Chinese Wedding Reception Locations [Archive]

Gumby

06-27-2008, 09:38 AM

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

06-27-2008, 12:08 PM

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

06-27-2008, 12:39 PM

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

willystyle

06-27-2008, 03:21 PM

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

06-27-2008, 03:50 PM

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

06-27-2008, 07:40 PM

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

06-28-2008, 07:35 AM

What's your budget per head?

que2k

06-28-2008, 12:35 PM

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

06-28-2008, 04:31 PM

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

06-28-2008, 04:47 PM

^ 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

06-28-2008, 05:03 PM

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

que2k

07-02-2008, 07:37 AM

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

07-02-2008, 08:02 AM

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

07-02-2008, 11:21 AM

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

07-03-2008, 09:56 AM

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 :D

Bender Unit

07-03-2008, 10:04 AM

I'll keep an eye of those bird crap :rofl:
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 :thumbsup:

Gt-R R34

07-03-2008, 02:36 PM

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

07-03-2008, 03:06 PM

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!!!! :D

aznrsx1979

07-03-2008, 10:04 PM

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 :D

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

07-03-2008, 11:39 PM

ccc

07-03-2008, 11:56 PM

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

07-04-2008, 10:03 AM

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

07-04-2008, 11:51 AM

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

07-04-2008, 01:09 PM

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.

ccc

07-04-2008, 03:03 PM

willystyle

07-04-2008, 03:54 PM

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. :(
That's actually quite inexpensive for a chinese wedding, assuming that there's 10 heads per table, that's only $60/head.

Gumby

07-07-2008, 10:29 AM

To the OP: Have you considered Red Star Restaurant as well? They opened a new branch at the President Plaza / Radisson Hotel. From what I can recall, the restaurant is not too big and will be perfect for 10-15 tables. The food should be good too (based on my dim sum and dinner experience there).
I hope you went to the Richmond Red Star recently, because about two months ago, I went there and we had a poor experience.

The waiters repeatedly reached across me to clear other people's plates. Or they signaled only with their hand (kinda rude) to get plates they couldn't reach. I remember the "captain" taking our order, and others would just walk up and talk to him at the same time!

We ordered lobster in the cream sauce with the "wonton" noodles. The waiter brought it out and realized that the cook put thick noodles instead. He held it at the table and asked "well, do you still want it?" and the only thing it seemed like he wanted to do was put it down and take off. The proper thing to do is come out, without the messed-up dish, and ask if we're ok with it!

Anyhow, they brought it back in, and changed it to the proper noodles. Too bad all the cream sauce was gone too! How can you serve a "lobster in cream sauce", without the cream sauce? So the noodles were just bland.

My wife had a baby recently so it was our first real Chinese dinner in weeks, and yet we left dissatisfied.

On the other hand, the Red Star on Granville St. is pretty good (but the shape of the restaurant could be better).

que2k

07-09-2008, 10:39 AM

Yes we looked at Red-Star. I believe we ruled it out becuase of the minimum price requirement.

My sister acutally had her wedding there when it first opened WAY back in 1995.

We have decided on Gingeri at Landsdowne.

Thanks for all the input guys.

asahai69

07-09-2008, 10:57 AM

woah. you guys have receptions in restaurants???? learn sumthin new everyday. lol

jackmeister

07-09-2008, 11:25 AM

woah. you guys have receptions in restaurants???? learn sumthin new everyday. lol

are you chinese??

chinese wedding banquets USUALLY make a profit for the couple unless a big portion of their guests are caucasians or from out of town and the couple has to cover hotel/transport etc

Jer3

07-09-2008, 01:14 PM

quasi

07-09-2008, 01:25 PM

are you chinese??

chinese wedding banquets USUALLY make a profit for the couple unless a big portion of their guests are caucasians or from out of town and the couple has to cover hotel/transport etc

A Chinese couple would pay for hotel/transportation for out of town guests? Wow, you learn something new everyday. :)

Off topic but a serious question, who normally pays for the Chinese Weddings? Is it the family or the bride and groom? I'm Caucasian and I know for my wedding my parents paid for the booze and my wifes mom paid for the flowers and decorations. My wife and myself paid for everything else, reception, photographer, dresses, tux rentals, hair/makeup, church, transportation and some stuff I'm probably forgetting which was the Lions share of it. Most of my white married friends were the same, paid for most of it themselves. I only ask cause I'm curious about the cultural difference or customs when it comes to paying for weddings. Any EI's want to chime in I'm curious how that works as well, I know East Indians have huge weddings which must be $$$$$$

asahai69

07-09-2008, 02:45 PM

^ my buddy is gonna get married in a couple months and usually the girls side pays for the gurdwara and the guys side pays for the reception. i think the guys side also pays for the engagement. the reception is at riverside grand ballroom and he told me the price is gonna be around $70,000. just for the reception. the food is about $50 a plate with 700 guests. kinda crazy. lol

Ch28

07-10-2008, 10:25 PM

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.

I think it's called Victoria Chinese Seafood Restaurant. It's located in Royal Centre which is right beside The Hyatt Regency by the Burrard Skytrain Station.

I went there about 3 years ago for a cousin's wedding and the food and service was excellent. It was a Chinese + Filipino wedding and damn...those Filipinos sure know how to party :lol

Dimsum is pretty good but the place gets packed because of all the offices surrounding the place.

Meowjin

07-11-2008, 04:46 AM

Continental. have to plug it because its my friends business.

But they seem to have alot of weddings.

5 road and cambie.

JLC

07-24-2008, 07:31 PM

The Flamingo on Cambie would be a good place for around 150 people...
and they definitely arnt as expensive as Sun Sui Wah or Kirin...but awesome food!

starone

06-04-2011, 06:52 PM

I did my wedding reception at Floata Chinese restaurant in Vancouver, it was turn out terrible, a lot of problems happen after I signed a contract with them.
-I reserved 22 tables they give us a very small room, too narrow to walking around.
-I have to stop at 11:00pm they charged $350 each hour after 11:00pm (not mention this when I sign a contract).
-Food is not good.
-Server very mint.
-It very hard to discus with them after you signed a contract