Chinese Wedding Reception Locations

[que2k]

So I finally popped the question and she said yes!

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a restaurant for a chinese wedding reception?

I know of the usual suspects - Kirin, Sun Sui Wah, Floata etc.....

[Gumby]

Things to think about:

-How many people do you plan on inviting? Generally you want to get the whole place to yourself.
-How is the restaurant laid out? Is it one big square/rectangle, with little/no pillars blocking views, or does the restaurant have a weird shape? For example, Sea Harbour (across from Yaohan) has no pillars and is one big rectangle, but they only fit about 20 tables max. Kirin in Richmond has a bunch of pillars/walls so that's annoying. Fisherman's Terrace in Aberdeen is shaped like a crescent...
-How is the parking?

Personally, I really like Sun Sui Wah because I find that they maintain a reasonable standard, whereas for other places, there's no consistency. Sometimes the food is good, other times it's bad.

There are tons of Chinese restaurants in Vancouver/Richmond!! Other possible locations (doesn't mean I recommend them):
-Shi Art (Richmond Centre)
-Gingeri (Lansdowne Centre)
-something Garden (place beside London Drugs on No.3 & Westminster)
-Vivacity Restaurant (Alexandria Rd, where Grand buffet used to be, but their food was VERY inconsistent)
-Flamingo (on Cambie, or Fraser)
-"Hung Wun" (No.5 & Cambie)
etc.

[Girl]

IMO Floata can fit A LOT of people but the food isn't that good.

Sun Sui Wah, I was at a wedding a couple years and went to the Richmond one, the food was so-so and I heard they charged too much. I've always enjoyed the food at the Vancouver one though.


You have to know what you want and know roughly how many people might be attending. If not you're just shooting in the dark.

[DaFonz]

Screw eating local. Do it in style and fly everyone out to Hong Kong. BE A MAN. DO THE RIGHT THING.

[willystyle]

I personally think it's a safe bet to go with either Kirin or Sun Sui Wah (in Vancouver). I came back from a wedding reception last week at Fisherman's Terrace, the food was OK (nothing spectacular), but the layout of the restaurant was horrible for a wedding reception.

[KingDeeCee]

Originally Posted by DaFonz

Screw eating local. Do it in style and fly everyone out to Hong Kong. BE A MAN. DO THE RIGHT THING.

OMG LMFAO THIS MADE ME LAUGHT IN REAL LIFE. +1 for you. Oh man.

[death_blossom]

Another popular spot for weddings is the Victorian Restaurant in downtown. Not sure if I got the name correct. It's that chinese restaurant at the bottom of the Hyatt on Burrard.

[rouentahl]

What's your budget per head?

[que2k]

Originally Posted by DaFonz

Screw eating local. Do it in style and fly everyone out to Hong Kong. BE A MAN. DO THE RIGHT THING.

WTF - Are you like 30 and live at home? Get a life loser.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. As far as budget and number of guests go I think we are going to be in the 100-150 range, however we are trying to keep it small. Budget I'm not concerned about. Sun-Sui Wah's most expensive menu was like $108/person so I'm thinking around that as a starting point.

[Bender Unit]

My friend who will get married in coming July told me that he had to book the restaurant 1 year ago.
So Plan Ahead Early~!

[willystyle]

^ More like AT LEAST a year early man, most couples reserve their restaurants usually around a year and a half before the reception. My cousin couldn't get any of the better restaurants, and had to settle for less at Fisherman's Terrace and they booked a year early.

Places like Sun Sui Wah are probably already booked on the "good days" for the next 365 days or so.

[aznrsx1979]

Going to Jade Seafood Restaurant in Richmond in an hr for a chinese wedding reception, I'll let you know how it is.

[que2k]

We've narrowed it down to Jade and Gingeri (Landsdowne).

Places like Sun Sui Wah and Kirin had outrageous minimums (around $18,000). We dont plan having that many tables so they are both out of the question.

[Wetordry]

Those minimums are to reserve the whole restaurant for your party only.

The bigger chinese restaurants can certainly partition the room up if you dont mind having other customers walking around the halls on your wedding night.

[aznrsx1979]

Went to Jade for my cousin's wedding reception. They had the entire restaurant booked. Not sure about the cost but eveything went smoothly and the service was good. The food was good to =)

[que2k]

Originally Posted by aznrsx1979

Went to Jade for my cousin's wedding reception. They had the entire restaurant booked. Not sure about the cost but eveything went smoothly and the service was good. The food was good to =)

OK, so I assume you didn't notice all the weeds growing out of control in the parking lot, the bird crap all over the ground at the entrance of the restaurant and all over the building??

