Diana C
Google
I had my September 2025 WEDDING at Empire and it turned out better than I or my family expected – I can’t wait to go back for my anniversaries!
First of all, I do believe that without Empire, I wouldn’t have had a wedding at all. I was engaged for 2 years, struggling to blend the best of an American wedding (ceremony, vows, first dance, cocktail hour, and luxury) with the best of an Asian wedding (tea ceremony, lion dance, delicious food, and relaxed atmosphere of a restaurant) but as soon as I found Empire as my venue, everything just fell into place because…
Empire is PERFECT for weddings with its distinct spaces. Private dining rooms for the ceremony and makeup/changing room. The bar/lounge for cocktail hour. The upper level main dining area for the reception. The lower level cafe as the dance floor. The salon for the tea ceremony. We utilized every spectacular inch at Empire so our guests didn't miss any details.
Empire served our choice of a sushi station, hors d'oeuvres: duck crostini, crab rangoons, chicken katsu buns, and tenderloin lollipops, and 5-course meal: tuna tataki salad, beef teppanyaki, spicy salmon rice bites, and a choice of chilean seabass and korean rubbed sirloin, and our choice of both the vanilla/lemon cream and strawberries and cream cake, and our choice of his/her drinks.
Empire even provided my cake and did a wonderful job executing my vision, provided his/her drink and the food menus, and candles for all the reception tables. They also proactively packed my cake topper, cake riser, cake utensils, and my ceremony reserved signs for me without being asked – I never had to track down anything. They even moved my 2nd and 3rd look dresses from the coat closet to the changing room for me.
I worked with Rebecca Plant for my event and she was a dream to work with. Because I had Rebecca – I didn’t hire a wedding planner or a wedding coordinator. It was truly a pleasure to work with her – she often got back to me the same day, always answered every single question in my emails (and there were many), always clarified any ambiguity, and she really held my hand through it all – we planned the event together in just a little over 4 months.
Asian parents and asian aunties and uncles are hard to impress – the best you can hope for is they don’t vocalize any complaints – but that day, they vocalized rare compliments: Empire was a beautiful and special venue. Empire was both modern and traditional. The wedding Empire hosted was such a unique blend of Asian and American that they had never seen before making for a pleasantly surprising and fun event for all ages from babies to grandparents. And finally, Empire hosted a wedding that was worth getting out of bed for even for a crowd that doesn’t even like attending weddings!
For all the above reasons, I am so grateful to Rebecca, and the team at Empire for playing such a big role in our wedding. See you soon and see you at our anniversaries!