Our Wedding Reception at Silver Pearl Restaurant

Friday, August 31, 2018
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Kmart Lightbox
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Bridal Table
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception DIY Donut WallSilver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Naked Cake
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Bridal Party
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Bridal Entrance
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Bombonieres
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Bombonieres
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Bridal Entrance
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception David La MC
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Dance Floor
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Champagne Tower
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Garter Toss
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception Dance Floor
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Menu
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Games
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Bridal Table
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Bridal Table
Silver Pearl Restaurant Wedding Reception

Reception at: Silver Pearl Seafood Restaurant, Cabramatta
Photos by: Clarzzique Photography & Videography
Make up & Hair: Style Me Wedding & Events
Wedding Cake by: NC Sweet Zone
Wedding Corset by: Tran (Wedding Dress Maker - 0411456125; Fairfield NSW area)
Wedding Skirt by: Jurgita Bridal (Melanie Skirt) and Asos Bridal (lining customized by me)
Floral Crown(s) by: Made with Love Designz
Floral Wrist Corsage by: Curious Floral 

After a year and a half of wedding stress, Hai and I had finally made it to the Ultimate Party - our wedding reception!
It was held at Silver Pearl Seafood Restaurant on 5th May 2018. We chose this place for a number of reasons - we grew up in the area, many friends of ours have had their weddings in the Cabramatta region, and we love the fact that we get a ten course meal and an option to supply our own alcohol.
It was a wonderful night, and bloody oath, me and Hai worked so hard towards this.

So, below is a brief  breakdown of how we planned our special night. I hope it can serve as a brief guide to newly engaged couples out there.

Booking the Restaurant
A year before our day, we approached the restaurant owner, who we called 'Auntie Ping'. We had simply walked into the restaurant during the day as they were busiest at night. She was a very fiery, passionate and efficient lady and we quickly paid our non-refundable $1000 deposit to hold the venue for the night.
We went through the wedding package, which works around how many guests/tables we wish to invite. Each table holds 10 people. Auntie Ping mentioned that a good amount is 20 tables (200 people) and can accomodate upwards of 40 tables (400 people or more).
There was wedding packages for 25-29 tables or 30+ tables. We had opted for the 30 table package.

The Wedding Package
Silver Pearl was really flexible. We settled and paid the bill on our wedding night.
The total amount was based on the wedding menu, multiplied by how many tables we had, as opposed to per head.
And because we picked the 30+ tables option, Silver Pearl provided the following:

- Orange juice and soft drink
- Printed wedding invitations (unlimited)
- Wedding Cake*
- Wedding car and chauffeur *
- Wedding Singer*
- Wedding MC*
- Live Wedding Band*
- One Security guard
- One "free trial table" where up to 10 people can come in and taste test the Wedding Menu (this is negotiated with Auntie Ping)

*An amount was refunded to you if you didn't go with Silverpearl's options/or provided your own

The 25-29 Tables options provided all that I listed above, except the MC and Wedding Band were not provided, and possibly no free trial table.

Menu
Silverpearl had four menus to choose from, all with different price ranges. I don't want to disclose too much because prices change every year, so the price ranged from around  $890 to $1180 per table at the time we had booked. We also had the option to swap out dishes as we saw fit. We chose the below menu:

1. BBQ Suckling Pig and Jelly Fish Platter
2. Steamed Baby Scallops
3. Chiu Chow Spring Rolls
4. Live Lobster with XO Sauce (with complimentary noodles)
5. Fish Maw Seafood Soup
6.Seafood in Bird's Nest
7. Steamed Live Silver Perch
8. Silver Pearl's Chef's special fried rice
9. Sweet Red Bean and Lotus Seed Soup (can't swap out)
10. Fresh Fruit Platter (can't swap out)

We had made a special request to get the Suckling Pig and that bought the price up because Auntie Ping had to book one pig per table and the price can vary from each butcher.
Our Vegetarian menu were 5 course and they cost $30 per head. Non-seafood dishes were $20 per head, and that was Crispy Chicken and Rice. This was added to the Bill.

