Winter is definitely here in the midwest, and so Yen and Christopher’s day is perfect for the chilly weather. Originally these two were planning a summer wedding, so Yen chose bright warm colors of raspberry, deep orange, purple, and chartreuse. They ended up having to push things into winter, but Yen loved her color palette and decided to keep it. She thought it would make a nice contrast to the grey of winter. One of the most amazing things about this wedding is that Christopher’s own mother sewed all the bridesmaids dresses, vests, and ties. Talk about a fabulous in-law! A big thank you to Yen and Christopher for sharing all the details of their big day, and to Jaclyn Marie Photography for the lovely images.
Who, What, Where ~ Ceremony: Church of the Resurrection. Reception: Corporate Caterers Banquet Facility. Photography: Jaclyn Marie Photography. Flowers: Family friend. Cake: Bagatelle Bakery, decorated by groom’s sister. Dress: Mori Lee from Mia’s Bridal.
From the bride…
Christopher and I met freshman year at Kansas State University. We were friends up until the summer after our junior year. I went to Houston, TX for an internship, while Christopher was back in Wichita, KS. We called, texted and chatted online every night. At the end of the summer, Christopher offered to fly down to help me pack and drive back to Kansas. And that’s when our friendship turned for the better!
My sister, Anh Phan, and I came up with the centerpieces and put them together with the help of some other family members. We used pinecones and tree branches to tie together the winter wedding to the warm colors originally chose.
We struggled a little with how to handle combining two cultures and traditions during the reception. Following my parents’ culture, each side of both families are introduced to each other at the beginning of the reception. Instead of having a receiving line, we stuck with the Vietnamese tradition of going table to table welcoming each family of guests to the reception and thanking them for sharing the special day with us. As far as the food went, not only did we have Corporate Caterers cook american food, but my aunt, owner of To Chao (a family owned restaurant), cooked some vietnamese food as well. That way, we could incorporate both cultures.
We took some pictures with Christopher’s sister’s Mustang. He works in the automotive industry, and having a picture with car a he’s worked on meant a lot to him.
Our favorite part of the day was the actual wedding itself. I know that most of the planning, stress and money goes into the reception, but our wedding was gorgeous! The music was performed by four of our choir members at St. Isidore’s Catholic Student Center. I sang as a soprano in our church choir for 5.5 years. When Christopher converted to Catholicism our 4th year, he joined as a violinist and bass vocalist. We even went to Italy with our choir just last summer. Having members of our choir perform at our wedding meant so much to us.
