Jason & Susan

We were able to get lots of things done this weekend! Our new furniture arrived and they look great! Took quite a long time to setup the different pieces of furniture, put everything in place, sort/organize our stuff, and figure out who gets what shelves/drawers, but at the end of the day, it was a wonderful feeling to have our place feel more homey.

We went to Portman Ritz to meet with our new hotel wedding coordinator. Our previous coordinator left for a different job to our disappointment, but she was very helpful beyond our expectation, calling several times even after she quit her job to make sure everything was okay and checking up on the wedding progress. We have been extremely pleased with the amazing service at Portman Ritz, one of the reason we picked this hotel.

Our new coordinator was very nice and friendly as well, not to mention excellent level of English. We also asked the piano rental company manager to come and meet with Karen to figure out how to move the grand piano to the ballroom where our wedding will be held. Earlier when Susan met with Michelle, the previous coordinator, it never occurred to her that the piano would have to be moved through a different entrance and route (back door/service elevator). Elaine had to hit her on the head to remind her that Portman was a 5-star hotel and that it would be completely appalling to have movers in scruffy sweat-drenched clothing move a grand piano through the main entrance up the guest elevators along with CEO of HP and George Bush’s cousin. Right. So this time, Karen our new coordinator showed the piano lady how the piano would be moved - quite a complicated procedure but nonetheless, in the most professional manner possible. Unbelievable!

We went over the details of the wedding - all the decorations, flower arrangements, ballroom layout, background music, food, A/V setup, and many more. We asked to see if the chef can provide a turkey carving station at the buffet station. Afterall, it’s Thanksgiving weekend and many of our guests are flying out here for our wedding as well as local guests who might have never tasted turkey before. So we hope to have turkey and have a little taste of “home”. It’ll be more than just celebration of our marriage. It’ll also be a time to give thanks for many things and people and blessings that have come our way.

After we took care of the hotel arrangements, we stopped by Xin Tian Di to get business cards of several restaurants that we highly recommend for our out-of-town guests. Please ask us for these cards when you arrive in Shanghai. We also made reservations at Bellagio and Really Good Seafood for our family gatherings. It’ll be an entire week of eating good food. Not sure if Susan will be able to fit into her dress by Saturday…..