I went to my first Chinese Wedding Reception today. This wedding deserves special distinction because not only was it my first Chinese Reception but it is the first wedding I have ever attended on a Sunday. My friend, Amy married her ballroom dance partner, Larry, in the Pacific Palisades earlier in the day and then later, we attended the Chinese Reception at NBC Seafood in Monterey Park. The wedding was very pretty. I liked the fall flowers that decorated the charming chapel. The chapel itself was unique. It looked like a little cottage house but also a barn at the same time. 
The big barn doors slide open so half of the chapel was open to the outside. It made for a unique look. The inside of the chapel, if I had to guess, probably only sat about 40 people. There were just two rows of wooden benches that sat about 3 people to a bench. Amy also had seating set up off the barn doors. In all, if I had to guess, I think she had a total of 75-100 people at her wedding. Joining us at the wedding were my friends: Caroline and Minh, Jon and Danielle, and Toby. Plus, there were the girls I went to Vegas with but most of them were in the Wedding Party. 
Beurge Chapel was situated in a park and its main feature was this huge tree. If I was a kid I would totally have loved to climb that tree but alas people mostly took pictures in front of it. The wedding itself wasn't very long. The one notable thing was the very excited and smiley pastor. Boy was he ever excited. 
The bridesmaids dresses were super pretty and sophisticated. All the girls looked great. Amy's dress was also very pretty. It was cut out in the back and strapped together sort of like a bra (I know I am so not describing this right) which I had never seen before. The isle to the front of the chapel was covered in pretty multi colored rose pedals. It was the one thing I had planned on doing for my wedding but the rain killed. The wedding didn't last too long. Afterward Amy had some snacks and people began taking quite a few pictures. We chatted a bit with our friends and took some more pictures and then we left. All we knew was that we were hungry. We were thinking about having lunch along the beach but it was so very cloudy along the coast. Lucky for Amy the little pocket where her chapel was was very sunny but a mile down the street all doom and gloom. So we left the Santa Monica area and drove to Chinatown and in keeping with the theme of the wedding we stopped at our favorite Dim Sum place and grabbed some "boobies" to go. Then we decided to catch a movie, Social Network while we waited for the reception.
The reception itself was very fun. I had fun observing everyone. For the reception the bride changes into a red satin dress. My college roommate Carmen, who is Chinese had done this at her wedding reception but her dinner was more traditional. We sat down at our table to discover a menu that outlined a 10-course meal!
With a big lazy susan in the middle of the table the waiters basically brought dish after dish to the table. We started with a plate of pork and ended with mango pudding. 
In addition to the food there were other festive events like games. Amy and Larry played a Newlywed "How Well Do You Know Your Partner" game and then Amy had to try and find her groom amongst several of the male guests. 
She got to hubby's bearded face and she knew it wasn't her hubby. Hubby joked and said if she thought he was her hubby then Amy would have a problem. Very funny babe! There was also the "Whose been married longest contest?" And it turns out Amy has some grand parents who have been together for 60 years! 
Then Regul had helped Amy edit a montage of photos and videos together so we saw the evolution of Amy and Larry. I thought that was nice as you always want to know a couple's back story. And finally there was some dancing but we left shortly after that started as it was a school night for me.
The big barn doors slide open so half of the chapel was open to the outside. It made for a unique look. The inside of the chapel, if I had to guess, probably only sat about 40 people. There were just two rows of wooden benches that sat about 3 people to a bench. Amy also had seating set up off the barn doors. In all, if I had to guess, I think she had a total of 75-100 people at her wedding. Joining us at the wedding were my friends: Caroline and Minh, Jon and Danielle, and Toby. Plus, there were the girls I went to Vegas with but most of them were in the Wedding Party. 
Beurge Chapel was situated in a park and its main feature was this huge tree. If I was a kid I would totally have loved to climb that tree but alas people mostly took pictures in front of it. The wedding itself wasn't very long. The one notable thing was the very excited and smiley pastor. Boy was he ever excited. 
The bridesmaids dresses were super pretty and sophisticated. All the girls looked great. Amy's dress was also very pretty. It was cut out in the back and strapped together sort of like a bra (I know I am so not describing this right) which I had never seen before. The isle to the front of the chapel was covered in pretty multi colored rose pedals. It was the one thing I had planned on doing for my wedding but the rain killed. The wedding didn't last too long. Afterward Amy had some snacks and people began taking quite a few pictures. We chatted a bit with our friends and took some more pictures and then we left. All we knew was that we were hungry. We were thinking about having lunch along the beach but it was so very cloudy along the coast. Lucky for Amy the little pocket where her chapel was was very sunny but a mile down the street all doom and gloom. So we left the Santa Monica area and drove to Chinatown and in keeping with the theme of the wedding we stopped at our favorite Dim Sum place and grabbed some "boobies" to go. Then we decided to catch a movie, Social Network while we waited for the reception.
The reception itself was very fun. I had fun observing everyone. For the reception the bride changes into a red satin dress. My college roommate Carmen, who is Chinese had done this at her wedding reception but her dinner was more traditional. We sat down at our table to discover a menu that outlined a 10-course meal!
With a big lazy susan in the middle of the table the waiters basically brought dish after dish to the table. We started with a plate of pork and ended with mango pudding. 
In addition to the food there were other festive events like games. Amy and Larry played a Newlywed "How Well Do You Know Your Partner" game and then Amy had to try and find her groom amongst several of the male guests. 
She got to hubby's bearded face and she knew it wasn't her hubby. Hubby joked and said if she thought he was her hubby then Amy would have a problem. Very funny babe! There was also the "Whose been married longest contest?" And it turns out Amy has some grand parents who have been together for 60 years! 
Then Regul had helped Amy edit a montage of photos and videos together so we saw the evolution of Amy and Larry. I thought that was nice as you always want to know a couple's back story. And finally there was some dancing but we left shortly after that started as it was a school night for me.
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