and the winner is... Shek O Country Club!

so we knew from the beginning the sort of environment we wanted.

it had to be:
-private
-not a hotel
-not a chinese banquet hall
-not too expensive
-by the water (ideal)
-120-150 guests
-october 10, 2010 (10.10.10) <-- october because of the lack of rain and humidity in hk, cheap airfares

i really really really didn't want to have our ceremony/reception at a hotel because i didn't want our 'wedding portrait' to be displayed in the foyer of some hotel, with hotel guests peering into such an intimate and private moment of our lives.

with hkgroom's family being members of the HK Golf Club, we originally thought we'd have it there. hkgroom was such a sweetheart that he even booked the venue for us for october 8th 2010 (they didn't allow us to do it on the weekends, as it is a member's club and so during the busy times, must be kept open for members). so six out of the seven criteria....

talking about it with hkgroom some more, we thought about having it at Shek O Country Club (hkgroom's uncle is a member). however, doing it there would require pulling some strings and we weren't sure if it would be okay. perhaps we'd be able to do it on 10.10.10... we needed to ask QUICK before someone else booked that date. so we did, but again, can't do it on a weekend (see above... same reason). hmmm again, six out of seven criteria....

other places we looked into that would meet some (but not all) of our requirements included:

*The Peak Lookout- toooooooo expensive for us ($189,000 + 10% for 120 guests)

*Helena May- no water but was very reasonable ($300-400 per head dinner)!

*The Pawn- no water and didn't end up looking into price per head for a dinner reception, but a fantastic venue!

*The Bounty- lots and lots of water but not sure if the grandparents would be able to handle it!

*The Peninsula helicopter wedding- only $68,000 but only two witnesses and 28 people cocktail reception

so after much deliberation, we decided that we couldn't let the opportunity to have our wedding (ceremony + reception) at the Shek O Country Club go by. as one of the most exclusive clubs in hk, we are super lucky to know someone who is a member there. therefore, sucking it up, we set our date as october 11, 2010. even though we can't get 10.10.10, we are extremely fortunate to be able to celebrate our special day at such an amazing location =)

thank you hkgroom's uncle for making this happen!!!!