How to plan a company D&D in Singapore (2026 checklist)

Every November, somebody in every Singapore office discovers they are "the D&D person" — usually three months too late, usually on top of their actual job. We've hosted eight years of company Dinner & Dances at Major 99, which means we've also watched eight years of organisers make the same five mistakes. This is the checklist we wish someone had handed them in July.

A themed games-night D&D in our main hall — decor, stage and prizes all sorted in-house.

T-minus 4 months: lock the date and venue

The single biggest lever on your D&D's success is booked in July–August, not November. Year-end weekends are the scarcest commodity in Singapore events — at our place, weekend full buyouts are capped each month and November–January dates start confirming from August. Hotel ballrooms are no different.

• Poll two or three dates before you approach venues. A Thursday D&D costs less and is easier to lock than a Friday.
• Get headcount to ±20 accuracy. Venues quote by pax bands — 80 versus 120 can change which package (and which venue) makes sense.
• Ask the ++ question first. "Is that price nett or subject to GST and service charge?" A "$70/pax" quote that's ++ is really about $84 once the 10% service charge and 9% GST stack. At Major 99 every price is nett — what you see is what you pay — but wherever you book, make the quote basis explicit before you compare.

T-minus 3 months: budget honestly

Here's real math, using our published rates so you can sanity-check any quote you receive. Say you're 100 pax:

Two budget traps to avoid: first, entertainment quoted separately — a venue that needs an external DJ, games vendor and AV hire can quietly double your per-pax cost. Pick somewhere the entertainment is built in. Second, "free-flow" definitions vary wildly; ask exactly what's poured and for how long.

T-minus 2 months: food, and the halal question

Ask about dietary coverage early, not at the tasting. You'll want a vegetarian option per course, and if your team needs halal catering, confirm certification — not just "no pork no lard". At Major 99, buffets are halal-certified through our preferred catering partner, or you can bring your own caterer at no extra charge, which is the easiest way to keep everyone at the same buffet line happy.

• Confirm the buffet tier and courses in writing (ours run from 6-course Value to 9-course Premium spreads).
• Ask when the final headcount for catering locks — usually 7–10 days out.
• Plan one dessert moment that photographs well. It matters more than the third main.

T-minus 1 month: programme and AV

The programme sinks more D&Ds than the food ever does. The classic failure: two hours of speeches and awards, then "free mingling" that empties the room by 9:30pm. What works instead:

• Front-load the formalities. Speeches and awards in the first 45 minutes, while everyone's still seated and sober.
• Give the night a game. Team karaoke battles, darts brackets, beer-pong finals on stage — anything with a leaderboard keeps people till the end. (Our hall runs karaoke, darts, pool, beer pong and arcade natively, so the programme fills itself.)
• Test the AV with your actual deck. A LED wall is only as good as the laptop plugged into it. Do a 15-minute tech run the week before.
• Book the emcee for the crowd you have. A bilingual host who can banter in English and Mandarin reads a Singapore office crowd far better than a one-language act. 中英双语 matters more than people admit.

T-minus 2 weeks: comms that actually get read

The best-planned D&D still flops if half the company treats it as optional. Two weeks out, send one email that answers the only four questions people actually have: what time does it really start, where exactly is it (with the MRT exit, not just the address), what's the dress theme, and when can I decently leave. Then put the same four answers in the group chat, because nobody reads email.

If there's a theme, seed it. Themes announced cold get 20% participation; themes with a photo of the boss committing to it get 80%. And appoint table captains for anything that needs herding — one enthusiastic person per table of ten beats any amount of stage announcements.

The week of: the five things people forget

1. Transport home. If you're not in town, tell people the nearest MRT and parking situation in the invite (we're beside Ang Mo Kio MRT with parking in the building — your venue should be as easy to answer for).
2. A wet-weather photo plan. Indoor photo wall > outdoor banner hope.
3. Prize logistics. Who carries the Dyson home, and who bought the backup prize for the tie?
4. The final-payment terms. Confirm deposit, balance timing and what happens if headcount drops 10%.
5. A designated decision-maker. On the night, the venue needs one name to ask, not a committee.

The venue shortlist questions, copy-paste ready

When you're comparing venues, send every candidate the same six questions and put the answers in one spreadsheet column each. It turns a fuzzy decision into an obvious one:

1. Is your quote nett, or subject to GST and service charge?
2. What exactly is included at my headcount — space, drinks, AV, entertainment?
3. Is the buffet halal-certified, and by whom?
4. What happens if my confirmed headcount drops by 10–15%?
5. Do we get the space exclusively, or are we sharing the venue that night?
6. When is the deposit due, and when is the balance due?

Any venue that answers all six in writing within a day or two is a venue that will also answer the phone at 6pm on your event day. That responsiveness test is worth more than any showroom tour.

The one-line version

Book the date four months out, compare quotes nett-to-nett, pick a venue where the entertainment is built in, front-load the speeches, and give the night a leaderboard. Do those five and your D&D lands — everything else is decoration.