Chinese Vietnamese Wedding in Austin- Need a little help

leslie.maron

Hi,I just got engaged to a wonderful man who's family is Vietnamese livingfrom Austin TX. We are planning to have two weddings, an American traditional in DC and a Chinese/Vietnamese wedding in Austin. I have absolutely no clue what this entails and was hoping someone who has been through this can give me advice on what to expect. I know his family has big expectations and I definitely don't want to disappoint anyone or leave out important details specific to the culture. Also, living in DC, and having only been to Austin once, can anyone recommend a good reception venue/restaurant, etc for this occasion? Thanks a million in advance.

reddie36

My brother-in-law is Chinese so I have some input on Chinese restaurants in Austin, which I know many Vietnamese and Chinese couples choose to have the 'reception' or banquet for the wedding at. I'm assuming you will not be doing another ceremony here in Austin? If so - are they Catholic? that may affect what they want you to do. I would probably start by asking them what they would like for the part of the celebration here in Austin. Of course, Houston is the best place for Chinese food itself, but we have a couple good places that are also nice that you could check into for the ceremony. Kim Son is the newest and the nicest place in the newish Asian center in North Austin. They have a large ballroom type area seperate from the main dining area for events, and the food is pretty good. IMO - Din Ho has the best food but the place is lacking in ambiance and there is no real divider so you'd have to take over the whole place. Chinatown is also nice but older and kind of $$. If you are not doing the whole banquet thing then just completly ignore me. : )

ChrisChelsea10/08

Try Fortune Restaraunt, 10901 north lamar, there new and supposidly have a reall nice room for events.

TXAnn

We are going to have our rehearsal dinner at a Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant and were probably going to check out Sea Dragon and Fortune Chinese Restaurant (formerly Kim Son). First Chinese BBQ is my favorite for food, but probably not appropriate for a formal banquet. We've thought about renting out a space and having them cater, though! http://www.seadragontx.com/ http://www.fortuneaustin.com/ http://www.firstchinesebbq.com/ You should also check out: http://www.chinatownaustin.com/ As for the actual wedding ceremonies... I am learning as I go. So far it sounds like the groom's family is supposed to bring symbolic gifts to the girl's family. You may want to check out the "Customs and Traditions" board for full tradition explanations. I've browsed there before and the girls are very knowledgeable! Good luck!!!

stefami

I am Chinese/Vietnamese and DH is Hispanic and we just went through this in July in Austin.  Typically the Chinese ceremony involves the groom and his entourage showing up at the bride's family's house in the morning bearing gifts ( 8 - 10 trays of gifts/food wrapped in red paper ... depending on the bride's family and includes a roasted pig.)  Sometimes the groom must "prove" his love by doing silly things like feats of strengths or serenading the bride, etc ( we skipped this part).  The groom is invited in and then the bride is presented.   The groom presents his gifts to the family ( the trays) that also include a "bridal price" in a set dollar amount.  The bride and groom light incense to welcome in the ancestors.  Then the bride and groom serve tea to the elders in her family and then in return, they receive red envelopes ( filled with money!).  Afterwards, everyone eats and then everyone proceeds to the grooms house.  Typically the bride's parents do not go though cause that is indicative of the bride leaving her  family to go to the groom's family.  The couple must arrive at the groom's house at a designated time which is their "happy hour" or most auspicious time for their chinese astrological signs. More incense is lit and more tea is served and more red envelopes are received.  When serving the groom's parents (and somes some old school aunts and uncles), the bride is given jewelry by those relatives.  Afterwards, everyone eats again.The reception is typically held in the evening at a Chinese restaurant banquet style(8 courses plus cake).  The 2 places available in Austin are Sea Dragon and now Fortune.  Sea Dragon has been in business for a long time ( 15+ years I believe) and the food is always consistently good.  They can accomodate up to 350 people but that will be a tight squeeze.  The decor is dated, but there is a decorator that makes it look much nicer (at an additional cost).  Pictures on their website under "Party" should give you an idea of what it will look like. Fortune is new to the area.  It is located in the new Chinatown center and it opened in the last couple of months.  The building was previously leased by Kim Son, but that restaurant fell through because they could not afford to make rent.  Kim Son filed banruptcy and closed in Dec. 2008 and made off with a lot of people's deposits for banquets that were scheduled after that date (they lied and told people they were not going to close but there were rumors).  Fortune has different owners and the food is good on a daily basis, but I do not know how good their banquet food is.  The decor (if the same as the previous) was much nicer and fancier ( I remember glass chandeliers).  I believe they can accomodate up to 500 people but don't quote me on that.  For the reception, typically, the first hour, a special area is set up and all the guests take pictures with the bride and groom as they are coming in.  Then the couple go into the banquet and there is an MC that introduces both sides of the families.  Dinner is served and at some point, the bride and groom and parents go to every table and toast the individual table as a thank you.  Then comes the cake cutting and the first dance.  Throughout the evening, the bride may have several dress changes (I had 2 changes).  Sorry for the information overload.  Feel free to email me if you have any questions: stefami @ hotmail dot com.  Also check out Chinese Weddings by the Knot under the Cultural Weddings Board.   For our morning ceremony, we did change things up a little since DH was not Asian so we modified some things.  Another good idea is to talk to FI's parents about what is expected because every family does things a little differently.  Good Luck!