Weddingbee Blog

My friend Margaret is a very good friend indeed. Not only did she find Mr. T for me, now that we’re getting hitched she found us the perfect reception venue as well!

Margaret knew we were looking for somewhere inexpensive to host our wedding reception. In Washington, DC, as in most larger cities, this is no easy task. We were hoping to keep the site fee low by focusing on places owned by county parks & rec departments or nonprofits, but everything we visited seemed to be (a) shabby, (b) too expensive, (c) inaccessible to public transportation and inconvenient for out-of-town guests, or (d) some combination of the above. However, Margaret is a creative thinker and experienced party planner, and she was determined to come up with something better. She suggested a number of restaurants with private rooms as being less expensive than traditional wedding venues. I love “less expensive,” and of course appreciated her help enormously, but nothing sounded right for us. Everything was too small, too “restaurant-y,” … too something.

And then she suggested Teaism. And Mr. T and I were intrigued….

Mr. T and I both have a history with this particular restaurant. I ate lunch there on my first day of work in DC, and many days thereafter. And Mr. T used to frequent their free-food happy hours during a cash-strapped year when he worked for a judge after law school.

Teaism describes its three DC locations as a “collection of Asian-inspired teahouses that infuse the cultures of tea … with the informality and the casualness of America.” Given the vaguely Eastern theme to our wedding, the pan-Asian food is a perfect fit! And our collection of guests are mostly the type to appreciate a bit of “casualness.” The space itself is quite pleasant, with a sunny upstairs level and a peaceful downstairs with a koi pond. (Although it’s more common to rent only the downstairs, we will take over the whole space for our reception.)

(Downstairs at Teaism, and the wonderful pond)

Best of all … no site fee! We pay only for food/drink and some reasonable staffing charges. Although we must meet a minimum in order to close the restaurant, our total charges should be less than the average DC site fee (and those are before food and drink!). Plus, compared to most of the places we viewed, a restaurant comes with tables and chairs, plates and glasses, and even decorations already in place. Our only concern was the small-ish size (and maybe some snobbery about “getting married in a restaurant”), but every time the mind went there, it swung enthusiastically back to NO SITE FEE. And the fact that the food and decor fit our theme so very well. And did I mention NO SITE FEE?

(Upstairs)

We met with the catering manager today, and she was both pleasant and helpful. They seem flexible about changing up the menu options, letting us bring in decorations, and basically making things however we want them. She pointed out that their goal is for the process to be “casual and relaxing” like the restaurant itself. So far, I have high hopes. While the casual setting wouldn’t be the ideal choice of every wedding couple, Mr. T and I feel it suits us well….

Note for our DC friends — weddings may not be common at Teaism, but they frequently host events like rehearsal dinners and baby showers. And of course, there’s always the restaurants themselves, whenever you-all are in town!

(P.S. The restaurant was featured on Rachael Ray’s “$40 a Day” show last April, and, in connection with that show, the Food Network published the Teaism recipes for chai and ginger scones. Enjoy!)