My finacee said this was a total turnoff......I could care less but the only thing I am concerned about is what day, what time and where to stand on the big day

[Bender Unit]

I'll keep an eye of those bird crap

Originally Posted by aznrsx1979

Went to Jade for my cousin's wedding reception. They had the entire restaurant booked. Not sure about the cost but everything went smoothly and the service was good. The food was good to =)

Glad to hear. I'll be attending a wedding dinner at Jade this month, too

[Gt-R R34]

I went to a Wedding @ Gingeri over the weekend and i must say, the food wasn't bad pretty decent but as for the service, damn there wasn't enough Servers imho. Plus i think they need to slow down on the food. I was told they weren't suppose to bring out the lobsters till after the speechs, and they cameout anyways. So some tables started eating and so forth.

Overall it wasn't bad, but if you decide there, make sure you tell them to server when they are suppose too!

[Trinity]

Originally Posted by que2k

WTF - Are you like 30 and live at home? Get a life loser.

...You realize he was kidding, right?

All jokes aside, CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING ENGAGED!!!!

[aznrsx1979]

Originally Posted by que2k

OK, so I assume you didn't notice all the weeds growing out of control in the parking lot, the bird crap all over the ground at the entrance of the restaurant and all over the building??

My finacee said this was a total turnoff......I could care less but the only thing I am concerned about is what day, what time and where to stand on the big day

Didn't really notice cause I was almost late for the reception. Traffic lights were out and there was a lot of traffic. By the time I came out, it was 11:00 pm so it was dark. At least they had enough parking for everyone that was there.

I would be more concerned about the interior then the exterior of a place anyway...lol. But congratulations on getting engaged.

[Senna4ever]

I can't believe the last 2 posters are the only ones to congratulate the OP. Haha.... Congrats, man!

I've only been to one Chinese wedding and it was held at the Richmond Kirin. It was really good....but it was a $600/table reception.

[ccc]

Congrats OP on your engagement! If you're planning to have a small reception and about 100-150 guests, Chinese wedding banquets may not be the best option. With only 10-15 tables you probably cannot get the whole restaurant for yourself, and like some of the posters said, as long as you don't mind strangers having dinner alongside your banquet then maybe it's OK......I have been thinking about this since I plan to have a small wedding as well (70-ish guests) and even though I always want Chinese banquets, I will not be able to do it as I do not want to share the restaurant with some strangers.

And I second the comment about booking early -- people usually spend 1.5 to 2 years planning a wedding since everything has to be booked THAT EARLY. Trying to secure a venue 1 year before the wedding is really cutting it close......Besides the banquet, have you guys figured out where to have your ceremony? That also has to be booked early, especially if you plan to get married during the high season (ie. May to September).

[Gumby]

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

I can't believe the last 2 posters are the only ones to congratulate the OP. Haha.... Congrats, man!

Oops... congrats que2k!

I've only been to one Chinese wedding and it was held at the Richmond Kirin. It was really good....but it was a $600/table reception.

Most wedding banquet menus start at $600 (up to around $1000), for a table of 10, and I have never left a chinese wedding banquet hungry. After doing the math, I find that holding your dinner reception at a Chinese restaurant is significantly cheaper than doing it western-style. For a western reception, you often have to pay a rental fee for the venue in addition to the food costs, with minimum spendings!

To the original poster, don't forget that many restaurants are able to section off their floor so that you have a bit more privacy.

[que2k]

Thanks a lot for all the congrats posted.

A few comments to all the questions:

1) We have the ceremony venue booked already - Celebration Pavillion at QE Park
2) I guess I could go either way on the reception but being the only son of a chinese family my parents have their heart set on a chinese wedding as do my fiancee's
3) We have focused on the smaller restaurants like Gingeri, Jade etc as we are able to fill most of the restaurant and are willing to pay a small premium to take the whole place for the night. The bigger restaurants eg Kirin in Richmond can have 33 tables, but want an $18,000 minimum which would give us 1/2 the restaurant. This is not economical
4) All of the restuarant minimums dont give us the whole dining room as one reply mentioned. For example we could go with the most expensive menu, cut down on the number of tables and meet the minimum that way. The restuarants dont care as long as they get their $$$

Thanks for all the comments!

[q0192837465]

Congrats. I love going to wedding receptions.

Oh, & make sure u have a good MC for the night. I went to one that had great food & great service (it was a big hotel but Iforgot the name). Everything was great until the MC started talking & making lame jokes. The completely ruined it.