Alcohol/Donut Wall
I loved the fact that Silver Pearl allowed us to provide our own alcohol (but served by RSA trained barstaff and waiters of course). Hai and I had our dear friends provide a contact that provided a good deal for us.
We had 31 tables in total so we bought 30 bottles of Hennessy VSOP; 31 bottles of Red Wine; 31 bottles of White Wine (we put down one of each per table) and 15 cases of 24pk Asahi Beer . This proved to be enough for our 310+ guests and we had quite a few left over (around 6 bottles of Hennessy, 8 bottles of Wine and 3 cases of beer).

Hai made our Donut Wall! He is so talented. He spent around $200 for the wood, spokes, spray paint, and Donut signage (this we bought from Ebay). I had then gone to Donut King to buy 130 ice donuts and 70 mini donuts. They were a huge hit with our guests!

Wedding Cake
Hai and I wanted to keep our cake order simple. We didn't go with the complimentary cake from Silver Pearl because we wanted to have more choice for flavours. We opted for a 2-tier Red Velvet semi-naked cake from NC Sweetzone. Ngo was so easy to work with and such a talented baker! She was able to buy and prepare native Australian flowers and decorate it to our liking. We left our Cake toppers (a One Punch Man and Avatar Korra nendoroid bought from Japan Toys) at the venue and Ngo placed them on top before we arrived.

Decor
Our lightbox that displayed our hashtag #HiHaiAndNatNat, we had bought from Kmart and displayed it where the guests signed their names.

For the light up letters, we had a good friend of ours from Vegas Night Productions provide us ones that displayed "H<3N" and they stood perfectly at perfect height in front of the Bridal Table. Vegas Night Productions had installed it the night before and picked up the letters the next night.

MC - David La
We hired David La, a humble MC that was recommended to us by Auntie Ping. He spoke English, Chinese and Vietnamese and was very organised. He went through our itinerary with us and memorized it all. One of the best things he did was gather our family and friends that were to be announced and put them in a area ready to walk out when ready. It saved alot of time and avoided awkward moments of pausing and waiting for family members to fumble from their chairs.
And to hire him was very affordable. I won't disclose the exact cost because David may change his rates in the near future but I can say it was under $400 for his services.

Brief Itinerary

6pm - Guests Arrive; sign the Guest Book and find seats
6.30pm - Photos with the Guests
7.30pm - MC announcements and guests are seated (Our MC waited for about 90% guests to arrive, and also asked for our permission to start - so this start time can vary)
7.45pm - First course served (the Kitchen is on standby to start serving food as soon the MC starts)
Family Acknowledgements, Bridal Party Entrance, Wedding Toast
8pm - Wedding Band Starts
8.15pm - First Dance
8.30pm - Hai's Sister Speech; Maid of Honour and Best Woman Speech
8.45pm - Wedding Band Plays
9pm - Wedding Games hosted by Friend (Dice Drinking Game + Lip Sync Battle)
9.30pm - Maid of Honour and Best Man speech
9.40pm - Cake Cutting, cake is then served at Dessert Table, Donut Wall is open
10pm - Groom & Bride Speech
10.20pm - Bouquet Toss & Garter Toss
10.30pm - DJ starts, Dance Floor lights dim
11.30pm - Wedding Reception finishes

While this all happened, we had close friends counting the Red Pockets in a secure room (they were finished by 7.30pm!); Hai and I toasted every table with a drink; and our Photobooth was open.
We designated one of our groomsmen to be our "Runner" - someone that was in charge of keeping everyone on schedule and could make decisions on our behalf. This really helped as he coordinated with the MC and Auntie Ping to ensure the night ran smoothly without stressing us out too much.

Other Details
Auntie Ping did not tell us about this at all, but there was a Champagne Glass Tower available to us. It was complimentary, so it was a nice touch. After the family was announced and we had the toast, our MC ushered us over and Hai got to pop the champagne bottle and pour into the top glass making a nice waterfall effect and created an opportunity for people to cheer.

I chose the chair ribbon and napkin colour scheme. Auntie Ping had a great variety of colours to choose from - such as blue, pinks reds and gold. I decided to go for a more sophisticated look and opted for silver chair ribbons and grey and white napkins. Auntie Ping said it was very elegant.

