Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?
We simply wanted a timeless wedding. After looking at old family wedding photos, including our grandparents and parents, we noted their attire, decorations, look and feel. Everything felt so classic. That is exactly what we wanted for our wedding. A classic look, but also a celebration of our personalities as well. Our venue search took us to places that ranged from an Avocado Farm to a downtown loft. But finally, we fell in love with The Harper venue for its modern and clean interior design. It had everything we wanted: neutral colors, and strong, modern accents. After securing our venue, we took inspiration for the style and colors for our wedding. Our ceremony was a traditional Catholic ceremony in a beautiful church in Orange County. We incorporated Catholic-Filipino traditions for our ceremony. We elected wedding sponsors, selected from our aunts and uncles, whom we look up to and continue to be big parts of our lives. Our sponsors committed themselves to being a source of encouragement and guidance for us throughout our marriage. Other traditional rituals involved the veil and cord blessing during our ceremony. The veil is a symbol of two people being clothed as one. This represents a wish for good health and protection during married life, and also symbolizes the uniting of two families into one. The cord symbolizes the lifelong bond and ties between the bride and groom.
Let's talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
Our Church was such a beautiful space by itself. It had natural lighting, traditional stainless glass art, and a gorgeous altar. Not wanting to detract from these inherent features, we worked with our florist to provide some minimal flowers and decorations. However, our florist, Rogue and Fox, went above and beyond our dreams for our reception venue. Rogue and Fox designed and constructed a large floral installation placed behind our sweetheart table. Our communal seating set up allowed for our florist to place floral decorations and sculpture art at the centers of each table. All stationary for the wedding was designed and created by us. We took inspiration from our favorite artists and typographers, and were able to design our save the dates, wedding invitation suite, welcome signs, bar signage and seating chart. We placed Thank You cards at each of our guest’s table settings. For our giveaways, we gave out our favorite vanilla waffle scented candles. We added a candle label and tag we designed for each of our candles, and our parents volunteered to decoratively package them individually for our guests.
What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?
The florals for our wedding were absolutely stunning! The floral décor, most especially the sweetheart table backdrop installation, was such a highlight within the reception space. The floral design and colors tied in with the venue and reception seamlessly. Our florals were light and earthy with varied modern textures. Working with a professional as talented and creative as Rogue and Fox, we wanted to give the team freedom to design and create. The floral design gave the classic, neutral reception space the modern touch we were looking for. Rogue and Fox captured our vision and gave us a cohesive design that complemented the space, and also represented our personalities and style. The bridal bouquet and bridesmaid bouquets was designed beautifully and incorporated dried florals, beautiful white flowers and pops of taupe/brown shades.
Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?
Ever since the first day of our wedding planning, we always knew what our number one priority of the wedding day would be…the music. We love music and have always connected music we enjoy to having a good time. We were extremely blessed to have secured a beautiful church and stunning venue. Both locations related to us and told so much of our story. But, the true bow on top of our special day was the music and our DJ, DJ Kara. Our DJ asked us to curate playlists that we wanted to listen to. We truly took this request to heart as a way to personalize our reception experience. We spent months and months putting together all the songs that told our story. This is what made our day so special. During cocktail hour, we enjoyed music that our parents love. During dinner, we heard some of our first love songs that we danced to together. The vibes of the evening all took shape because of the music that filtrated the venue. This was the perfect way for us to personalize our special day.
Let's talk fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.
The groom. After deciding that we wanted a classic and traditional look, it became obvious that I need to wear a tuxedo and bowtie. Being that black is my favorite color, I immediately knew the look that I wanted. I had the experience of renting tuxedos before from various rental companies. Every time I rented a tuxedo, I was also unhappy with the way it fit; too baggy, too long. For my wedding, I knew that I wanted a true bespoke tuxedo that was made perfect for me. I was able to work with a professional bespoke suit designer, Ton Chookhare from Chookhare & Sons. We worked together to craft a tuxedo to every detail. We selected the thread count for the black jacket and pants. We selected a subtle metallic grey polkadot silk liner for the inside of the jacket. My white tuxedo shirt was personalized with my initials on my left sleeve. We determined the exact width and shape of my black silk lapel. Lastly, I found the perfect patent leather shoe to bring the look together. I found a patent leather derby shoe with a crepe sole. I loved that it had the look of a classic shoe, but the design of a sneaker. Knowing I would be dancing all night long, it was the perfect shoe!The bride. I have always gravitated to a more classic, simple and clean bridal dress look. Although I had this in mind, I was open to all dress styles knowing that I could possibly end up with a look completely different than what I envisioned. I wanted a dress that fit my body shape, that was comfortable and, of course, would allow me to have a good time on the dance floor. I tried on various dress silhouettes and styles from boho, traditional, to high fashion. Ultimately, I fell in love with the very look that I envisioned, a clean and classic look that was totally my style. Chloe at Bella Bridal in Los Angeles helped me find the perfect dress. I chose a crepe Pronovias dress. I fell in love with this dress for its timeless and classic look and the subtle feminine details that made it uniquely modern. The dress had a beautiful sheer lace panel design under the arms on each side that emphasized the feminine silhouette. There was beautiful beading design at the shoulders and down the side that opened to chiffon godets at the bottom of the dress. The cathedral veil really tied in the bridal look and complimented the side lace panels on the dress. I wore classic jewelry on our wedding day. My husband gifted me with Tiffany pearl drop earrings and my "something borrowed" was my mom's silver bracelet with dangling pearls.
