Katrina + Mike had us at hello with their San Francisco bash. It’s eclectic mixes of modern and whimsical with photographs by Tinywater Photography bringing it all to life. The mossy florals by Asiel Design set against the marble backdrop of The Bently Reserve is like no other combination and one that is strikingly beautiful with a big side of freaking awesome. That awesome continues in the full gallery. See it here.
Less Than 3 Productions also caught the day on film and it’s one of those numbers that turns a perfect stranger into a teared up blubbering mess over the complete and total sweetness of these two love birds. But fear not, we’re the total strangers crying like babies so we completely don’t judge if you want to join us…
From the Bride… Mike and I met during undergrad one night at a LA club, hosted by an Asian party promoter. Because Mike and I were both atypical Asians with super growth hormones (I’m 5’9” and Mike is 6’4”), we immediately noticed each over the bobbing heads of our fellow peers. We instantly connected, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. Despite our vertical genes, we are polar opposites. I’m creative, emotional, bubbly, easy-going and impulsive, while he’s intellectual, practical, rational, quiet and stern. Mike likes to call me the Ying to his Yang — somehow it just works! We’ve endured a lot throughout the eight years we’ve been together and have shuffled around to multiple cities. We moved to LA so Mike could attend medical school, then he moved to Michigan for his residency, and I followed a year later to get my MBA. Upon our graduations, we moved to Chicago to start full-time jobs. A year and a half later, we finally returned back to our hometown, San Francisco.
We wanted our wedding to be whimsical, fun, organic and, most importantly, unique. We were lucky enough to have an all-star team to execute it beautifully! The floral design was something that I was particularly passionate about. I chose Asiel Design as my florist because I felt like we had a similar style sense. I hand-sketched all of my ideas, and they did an amazing job bringing them to life. For the ceremony, it consisted of tulips dangling from a bed of moss and strings of hanging glass globes filled with candles. My vision was for it to seem like the world was flipped upside down and we were floating in the sky with the earth above us. For the overall wedding design, I wanted it to feel like a garden was sprouting from everywhere. We had no vases, but rather scattered moss with wooden branches, stumps and various flowers popping out of them. The whimsical, organic design was a great contrast against the cool marble and strong architectural seriousness of the Bently Reserve — very ying and yang, just like us!
It was important for us to have personal touches that expressed who we are. A lot of our elements were handmade, including all the paper products, favor boxes, escort card display, table names, etc… We chose handcrafted Asian paper and gold touches to represent our heritage. We also gave away Taiwanese pineapple cakes as our favors. We are HUGE foodies and wanted to infuse aspects of that as well. Not only did we work closely with our caterer to produce a very yummy menu, but instead of numbers we used our favorite culinary herbs for our table names. Our florist also incorporated mushrooms, cabbages, artichokes and herbs into some of the centerpieces.
We also wanted to add bits of lightheartedness and fun to the formality of the event. So we asked my cousin Andy, an eccentric goth and talented artist, to marry us. He dressed in a dramatic period outfit that consisted of a long coat, puffy sleeves and a ruffled collar. He then surprised our guests by reenacting the ceremony from the movie, The Princess Bride. The silliness definitely helped prevent us from crying — and I’m a huge crier! It was definitely a night to remember!
Wedding Photography: Tinywater Photography / Wedding Venue: The Bently Reserve in San Francisco, California / Event Coordination: Patty Lee of 8 Events / Floral Design: Asiel Design / Wedding Cinematography: Less Than 3 Productions / Catering: Thomas John Events / Wedding Cake: Sunset Bakery (415-759-6538) / DJ: Eric Yee of Spintronix Entertainment / Rentals: Hartmann Studios / Linens: La Tavola Linen / Lighting: Enhanced Lighting / Wedding Dress: Blue by Enzoani / Reception Dress: Justin Alexander / Hair + Makeup: Maria Chang of Professional Makeup Artistry