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Mrs. Eggplant, San Francisco Age and Occupation: 28, Human Resources Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Associate Marketing Manager Engagement Date: January 19, 2007 Wedding Date: October 20, 2007 Blogging Since: May 31, 2007 Venue: Ceremony at a cement and stained glass cathedral and reception at a boutique hotel ballroom About Me: I'm a shopping junkie who lives to discover great deals and a craft addict that loves to scrapbook and knit. My profile picture was taken on the day I got engaged which is why my smile is so huge!
About Mrs. Eggplant

My Big Pink Chinese Wedding

November 28th, 2007 @ 12:41 pm by Mrs. Eggplant

While I’m waiting for the DVD of pro pics from our Saturday wedding, I thought I’d share the pics from our crazy, pink Chinese banquet. The person who documented the day was our videographer from our Saturday wedding. In the artistic sense, his pictures leave much to be desired. I was frustrated by the end of the night because we were asked to take about a billion cheesy, posed pictures. But now that we have the photographs back, I’m happy that we at least had someone there to document the event. He even made his way around the room to get table pictures of the guests during dinner.

The banquet was very different than our wedding on Saturday. It was loud, crowded, and pretty crazy. I mentioned before that I’m an introvert. Well, all the commotion was a little overwhelming to me. I found myself hiding in a the “bridal suite” (aka, a dark closet upstairs) for the first hour of the event. Guests ate dinner and left as quickly as possible. In fact, many of the attendees didn’t pay attention to the speeches or slideshow, grabbed more than one wedding favor out of the baskets, and left before dinner ended. It just felt like some just didn’t care much to be there. I predict it’s probably because most of the guests were our parents’ or grandparents’ friends and they have never met Mr. Eggplant or me before. It’s hard to care about a wedding when you don’t know the bride or groom.

Anyway, onto the pictures!

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Reduce, reuse, recycle! We brought over a few flower balls from our Saturday wedding to reuse them in our decor. smiley101 We also reused our signage and candy buffet.

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I had no control over the decisions made for our Chinese banquet. The color scheme was pink and my mom rented this very fuzzy, very pink money box from a wedding shop in the Sunset district of SF.

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Here’s a shot of our red sign-in cloth, a traditional Chinese wedding keepsake.

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The banquet room was set up with white chair covers, pink chair sashes, and pink napkins.

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Before dinner, a traditional Chinese tea ceremony was performed. Here, Mr. Eggplant’s grandma is presenting me with some gold jewelry.

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The photographer told us to stand and pretend to serve tea to my parents. Then he had us repeat fifty times. We have about a billion of these posed shots, but rotating with different people on the right. smiley101

Here’s something gross about the tea ceremony: The teacups used for the ceremony were being rinsed and reused for each participant. But they were being rinsed in the same bowl of dirty water over and over again. By the end of the ceremony, there were several shades of lipstick on the rim of each cup. Ew!

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My mom and my cousin handled all the check-in craziness.

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Our wedding invitations noted dinner was to start at 6pm. Of course, we were running on Chinese banquet time, which meant that guests didn’t start meandering in until 7:30pm.

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Mr. Eggplant decided to dress for the occasion and purchased a silk Chinese shirt.

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My dad, Mr. Toastmaster of the Year, giving his speech. He’s a really great speech writer. He used to be terrified of public speaking until he forced himself to join Toastmasters, and now he’s a pro.

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Our photographer told us to pretend to toast, and then proceeded to have us repeat the action with 50 other groups.

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Our wedding cake with a Precious Moments cake topper that matched our money box. silly

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I just LOVE the expression on my face in this picture. smiley101 Our photog asked Mr. Eggplant and me to do a “entangled arm” toast together, but we couldn’t find champagne. We poured red wine into our toasting flutes instead, hence the unsightly, dark liquid in our glasses.

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We had karaoke at the banquet and our bridal party surprised us with a sweet and funny serenade.

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Mr. Eggplant’s cousins also serenaded us with a very memorable a capella rendition of a Kelly Clarkson ballad.

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My mom and dad. smiley101


My mom and my dad at their wedding. smiley101 My mom’s dress had a fuschia phoenix down the front. Since I couldn’t fit her dress, I had one made with fuschia peonies.

