A wedding is not only a union between two individuals, but two families as well.  It is every woman’s dream to walk down the aisle on her wedding day and celebrating this joyous day with relatives and friends. One of the most memorable weddings I attended was in Penang at this cosy little place called Mansion32. June, the bride of the wedding decided to participate in this interview with us.

The bride and groom’s table

How many places were shortlisted for your wedding dinner?

We were contemplating having it in either Kuala Lumpur or Penang and went on a major restaurant hunt around the country. I decided between Passion Road or Luna Bar if it were to be hosted in KL, or between Mansion32 or Bagan in Penang. I wanted it to be a small wedding, an intimate one.

Pre-wedding set up

So, what were the deciding criteria?

The floor layout and set up played the major role in my decision, and the price point as well. The moment I set my eyes on Mansion32, I could envision how my wedding would turn out and it is exactly what I wanted. They had a lounge before entering the dinner area, which allows cocktails and pre-drinks to be served before opening up the door to enter the dining. In Malaysia, we have the tendency to be start wedding later than planned.

The reception area connected to the loungeThe lounge used for pre-drinks before adjourning to the main dining room 

 So, this would help ease the impatience and everyone gets to mingle around first. Some of the other places that I’ve seen had different rooms set up, which separates the guest with the main room.

What was the theme of this wedding and why?

Mm.. I would call this “An Intimate Affair”. Our relatives were coming from around the globe to attend this wedding and I’ve not met some of my cousins for years and this was a good opportunity to meet them. Personally, most of the Chinese weddings are usually in big scale – about 100 tables from which I barely knew the guests from 50 of those tables.

Wine cork in seating arrangement

It sounds like a small and intimate wedding! So, were that any challenges in the setting up of this wedding? Did you have the help of a wedding planner?

I was unable to find the right wedding planner and took things into my own hands. The sourcing of the location, discussions with the restaurant and set up were all done by me with the help of my family and relatives. It wouldn’t have been possible doing this alone because I wanted to personalise many aspects of it. One of the biggest challenges for a wedding of this size is keeping a tab on the head count. We had a total of 30 tables and every seat was precious. That was a major challenge! Fortunately, everything went according to plan.

The size of a small weddingOverlooking the garden, which is connected to the beach

How would you describe your wedding?

It was a beautiful moment in my life. It is a once in a lifetime moment and if done well, would be so satisfying. I loved the wedding favors and name placement particularly. For wedding favors, I had miniature whiskeys with a funny poem attached to those little bottles. It wasn’t an easy matter, sourcing 300 bottles of miniature whiskeys and transporting them to the restaurant. From multiple suppliers, it took me about 3-6 months getting them all together. For the name placement, I printed the names of my guests on a thick card and stuck them onto a wine cork. That was another challenge. This is where I had to ask friends and relatives to assist me in the search of 350 wine corks. My husband was very particular with the wedding band and finding a suitable one was difficult. Fortunately, one of our cousins volunteered to sing and that made it all perfect.

A bottle of miniature whiskey as door gift with personalised note from the newlyweds

Setting the scene at  night