One great service that Silver Pearl provided was lending us items for our Vietnamese tea ceremony. I was freaking out because tea ceremony stuff is a hassle to get and it cost money. Luckily we just asked Auntie Ping and she was enthusiastic to show us the Bridal Room. And in that room, behind the massive curtain were mountains of Red Trays (for the food offerings) and their lids, tea pots, candle holders, table clothes and other nick nacks. We borrowed 8 trays, a tea pot with cups, table cloth and candle holders. We then went to Eastland Supermarkets to buy the right sized "Phoenix" candles with crazy gold designs.

For my garter - I ordered a custom Star Wars garter with black lace and white ribbon from Fluer Rogue Designs. It was so beautiful and Cristina is so lovely and talented.

Thank you Silver Pearl for an amazing Reception. Together with the Civil Ceremony, it was indeed the best day of our lives.

Any questions? Or you want to talk about any wedding stress?
Email me - lucyandtherunaways@gmail.com :)

46 comments :

  1. You look so beautiful! Love your wedding dress and all of the photos! xoxo

    Vildana from Living Like V

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the photos! Beautiful ♥ Lovely wedding!

    londonkidx.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your lovely comment :) I'm following you, hope you can follow me back.

      Delete
  3. THat looks like so much fun.
    Love the pics.

    Ann
    https://roomsofinspiration.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. You look gorgeous!!

    www.brooklynglam.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. First of all congratulations! What a gorgeous wedding,love everything,you look stunning and everyone are so happy. Beautiful venue, amazing reception, I wish you both happiness, health and a wonderful life together. xoxo Cris
    https://photosbycris.blogspot.com/p/lingerie-and-intimates.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the well wishes, and for your lovely comments!

      Delete
  6. Congratulations- It's so easy to notice that your special day went well :-)
    You looked so stunning and pretty. So many nice wedding pictures here. Tahnk you for sharing them with us xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting! And thank you for your well wishes :)

      Delete
  7. In love with that happy atmosphere, it's giving us serious chills! What a beautiful moment it must been :D

    With love and light ☀

    Patricia & Miguel
    www.freeoversea.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh my this was DREAMY!!! It looks like you had so much fun, loved the donuts too
    xx
    Anastasia
    http://www.natbees.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes my donuts were my favorite :)

      Natalie
      www.lucyandtherunaways.com

      Delete
  9. Perfect wedding reception my dear, you look amazing in this dress :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! It was an amazing night :)

      Natalie
      www.lucyandtherunaways.com

      Delete
  10. I am completely obsessed with that donut wall. Most liquor stores will let you return any unopened bottles if you need to!

    Best wishes,
    Patty
    GoodBetterBestFood.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Patty! Yes my husband did a great job :)
      We ended up returning the bottles which saved us alot of money!

      Delete
  11. Your wedding reception looks so lovely! All the personal touches are so cute, and you look gorgeous!

    x Kara | http://karascloset.net

    ReplyDelete
  12. You look so beautiful and so happy. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congratulations! Such a beautiful photos dear!
    Thanks for sharing! xx
    www.recklessdiary.ru

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is so dreamy and so beautiful. So much happiness in each shot. Congratulations to y'all!

    https://www.missymayification.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  15. Everything looks incredible. Congratulations! I hope you have many happy years together and always look back fondly on this day.

    Kathrin | Polar Bear Style

    ReplyDelete
  16. It looks amazing! Congrats on the wedding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your well wishes :)

      Natalie
      www.lucyandtherunaways.com

      Delete
  17. Your wedding was beautiful!!! Love your dress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww thank you! my dress was one of my favorite parts :)

      Delete
  18. Thank you for visiting! I am following you, thanks for following me!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Camila, thank you for visiting! It was a lovely night :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. therefore, I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. Fotografin

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing blog that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free. commercial maintenance services

    ReplyDelete
  22. This is the type of information I’ve long been trying to find. Thank you for writing this information. best app for instagram likes and followers android

    ReplyDelete

Thank you all for your comments, I appreciate the support!
Don't forget to follow me on Instagram
x Natalie

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...