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Me and my MOH. She’s so much taller than me. She’s almost as tall as Mr. Eggplant while I’m a mere 5’2″.

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Mr. Eggplant’s groomsman and his girlfriend. I posted this one up because I think it’s funny how our heads make a nice ski slope. smiley101

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We stuck our bridal party and their dates all at the same table for dinner. I’m happy that they all had a blast at the Chinese banquet because I was worried they would be bored.

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These are the very pink and frilly wedding favors that our parents picked out… I just know these will end up in a dusty drawer somewhere. silly Oh well.

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We also had a very red version of a wedding favor. Mr. Eggplant and I were arguing over which figurine is the guy and which is the girl. But I guess it doesn’t matter since these will probably be sitting a drawer somewhere too. smiley101

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And before I go, one last shot of our Precious Moments cake topper, which is now on display at my parents’ house. smiley101

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38 Responses to “My Big Pink Chinese Wedding”

1.
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Susan Eva

Wonderful! Funny about the wine/arms entwined shot.

Is your hair flower real? I love how that looks.

 
2.
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Mrs. Snow Pea (message)  473 posts, Helper bee

I love the pictures! You look so much like your mom!

 
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Mrs. Emerald (message)  901 posts, Busy bee

Was your Chinese reception at a restaurant or a hotel? At least it looks fairly nice and formal! I totally got what you meant when you said the guests didnt care much to be there since they didnt really know you. We felt the same way. They were there for Mr. E’s parents! The cardbox made me chuckle, hehe. At least you look hot! How come you didn’t wear your wedding gown again?

 
4.
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Tea

is there just one place to get wedding favors? every shower, wedding, cottilion i go to has those same things! lol.

 
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Miss Cherry Blossom (message)  696 posts, Busy bee

Awesome! Our chinese wedding will be back to back the next day - I know exactly where your chinese banquet was :) Looks nice! Ours will be just as hectic - so much to look forward to. kekeke.

 
6.
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Arivechi

that’s. a. lot. of. pink. but I can appreciate how it wasn’t your decision and our parents all seem to have their own vision for the day or the banquet. I think all parents should throw themselves more anniversary parties so that they stop fantasizing so much about their kids’ weddings.

 
7.
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clessy00

Where did you get your Chinese dress made? And I’m so glad to see a non-red qi pao at a wedding!!!! My mom and grandparent would NOT let me wear a red qi pao because they are too overused, but then I wasn’t sure if a white dress would be appropriate for such a festive event. THANKS for posting!!!

 
8.
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A

hehehehehe I feel your pain but at the same time, it’s kinda nice to be able to do this for our parents since it means so much to them.

 
9.
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Lynn

I love your dress!
I have to say that is the pinkest fuzziest money box I have ever seen, but I love that your mom picked it out. I know it thrills a mother beyond words to be able to contribute to her daughter’s wedding. To few brides today allow their mother’s input

 
10.
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dddd89

You are such a nice daughter for agreeing to all this pinkness! I admire you!

 
11.
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Mrs. Eggplant (message)  297 posts, Helper bee

Susan Eva: the hair flower is from Late Bloomer Boutique (http://store.latebloomerboutique.com/). It looked incredibly real in person too!

Snowpea: I never thought that I looked like my mom until I looked closely at her wedding pictures. Everyone used to tell me I looked like my dad. :-)

Emerald: The reception was at a Chinese restaurant that used to be a movie theater, hence the wide open space. I wasn’t allowed to wear my wedding gown again b/c it’s “bad luck” or whatevers. Bummers. I wanted more pictures in that dress! I totally loved reading your Chinese banquet reception b/c mine was so much like yours. :-) I LOVED your cake. hehe.

CherryBlossom: That restaurant has good dim sum! ;-) Where is your Chinese reception going to be?

clessy00: I got my dress at Dragon Seed in SF Chinatown. Are you from the bay area? If so, I recommend them with hesitancy. The dress made very well, but it needed some alterations and the dressmaker didn’t want to take the dress in it to fit my body because he thought it would wrinkling the design. I had to take it to my gown seamstress to get it altered separately. But if your parents don’t have a problem with you wearing white, go for it!

