There’s nothing more I love than seeing tradition infused into a wedding celebration—those are the moments that really give a wedding it’s heartbeat. But what might be the icing on the cake is seeing modern takes on tradition… “ways that make the old feel new and the new feel timeless,” as Nancy of So Happi Together describes of this editorial she produced with Sally Pinera. It’s an explosion of pastel punchy goodness, with layers of design elements from the incredibly talented vendor team below. Make sure to sift through every bit in the full collection of images (there are details galore!) and take a peek at the end of the post for 3 modern takes on Korean wedding traditions we spotted.
From So Happi Together… More and more, we have been approached by couples who want want our help in designing a wedding that celebrates their cultural traditions and heritage at their wedding. Our goal is to do so in a way that reflects a modern aesthetic and their current style. We have always worked with couples from different backgrounds and it is becoming more common to host multi-day weddings that allow interracial or inter-cultural couples to celebrate all the traditions that the joining of their families represents. We find this to be a beautiful and meaningful trend in the wedding industry and wanted to do our part to add to the inspiration that is available to brides who want to honor their culture in modern ways that make the old feel new and the new feel timeless.
Sally Pinera and I are frequent partners in crime and our work attracts a select niche of brides who are looking for intentional design that is captured in classic and romantic ways. We strive for an understated elegance that exudes luxury without feeling ostentatious or SUPERFLUOUS. Our brides value the luxury of the details over the look of the over-the-top and the over-done. Their wedding is as unique as their story and we strive to share this story through our design and imagery.
When producing inspiration shoots, I don’t have a couple or their story to base my design off of… so I find design elements that excite me and create a story around those details! The Oscar de la Renta china from Casa de Perrin played a large part in inspiring the color palette and design for our Modern Korean Photoshoot. I loved the intricate florals and knew that flowers would have to play a big role in our design. We wanted something interesting, textured and playful.
The idea of tradition can feel static, but we wanted to display how tradition can be reinterpreted and reimagined to reflect modern sensibilities. For this reason, our color palette was comprised of fresh tones that could be described as pastels with a punch! We wanted to play with the colors of silk hanboks and started with a foundation of orange and peach hues complemented with pink tones and accents or lilac, royal blue, yellow and gold. Different elements like jade, velvet, rice paper, mother of pearl, brass, silk and gold produced layers of design.
The hanboks themselves were provided by Meehee Hanbok and one of our favorite DESIGNS was her modern take on the male hanbok. When I saw this piece, I immediately knew that I wanted to soften up the look by pairing it with a traditional male hat adorned with overflowing floral pieces. We wanted the juxtaposition of this masculine look next to the more feminine, larger than life gowns, to show the wide breadth of design possible with traditional elements.
Bridal fashion stylist, Gabrielle Hurwitz, provided us with a Marchesa gown who’s pink velvet tie waistband and intricate beading paralleled with our invitation design and portrayed our fresh pastel palette. Feminine, pointed toed Bella Belle shoes and matching accessories elevated our couture bridal look. The Viktor and Rolf wedding gown she provided had a voluminous shape that, some may say, alludes to the shape of the traditional Korean hanbok. With its flare starting directly under the bust rather than at the waistline.
The floral mastermind, Siren Floral Co provided blood orange colored raining tree pods that played an integral part of our floral design. The loose and naturally falling look of both fresh and dried tree pods helped complete almost all of our vignettes. Her fresh coral colored florals that decorated the traditional male hat added a whimsical and organic aesthetic to the look.
Nossi bojagi is the one and only bojagi art brand in the US. She uses traditional Korean materials and fabrics to show the art of sustainable wrapping. We showcased the versatility of her wrapping by adding florals that bloomed out of one of her larger wrapped silk boxes.
Found Rentals’ wide range of amazing vintage furniture also brought a lot of inspiration to the different scenes we would create. The barren side tables acted as the perfect addition to our masculine hanbok and airy fabric and feminine hanbok looks. While the orange Imperial Settee added a regal touch to our various hanbok and wedding gown shots. Premiere Party Rents provided our general rentals. Theoni Collection’s Gramercy Brass White Chairs brought a contemporary contrast to the different peach tones and textures of our table scape.
