slurpee's reviews

Grade: B+

We had our 2nd bay area reception at Asian Pearl. We had a lot of compliments about the food from our guests. My husband's parents were very pleased with the food as well. Husband and I were just relieved that everyone was happy. :)

We booked the smaller, private room for 11 tables. Actually, I didn't do any of the planning for our bay area reception. I let my MIL take care of the details. The room was pretty tight, but it was nice to have privacy from the main restaurant. Depending on the size of your party, they probably book one side or the other.

The banquet prices were very decent, as it's a relatively new restaurant. The decor was clean and modern. Since hub's mom did most of the planning, we didn't even see the place before booking. The nice bonus that we found out 2 days before our dinner was that the place had 2 flat screen tv monitors and a sound system. Thus, we were able to play our favorite songs and also our Same-Day Edit and wedding video! It took them a good full hour to figure out how to get sound to play on our side of the room though, so it was a bit stressful. Oh, and beware, the floors are a bit slippery when wearing heels!

Service was good throughout our dinner. The wait staff was friendly, helpful and quick.

Our menu:

Assorted Barbeque Platter (good)
Sauteed Conch and Coral Clams in XO Sauce (good)
Shrimp Stuffed Crab Claws (good)
Braised Shark's Fins Soup with Bamboo and Chicken (forgetful)
Braised Abalone with Mushrooms (good)
Crispy Fried Chicken (good)
Stir-fry Lobsters with Ginger and Scallions (i prefer the larger lobsters)
Steamed Live Fish (a bit bland)
Yang Zhou Fried Rice (good)
Dessert (almond cookies were good)

They charge a flat corkage fee per table ($20) and $5 per soda, which is ridiculous because they are usually included at a lot of restaurants here in the OC. So talk to the catering manager and see if you can bring in your own soda.

Overall, if I were looking for a simple Chinese banquet dinner place, this would be a solid choice. The decor was not loud and tacky, so I appreciated that! We stayed very low key for our second reception, and this was a perfect choice. And we got a lot of compliments from guests that the food was good, so whew!

The other venue we were considering was Koi Palace. Beautiful interior but pricey compared to many other restaurants. But had I not had our SoCal reception and I was absolutely stuck with choosing a Chinese restaurant, I would have been fine with Koi Palace. And that says a lot! :P

This review is for Vivian's make-up workshop (May 2009).

Vivian's all-day class was very fun and informative! Highly recommended. She covered how best to contour according to face shapes. She is such a great make-up artist, amazing to watch the transformations!

Her eye make-up techniques are awesome too! Most of her team was there too, so that we got about one MUA for every two workshop attendees.

I use my brush set daily now and spend more time on contouring and eyes.

Vivian completely spoiled us as far as catering too.

The workshop is great for those who have no clue as to how to apply make-up (me!), and semi-pros who just want to refine their skills. :) Pros may find the class more on the basic side.

Grade: C+

We held our rehearsal dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy for approximately 40 people, so this review is for their banquets catering and not the main restaurant. Kim, the banquets/catering manager, was professional and quick to return calls. We booked the outside cafe because our dinner was held on a summer evening. The ambiance was fun and just as we wanted for a rehearsal dinner. The servers were friendly. We ordered from their banquets/catering menu, which includes 2 salads, 2 appetizers, 2 pastas, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts. LOTS of food for the cost per person (~$30 not including tax, tip or drinks). So for your money's worth, it is a great place to hold a big party because you get a lot of food, especially if you like family-style dinners. We liked the rigatoni d chicken pesto, stuffed mushrooms, the DESSERTS (tiramisu and creme brulee).

Just OK, nothing special: the caesar and maggiano's salads, calamari

My gripes were: 1/ the food was a bit on the salty side (lasagna, salmon, chicken parmesan) 2/the food came out very slowly (cooking for large parties on a busy thursday night)

But it was a fun night, and had the food come out more quickly and been less salty, we would have been even happier campers.

Grade: A

Loved our pocketfolds! A+ here. Prices were decent, and I loved the quality and design of the pocketfolds I selected.

However, the backing paper that I later ordered were definitely overpriced. I could have purchased the same for much less.

Also, the pocketfolds I ordered ended up being backordered and I was not informed via e-mail or phone call. Only when I called to check on the order did they let me know. Thus, I had to order two different colors of pocketfolds to make sure invitations were sent out on time. They did express mail the package to me, but I was disappointed about the backorder. Why have it available on the site when there is not enough to order?

On the plus side, the site is easy to use and customer service was decent. I loved our pocketfold invitations. I did not go through mygatsby for printing. Phyllis of Sweet Paper Studio took care of the design and printing, and we attached this card to the backing paper and pocketfold from mygatsby.