 
12.
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ablossoms

Where was your banquet held? I’m looking for nice Chinese restaurants to have our banquet in too in or around SF. A lot of the restaurants I’ve looked at are totally red/cheesy :0) Love your dress too!

 
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Miss Canary (message)  636 posts, Busy bee

Love the pics, Miss Eggplant!

A few weeks ago, I went to a Chinese banquet style wedding with Western food, and I have to say, I was really appalled by the way the guests behaved. The bride and groom had a traditional vows ceremony as part of the banquet (while everyone was seated at their banquet table). Then during the ENTIRE ceremony, the guests at our table talked at the top of their lungs, so we couldn’t hear a thing. They did the same during the speeches. But it wasn’t just our table… throughout what were supposed to be quiet moments, you heard that same din of chatter! Mr. C and I are terrified that it’s going to happen at our wedding! But I guess you’re right, most of the folks who go to banquets are necessarily friends of the couple… so why would they pay attention?

I attended that same wedding with my parents, and we, too left right after the last course. I was so surprised! But my mom’s response was, “We don’t dance! Why should we stay? It’s too loud in there.” :X

It’s so funny to witness these cultural differences.

 
14.
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Mary

Can someone email me the name of that restaurant? I’m not familiar with all the asian restaurants in the bay except for the ones in oakland. Thanks!

email: maryoncraigslist@hotmail.com

 
15.
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chellemx2

I’m was soo excited to see this posting! I am going to have my banquet at the same restaurant. How did you like the service the day of the resturant? I love the Precious Moments cake toppers. Too cute!!

 
16.
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Cindy

Whoa, I think you had it at the same venue that my cousin’s cousin (I’m not related to her, but my Aunt did the flowers so she showed me the pics) that she had her Chinese banquet at. It’s in South SF right?

 
17.
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Jilian

Hearing the word ‘toastmaster’ always warms my heart!! My dad was a toastmaster for forever and it brings back fond memories of international conventions and all his toastmaster friends! He was even an ID. Since he’s no longer with us - I love all things that remind me of him!

Who knows, maybe your dad and my dad are friends!

 
18.
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Mrs. Eggplant (message)  297 posts, Helper bee

Cindy: Yup, the restaurant is in SSF!

Mary/ablossoms: The restaurant is Grand Palace Seafood Restaurant and it’s located in South San Francisco. The only drawback is if you have a large group around 300 or if you choose to do a dance floor that takes up a lot of space, some of the guest have to be seated upstairs along the balcony. However, most of the balcony guests will still be able to see. The restaurant will also set up screens where they broadcast the head table to the upstairs seating. Also, the restaurant will still serve walk-in guests during dinner.

I do recommend Grand Palace for a Chinese banquet though. The food is good and they do a great job of keeping your dinner on schedule.

 
19.
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e (message)  70 posts, Worker bee

wow mrs. eggplant..i have to say, this is the best chinese banquet i’ve ever seen~! i guess i’ve seen some really bad ones~! one friend’s chinese banquet, EVERYTHING was red and gold. yuck yuck yuck..it was like a huge eyesore..another chinese banquet, they used every single type and color of flower under the sun and it looked sooo tacky…
so i have to say, in comparison to those, i rather like your pink pink banquet :) and that money box is hilarious~!

 
20.
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jen

You look great Mrs. Eggplant! The reception doesn’t look cheesy at all. I’m having only a chinese banquet reception so I’m trying to make the most of it (i.e., need to dress up the chinese restaurant and etc. hee hee).

I love your dress and have been thinking about going to Dragon Seed as well. Your review of Dragon Seed is consistent w/ the reviews I’ve been hearing. =)

Would you mind telling me where you got your gowns altered?

 
21.
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Jasmine

so much pink! i like how your dress is similar to your mom’s wedding dress. is your tall groomsman named mark? i think i went to college with him! :)

 
22.
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Mrs. Eggplant (message)  297 posts, Helper bee

jen: I got my gowns altered with Lucy and wrote a short entry about her here: http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/09/21/it-is-finished/#comments
She’s wonderful! I totally recommend her, though she is a bit expensive. But if you are thinking of going to Dragon Seed, Lucy only charged $20 to take in the chinese dress. (she has taken in other dresses from Dragon Seed as well)

Jasmine: Yup, that’s Mark. :-) What a coincidence! You must’ve gone to college with Mr. Eggplant also b/c he and Mark were roommates!