To bring a contrast to the Oscar de la Renta Coraline China which would be the main focus of our table scape, we paired their charger and salad plate with beautiful Heath Ceramic Sunrise dinner and bread plates all provided by Casa de Perrin. Their mismatched vintage amber water goblets and crystal amber salt cellars added texture next to our modern white and gold GOA flatware and blush gold rimmed glassware. Lastly, we can’t forget about their tiny gold spoons, which we think adds the cutest final touch!
La Tavola Linen provided a velvet tamarind colored linen our main table setting and their beautiful colored velvet drapes acted as our surface and backdrop for several shots. The luxe texture of the velvet linen created not only a clean look for our table setting and multiple detail shots, but also, an organic and naturally flowing backdrop for a number of our other vignettes.
A very big part of traditional Korean celebrations is incorporating traditional Korean rice cakes. Rice Blossoms uses all natural fruit coloring in her bean paste frosting to hand pipe intricate floral designs onto her modern take of the traditional rice cake. We put a traditional twist on the trendy naked cake, by having her create a three-tiered traditional rice cake adorned with a half-crescent wreath of hand piped florals. She also provided rice cupcakes, bite sized rice cakes, and one of my favorites, songpyeuns; a sweet, chewy rice cake with sweet sesame filling, shaped and colored like different fruits and leaves. Specialty flower pressed cookies by Lori A Stern added a colorful and western twist to our traditional Korean rice cake treats.
With so many different pops of color, we wanted to make sure the cake complimented the palette with an understated elegance. A muted peach colored two tier cake by Sweetleemade was complimented by gorgeous hand dyed coral ombre silk ribbon from Silk and Willow for a touch of softness to the clean and modern look of the cake. For an extra layer of color, we placed layers of cake onto Casa de Perrin’s Blue Garden Vintage China and Heath Sunrise plates for our “Let Them Eat Cake!!” shot of our lovely model dreaming in a sea of florals and cake slices. And if you are wondering, yes, we did eat all of those extra slices of cake – no cake was harmed in the making of this production!
Red Letter Day brought to life a gilded foil invitation suite with classic calligraphy and lavender edge painted was complimented by delicate watercolor illustration. A pop of color in her orange envelopes lined with a white and royal blue pattern helped complete the suite. Her muted gold and royal blue scroll menus were the perfect pop of color for our table scape atop our velvet tamarind linen.
1. Korean Hanbok – The Viktor and Rolf wedding gown shown provided had a voluminous shape that, some may say, alludes to the shape of the traditional Korean hanbok. With its flare starting directly under the bust rather than at the waistline.
2. Korean Rice Cakes – A very big part of traditional Korean celebrations is incorporating traditional Korean rice cakes. Rice Blossoms uses all natural fruit coloring in her bean paste frosting to hand pipe intricate floral designs onto her modern take of the traditional rice cake.
3. Bojagi – Nossi bojagi is the one and only bojagi art brand in the US. She uses traditional Korean materials and fabrics to show the art of sustainable wrapping. Here, the vendor team showcased the versatility of her wrapping by adding florals that bloomed out of one of her larger wrapped silk boxes. Quite the modern take on a bouquet!
Photography: Sally Pinera | Event Designer: So Happi Together | Floral Designer: Siren Floral Co. | Wedding Gown: Courtesy Viktor & Rolf | Cake: Sweetlee Made | Makeup and Hair: Ting Makeup Hair | Bridal Fashion Stylist: Gabrielle Hurwitz | Bridal Shoes: Bella Belle | Embellished Gown: Marchesa | Linen: BBJ La Tavola | Paper Goods: Red Letter Day | Reception Chair Rental: Theoni Collection | Rentals: Premiere Party Rents | Rentals: Found Rental Co. | Silk Ribbon: Silk and Willow | Specialty Cookies: Lori Stern | Tabletop: Casa de Perrin | Traditional Korean Bojagi Art: Nossi Bojagi | Traditional Korean Rice Cake: Rice Blossoms | Traditional Korean Wear: Kim Mehee Hanbok