- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
you can have the chinese banquet the next day if you'd like. if i have one, mine would actually be the next week, because i'm getting married in southern california but the banquet would be in northern california for my parents.
the budget is going to be the main concern for sure though.
as for the distance, it's up to you. if your guests are local to the area, and actually know where to go, it may not be much of an issue since they're probably used to LA traffic. if you have a lot of out of towners, it may be a problem to have them go so far between the ceremony and the reception. if the chinese banquet is the next day however, this isn't as much of an issue.
i don't like the eat and run thing either. since the chinese banquet is a 10+ course meal, i'm having the dancing happen simultaneously. we're going to space everything out - lion dancing, tea ceremony, changing of the dresses, toasting at each table, maybe games etc. so that there's always some type of entertainment and food being served.
plus for our non-chinese guests, we're going to include a menu at each place setting describing what's in each dish and maybe even the significance. hopefully that will encourage them to eat what's on the table.
finally, you can always have a small wedding ceremony/reception on one day and then do the chinese banquet/tea ceremony the next day.
also, it's up to you about how far you want your guests to travel. if they're from out of town, you might want to plan on renting a bus to transport people from the ceremony to the reception.
For a garden wedding, have you tried looking at the Arcadia Arboretum (in Arcadia) or the Descano Gardens (in La Canada Flintridge)? If you had it at one of these places, maybe it'll be easier to get to the reception location? I'm having a Chinese banquet as well-wish the best for you! Ooo, I like Joanne's suggestion of having a menu set up to describe the food!
I am having a garden ceremony and reception (western style) and also a Chinese banquet one month apart. We are inviting only close family members and all our friends to the western style reception (about 150 people), and then all family members including very distant ones to the Chinese banquet (about 400 people).
Yes there is a budget problem, but mainly for the western style wedding since it will cost over $100pp not including photography, flowers, etc. The Chinese banquet costs about $80pp, but if your family is generous, you usually end up making a profit at a Chinese wedding with all the gold and cash.
You can read more on my blog where I reasoned why we are having 2 separate receptions.
Thank you all for your ideas!!
Thanks freesia and Joanne, I think that IDEALLY I'd love to have the banquet the next day. There are going to be a lot of out of towners on my fiance's side (practically all his friends and family) so by keeping them close together it'd help to make sure that his family can attend both. I guess the ideal days would be a Fri/Sat celebration.
My worry is that, is this wedding celebration overkill? To have people come out two days in a row?
Lavndrmlkshake, thanks for the suggestions! I'll look into those two places. Are you having a southern CA wedding as well?
Bride888, thanks for the link! I'm going to check out your blog right now!
Hey, I'm joining the convo a little late, but I decided to only have Chinese banquet (I wanted to keep costs down, and be able to spend on other details, and it seems that Chinese banquets run a lot cheaper than American style weddings here).
I'm a little worried about the whole eating and running aspect, so I'm hoping we can do dancing during dinner, and during cocktail hour. And like Joanne above, we'll probably try to get some lion dancers for some entertainment. Additionally, we're going to try to plan an "after party" by providing buses to the bar after, so we can party with the people who will actually dance.
i don't think it's overkill. i think people will be willing to come out if they're getting a free party! I think i'd be honored to come out twice! ;) i'm also having 2 receptions. i'm having a tea ceremony at my fi's family's house and then an american banquet style reception out of state. a month later, we're having a wedding ceremony and a chinese banquet afterwards where my fi and i live. i know it's weird the way we''re doing it, but it works for both families! :)
I think the Chinese wedding banquets is a bit of crowded and not so easy to manage. 
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| Brielle | 44 |
| ndreighton | 29 |
 vorpalette |
29 |
| caseyleigh10 | 26 |
| les105 | 24 |
| ellisrobertson | 24 |
| mypinkshoes | 23 |
| fishbone | 23 |
| lionskitty | 22 |
| SouthernGirl | 21 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| LilDrAnya | 2 |
Hello Fellow bees!
I'd like to get everyone's opinions on the topic of the Chinese Wedding Banquet.
First off, I plan to get married in Los Angeles, most likely in 2009. A long time to plan, I know!! But I'm very very torn. I really want to have a nice garden wedding ceremony and accompanying outdoor reception. My fiancee wants a chinese banquet. I also want this, but my some reservations:
1. Many of my friends are more American and fairly picky, unadventurous eaters.
2. I hate the whole eat and run mentality that embodies most chinese banquets.
3. How far is too far? If I get married in one of the coastal cities, can I make everyone drive so far inland to get to the GOOD chinese restaurants? We're going to go try Prince Seafood in Cerritos this weekend.
I'd really like to do the smaller wedding/reception one day and also have the banquet. Would I have this the next day?
But of course, there is THEBUDGET.
Sigh. So what are all of your experiences in going to or planning a chinese wedding/banquet.
ALL advice is GREATLY appreciated!!