Mrs. Cream Puff, San Francisco Bay Area
Age and Occupation: 25, Illustrator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Merchandise Planner
Engagement Date: May 27, 2007
Wedding Date: August, 2008
Blogging Since: February 7, 2008
Venue: Ceremony at Crissy Field and Reception at the Green Room
About Me: I never dreamed about my wedding as a little girl because I was too busy playing in the mud or pretending to be Martha Stewart–but now that it's here, I'm having a fabulous time DIYing everything in sight! We’re planning a very fun multicultural wedding (I'm Jewish and Mr. Cream Puff is Chinese), filled with as many personal details as I can muster.
Rehearsal Dinner!
June 6th, 2008 @ 12:00 pm by Mrs. Cream Puff
The main thing we’re going for with this wedding is FUN. And also multicultural. We really want the wedding festivities to be a reflection of who we are, and we want to show people a good time…so when it came to planning the rehearsal dinner and day-after brunch, the first thing I thought of was a Chinese Dinner and Bagels n’ Lox Breakfast. Sadly, finding a location for a bagel brunch in San Francisco is kind of hard…so we’re just going to have a regular brunch. However, we still really liked the idea of having chinese food for dinner.
Planning the rehearsal dinner has been kind of funny. Seeing as how Mr. Cream Puff’s parents are Chinese, they know all the great authentic Chinese places in the bay area. However, we also have to consider the fact that the majority of the out-of-town guests are from my family, so feeding a bunch of Jews shark fin soup and sea cucumbers might not go over well. Plus, most of their favorite restaurants are in Oakland Chinatown, and we couldn’t ask people to come all the way from the city to Oakland for dinner.
Then we came across this place, which is right smack in San Francisco’s Chinatown:
The second we walked in the door, I fell madly in love. It has an old touristy San Francisco Chinatown feel–totally kitchy and fun.
And…it has KARAOKE! I am thrilled. Beyond thrilled. We get an entire room all to ourselves:
Okay, so the food is not authentic Chinese. It’s totally white-people-tourist-food. But that ought to please my family just fine (because although they say they are adventurous, I’m not really sure that they are). The other benefit of eating here is that it is a mere block from Golden Gate Bakery, maker of the world’s best Don Tot, my most favorite Chinese dessert (it’s like a custard with a delicious DELICIOUS buttery, flakey crust), which we will be bringing in for dessert.
In addition, it’s right in the heart of Chinatown, and within walking distance from the hotel we blocked rooms at…which means we can walk there from the hotel, through the famous Chinatown gate. I’m super excited to share San Francisco with our guests. This is going to be so fun!!
(this picture from here)
After dinner, we can walk around Chinatown!
Now that most of the plans are set, I am starting to get really, really excited. Last week while I was in Oregon visiting my parents, my mom and I went shopping and got our rehearsal dinner outfits. Here’s my dress (not me, haha–photo from Nordstrom):
So excited!!
18 Responses to “Rehearsal Dinner!”
Aw! Your rehearsal is going to be so much fun!
(And I love the dress you picked! So cute!)
sounds like a lot of fun! just wondering - at what hotel did you block rooms? I’m trying to figure out a good place to block rooms - since so many of our guests are making a SF weekend out of our wedding, I wanted something central for tourists!
Mmmm I love those egg tarts too 
!
You’re rehearsal dinner sounds like a LOT of fun! I love Chinatown and walking through the gate etc will give everyone that Chinatown experiance.
Also, I LOVE YOUR DRESS
I had the SAME problem, and more than once. Finding Chinese food to make both the Chinese and non-Chinese happy is a tough task! So glad you found a place that worked though, good for you.
mmMMmm… me want eggtarts…
I just got that dress in salmon pink color. I may either wear it to breakfast the morning of our wedding or as my “travelling dress.” I am not sure yet.
Hehehe well I doubt you’d be serving Shark Fin Soup at a rehearsal dinner, it’s EXPENSIVE! We’re having it for our wedding reception.
Is that how you call those egg tarts? They’re more like D-AH-N TAT. I’ve never heard anyone call them DON TOT!
looks like a lot of fun!!!
out of curiosity though, how did his parents take the “non-authenticity” of the food? i know some of the more traditional folks are all about the food and not the venue… so i was just wondering how one can delicately handle that situation.
i also wanted to say, im still drooling over your invitations!!! amazing!!!
Those egg tarts are SO. GOOD. When I lived in China I used to run out of work all the time to grab some (although we called them dan ta up north). What a fabulous idea!
The decor of Far East Cafe is great! I love their mini Chinatown gate. How did you find it again? I’ve been to that bakery! I really liked their coconut tart.
Cute dress!
Hey Ms. CP - that’s where we have our 2nd day Chinese Reception and just FYI - for the banquets, they have the authentic Chinese dishes, I think the regular includes more “touristy” dishes. The upstairs is fab! Have so much fuN!
i meant regular menu downstairs … kekeke. =0)
Food good. karaoke. awesome - have fun!
You know, I always pass by that restaurant when I go home and wondered how it is. I do see quite a few tourists coming out of there. I LOOOVE Golden Gate Bakery’s egg tarts!! It makes me sad when they are closed for vacation ;_;
Uhm, LOVING that dress! Adorable.
As far as the venue - sounds like it’s going to be a blast! I’m a big -or shall I say - huge fan of karaoke.
Sounds like a great plan! And I love don tots.
That dress is very sweet!
Thanks you guys!!
@C– I will PM you.
@sassygirl–if you google “don tot” you’ll come up with a recipe for them.
@MM–his parents are totally cool with it. Most of the OOT guests are our family, and I think they realized that my family wouldn’t really appreciate good chinese food anyway. They’ve been around me enough to realize how picky we can be (unfortunately). Also, his family is totally laid back.
@katya–I have no idea how we found it. We spent a lot of time googling things. I think Mr. CP’s parents found it, eventually.
@MRS. Cherry Blossom–I didn’t know you had your second reception there!! That’s so cool! Thanks for the tip about the food!
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