Out of the card sites available, mygatsby was among my favorites. Also all fairly priced and loved that I could proof the invitations online! Very easy to use and lots of selection! To keep prices low, they do not have a physical location that is open to the public. So it is not as convenient if you prefer actual locations rather than ordering purely online.

Grade: B

We purchased a white gold and diamond necklace and earring set from NQ Jewellers. The quality is decent, but the styles are not the sleekest and prettiest. They design a lot of their own jewelry and have a bit of a monopoly in the Little Saigon area, because they have stores everywhere (Ngoc Quang). Their sales representatives are rather pushy but friendly, and they must receive commission to urge you so much. But their prices are fair, and when compared to the general jewelry market, a lot of times a great deal! For basic jewelry sets and GIA diamonds, NQ Jewellers is a pretty safe bet. However, for sleeker and cleaner designs, some of the higher end stores or brands would be a better choice. They also sell some of high end brands at the store, so the quality would be the same as they would be anywhere (ordered directly from the manufacturer). Definitely bargain for the best deal possible! Typically, they will offer a slight percentage discount, but research your prices before you head into their stores. They swarm all around you in hopes of making a sale.

Grade: A-

I purchased the groom's Tag Heuer watch at Tick Tock. He loved it! They have nice high end watches and the store is very clean and elegant, even being in the midst of Little Saigon. Research prices and come prepared.

Grade: B+

Full review to come.

Grade: A

We purchased our bridesmaids' gifts through Tiffany and Company. Most girls love receiving blue boxes, and my bridesmaids were no exception. They were very appreciative of their gifts, and two of them expressed that these were their first blue boxes!

Considering I purchased these gifts so far in advance, I only wish Tiffany's had a better return/exchange policy just in case I needed to exchange them for different styles closer to the wedding.

The representative in San Diego was cordial; however, it did take some time for us to receive assistance.

As with all Tiffany items, the necklaces were all simple and beautiful but definitely overpriced for sterling silver. But what we pay for the brand and that coveted blue box...

Grade: A+

So let me first disclose that Mimi is my sister; however, I can honestly say that she is super talented and has an amazing eye. We are incredibly lucky to have had her for a photographer. We had so much fun at our engagement session - she made us feel very comfortable and guided us when needed (which way to look, what smiles look great, look in a certain way, told us when to fix our hair or clothes...). But for the most part, she let us just have fun together naturally. Mimi is very active when she works - always in and out, up and down to make sure she gets all the shots and different perspectives as well. She takes great action shots!

Mimi truly loves photography, and she is well known among her friends to always have a camera on hand. What stands out most is that she cares immensely about her work and style; thus, every single photograph is an art piece. She has awesome post-editing skills, which I think a lot of photographers lack or don't spend enough time mastering. Mimi will make sure you look your best and that the photograph is perfect (color, framing, retouching...). She has a very spunky personality and makes sure that each of her sessions are unique. Mimi has great attention-to-detail and is very passionate about her work.

A+ and 5 stars all the way!

Grade: A-

Lifetime does excellent work and offers quality products; however, their prices are on the higher end. I ordered table linens, a wall-to-wall backdrop, a photo backdrop and head table draping through them. The prices for these were reasonable, though I did find the same floor-length linens for $10 less per table elsewhere. However, as Lifetime is Furiwa's sister company, I felt it would be easier for them to work together and set up the tables correctly.

Lifetime executed the draping beautifully. The backdrops were perfect, just as discussed. However, Lifetime usually sticks to their basic designs, so all of their weddings look similar.

I met with Lifetime for floral design work as well, but I ended up going with another florist because she was more willing to work with me on custom designing my bouquets and centerpieces. Lifetime offered cookie cutter bouquets for higher prices - I could only have roses and orchids in my bouquets and my bridesmaids could only have roses. If I wanted anything else, the cost was much too exorbitant. Also, for the tall centerpiece that I wanted with similar flowers, Lifetime quoted me at least 2x as much.

I was also quoted much higher for gobo lighting and pinlighting than my vendor, and slightly higher for uplighting.

Lifetime is a very solid group and they do great work. I would trust them to execute beautifully; however, I do feel their prices are a bit high for their "cookie-cutter" look. They sometimes offer an overall deal if you book their larger packages.

My good friend ordered her Pronovias dress through them, and everything went smoothly. She also did the works with them (lighting, draping, chair covers, upgraded white dancefloor, etc), and she was very happy with them. So for the brides that want an all-in-one place, Lifetime is a good stop; however, if you are looking for good prices, it won't be the best place. They do quality work, though, and are very experienced with weddings, so sometimes, it's more of a hassle to look for the best deals.

Lifetime also had a gorgeous, Spanish-style banquet hall called The Villa which is a great, reasonably priced venue for weddings and/or events. If my guestlist was under 300, I might have chosen the venue. The biggest selling point of this venue? It comes set up with chiavari chairs! A+ for that!