 
23.
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Jasmine

oh! when did they room together? i lived across the hall from mark his freshman year…but mr eggplant doesn’t look like his roommate from that year!

 
24.
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Mrs. Eggplant (message)  297 posts, Helper bee

Jasmine: They roomed together after Mark’s freshman year b/c Mr. Eggplant is a few years younger than him (2, i think?). Small world!

 
25.
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sarah

i love the precious moments figurines! haha it was bfs first gift to me! one with an oreo cookie! :P

 
26.
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Mrs. Eggplant (message)  297 posts, Helper bee

Miss Canary, it’s interesting to read your perspective on a chinese wedding! :-) I think most chinese people find it normal to be loud and not pay attention at a banquet. I felt bad asking my MOH to do a speech during dinner, because I just knew that no one would be listening. I told her to make it a minute or two in length, and people had a hard time holding their attention to that.

I wouldn’t worry about people being loud at your wedding. :-) Our Saturday wedding was fine. We were close family/friends with all the guests and they all wanted to experience the whole event just like we did. Yours will be just perfect!

 
27.
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Nicole

Your mom is a total fox in the old pic of her and your dad!

Also, I love how laid back you seem about the whole thing (especially the red wine in champagne flute thing). You are inspiring!

 
28.
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BaghdadBride

I love how the pink fuzzy box was for RENT…I wonder how much the shop makes off of renting the pink fuzzy box? Probably much more then it cost to construct.

You and your dress both looked gorgeous.

As for cultural differences…the chatter thing is pretty common. I’ve been to a number of South Asian weddings and a few important Arabic events and the constant din of people talking through the most important moments is always there. It’s just not considered rude like it is in the states, but it does make it hard when you’re actually tryig to pay attention and see what’s going on.

I don’t think I’d mind too much if people I didn’t know left my wedding early… especially if they brought a gift ;)

 
29.
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Jo

your parents pix is so cute! and your hubs looks exactly like an asian version of ray from everybody loves raymond :p

 
30.
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lillian

You look so pretty in your qipao. I think you look a lot like your mum. I actually met your MOH, Christine, at my cousin’s wedding back in June. We were collecting the wedding gifts together.

 
31.
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Mrs. Plum

lol - your chinese banquet sounds a lot like the way mine went! you look gorgeous!

 
32.
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bearbride (message)  309 posts, Helper bee

looked like so much fun. you are a great sport :) LOL i think the boy is on the left with the pink beret! i love your posts!!

 
33.
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kbok

i love your cheongsam! its really different and really pretty!

 
34.
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Miss Calla Lily

I love how your parents look in that pcik and how your dress simliar. too cute

 
35.
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Tram

i love the reception photo you guys have on the easel! did you get that print on canvas, and did you go through your photographers to do that?

 
36.
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kim

congrats! your reception pics are great … i was a bm for a wedding held there and knew exactly which closet you were hiding in LOL! your chinese dress is beautiful and exactly what i am looking for … if you are interested in selling please email me

 
37.
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chuen

hey ur wedding pics are beautiful
i am plannin on a weddin in sacramento this june…
i know its late but i’m so xcited
i was wonderin if you knew any good weddin banquet sites around the area…
and any other weddin advice is really appreciated

 
38.
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The Tea Party: Tea With a Side of Discipline and Faux Boobs » Weddingbee » The Wedding Blog

[...] given tea didn’t have to share the same teacups (gross otherwise, right? but that’s how it’s usually done).Right before the ceremony started my parents scolded me in front of evvverybody for not having [...]

 


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Mrs. Eggplant
Mrs. Eggplant Mrs. Eggplant, San Francisco Age and Occupation: 28, Human Resources Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Associate Marketing Manager Engagement Date: January 19, 2007 Wedding Date: October 20, 2007 Blogging Since: May 31, 2007 Venue: Ceremony at a cement and stained glass cathedral and reception at a boutique hotel ballroom About Me: I'm a shopping junkie who lives to discover great deals and a craft addict that loves to scrapbook and knit. My profile picture was taken on the day I got engaged which is why my smile is so huge!
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