Mi-oh-my. You might want to sit down for this one, because it may just take your breath away. This airy affair features rolling lavender fields and knotty vineyard vines, all of which are captured by the talented Leo Patrone. You can feel the incredible connection between these two lovebirds when they are cheek to cheek underneath the branches of a weeping willow. And to top it all off, the groom’s family created all of the arrangements from their very own flower shop! This, my pretties, is what love is all about. I highly advise that you indulge further in the gallery and in the sweet film by Daniel Chae below.
From the Bride… Ted grew up in the Bay Area and I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. Not being particularly fond of the cold, when I moved out to California six years ago I immediately fell in love with the BEAUTIFUL weather! Ted and I have both always wanted to have an outdoor wedding and after wafting through vineyards in all the usual suspects (Napa, Sonoma, Livermore) we found a true hidden gem in Hollister of all places. Leal Vineyards is one of the most amazing, magical and picture perfect venues ever! Ted is a huge beer guy, HUGE… like he’s dreamt of opening his own beer restaurant for over 7 years and is finally doing it… huge. Hence, you’ll see a lot of odes to beer in our wedding; Ted’s books, the succulents in tiny beer steins for our guest seating, Ted’s gift of authentic German steins to his groomsmen, Ted’s beer snobbery even required us to serve Stone and Lagunitas on draft… sheesh.
As for me, I knew I always wanted to have my reception in an open tent ever since I saw My Best Friend’s Wedding. Ted was very patient throughout the process and helped me find the perfect venue, not just a vineyard but one with an open tent. We wanted our wedding to truly be a wonderful experience for our family and friends and I’m so glad we were able to do it in a venue that had everything we wanted. Being an outdoor wedding, choosing Leo to be our photographer was a no brainer. We’re just so glad and lucky he was free and able to make the trip out to California. He was so great at making us feel comfortable and relaxed. The pictures were one thing we knew we didn’t have to worry about. It was great watching him get excited after certain shots and you could tell he knew exactly the kind of pictures he was getting while he chased after the sun and the perfect lighting. His pictures speak for themselves and a rare talent like Leo truly deserves all the publicity in the world. Go Leo!
Ted and I both also wanted to do a traditional Korean Wedding Ceremony called Paebaek as a way of honoring our parents. You bow respectively to parents and elder family members and they bestow marital advice and good wishes on you and throw dates and chestnuts into the bride’s sash, all this while wearing traditional Korean garb. Then Ted carries me on his back, runs around the table and does squats to show the family that he’s a man’s man or something. The number of dates/chestnuts you catch represent how many kids you’re going to have, apparently we’ll have somewhere in the 40’s. There were a lot of DIY projects in the wedding. Ted made the arch from scratch, all the signs on wood and for the tables (Ted rummaged through the forest for hours finding the wood and sawing them down to the right sizes), the cake toppers, our succulent beer steins for guest seating, the books and personalized items at the sign in table which we actually substituted for a fingerprint tree, the program/fans, Ted even mixed the music to our bridal party dance routine. Our friends were a huge help and we couldn’t have pulled off the perfect day without them as well.
Wedding Photography: Leo Patrone Photography / Venue: Leal Vineyards in Hollister CA / Wedding Planning: Tammy Kim / Floral Design: Kimm’s Flower Basket / Cinematography: Daniel Chae / Wedding Cake + Desserts: Mindy Park + Diane Le (macaroons) + Nikki Wong (cake pops) / Cake Toppers: Made by the Groom / Stationery: Sarah Kim of Truly Smitten / Tree Guestbook: T & J Love Prints / Music: Dave Hong-DJ Daylyte / Wedding Dress: Peony in Blush by Monique Lhuillier via Bridal Galleria / Bride’s Shoes: Lavender / Bride’s Garter: Designer Shindigs / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Amsale via Bella Bridesmaid / Hair: Kien Hoang + Assistant Samantha Clark of Umbrella Salon / Makeup: Linda Vu of MAC at Valley Fair Santa Clara