a good location."

She also said that a $500 deposit had been given to the hotel.

However, as the big day approached, no one from the hotel contacted Mrs Liang. It was when Mrs Liang called the hotel yesterday did she learn of the 'rules'; the wedding dinner was to be held on Sunday, a mere four days later.

She added: "The hotel staff told me that there was another couple getting married on the same day had booked 40 tables. Since we've only booked five tables, the hotel would not allow my daughter to wear her wedding gown or even an evening gown to her wedding dinner."

The couple was not allowed to receive their guests at the hotel's lobby, and needed to stay in the VIP room while waiting for their guests to arrive.

"I really don't understand. Does this mean that we're being sidelined because we've only booked five tables?, "she asked.

In its reply to Lianhe Wanbao, a hotel spokesman confirmed that it received a complaint from Mrs Liang. However, the spokesman added that the terms and conditions regarding the wedding dinner were explained to the bride, Ms Liang, when she confirmed her booking earlier this year.

"As we have another couple hosting their wedding dinner at the hotel that night, we have to respect the wishes of that couple as well. Ms Liang was informed of the circumstances when she made the booking, and agreed to the terms before she paid a deposit," the spokesman told Wanbao.

Responding to Mrs Liang's complaint, the hotel said that it was a miscommunication that resulted in the disagreement and that it has already returned the deposit.

An industry expert that Lianhe Wanbao spoke to said that in cases like these, couples with larger bookings will have priority.

"As the other couple might have made their 40-table booking earlier, and also requested that there be only one couple at the lobby, the hotel would have to accommodate those requests. In cases like these, couples with smaller bookings will be asked to co-operate.", the expert said.

However, the expert also added that other couples who were affected by such conditions would be informed in advance, and hotels would also try to make alternate arrangements so that both events will meet everybody's expectations.

For Mrs Liang, however, the terms laid down by the hotel were far from satisfactory.

"When the hotel informed me of these terms, I requested for a refund of my deposit on the spot. I managed to make a booking with another hotel, and the other hotel never made such unreasonable requests."