Romantic Garden Meets Country Luxury Wedding

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May 30, 2024

The Planning

Design / Vibe / Vision

Romantic garden meets country luxury. We wanted to fully embrace the venue’s lush landscape and rich architectural heritage to bring out a whimsical, organic aesthetic. The blend of dusty blue neutral and pops of burgundy through floral and candlelight enhanced the spirit of festivity. The soft, sophisticated design included stationery, linen, and tabletop details to create a cohesive look. Signage is a signature piece of our love story and reflection of what we love. Custom illustrations of the cities we love to bike to, paired with individual minibikes as escort cards were a gesture of love to both ourselves and our honored guests. The reception was designed to be an intimate style dinner, replete with a fairy-light atmosphere which allowed guests to experience a luxury garden reception they’ll never forget.

Proposal Story

We were living in San Francisco, and one of the things we enjoyed doing together was biking around the city with our matching bikes (for one of my birthdays James had customized a fixie for me). James proposed when we went for a typical bike ride to Presidio and dropped down to one knee among the eucalyptus trees ("Lovers Lane" in SF) on an empty weekday. We had already planned a trip to Yosemite for the day after, so we spent the weekend there after the proposal.

Getting Ready

Bridal Portraits

Flat Lays

First Look

The Fashion

Wedding Gown

Customized a dress with a smaller boutique in the heart of the Garment District in NYC, called Carol Hannah. I loved organza material so I was in search of a wedding dress with that. Carol Hannah had a beautiful dress called the Reverie with organza skirt and dainty appliques. I adjusted the top to be a v-neck with thicker straps.

Bridesmaid Dresses

The bridesmaid dresses were dusty blue chiffon dresses from Amsale.

Groomsman Attire

James (groom) wore a custom black tux from Knot Standard with shawl collar lapels. Inside the tux, they stitched a drawing of our two Italian greyhounds that we also used for our invites. Custom Italian shoes from Hungary. He also wore cuff links that had Italian greyhounds on them, gifted from his sister, and an IWC watch, gifted from my parents. Groomsmen rented tuxes and bowties from the Black Tux.

Wedding Party

Ceremony

Cocktail Hour

The Details

Food & Drink

Guests were given a choice between short ribs or king salmon for the entree. We also had late night pizza, as a nod to Carolyn's parents (they got married shortly after immigrating to the US from China, and were students so could only afford serving pizza in a classroom with their close friends).

Florals & Decor

The florals were done in taupe, crimson, and ivory with a whimsical, organic but refined, delicate aesthetic. They had a soft romantic with a touch of modern. The ceremony was held in front of a sunken garden at the venue, had a large floral arch that framed the garden in the background. The florist Mignon Floral Co. did a great job. We particularly loved the open tulips in the arrangements The decor included signage with dusty blue. A standout was the large escort sign with a map of San Francisco and little mini bikes as escort cards. Tables were named locations that James and Carolyn liked to bike to in San Francisco. Long farm tables were used for dinner, with BBJ La Tavola linen in color Tuscany Ocean, and silverware with a touch of wood.

Wedding Cake

The wedding cake was crafted by Palette Cakes, who made realistic florals on the cake based off of the wedding florals. We also had gelato from our favorite spot in SF (Phillmores creamery).

Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs

The ceremony included personalized vows, and the brother-in-law officiated. It also had a live performance from Laura & Anton, starting with something whimsical, Willy Wonka as the grooms escorted our Italian greyhounds down the aisle. The first dance song was "Love is a Verb" by John Mayer, the entrance song was "Butter" by BTS. Carolyn's younger sister is a dancer and choreographed a short routine for the bridal party that they learned the morning of the wedding.

Special Detail #1

Before the ceremony, Carolyn's mom shared a surprise video from her grandma in China wishing her congrats. Her grandma has Alzheimers and couldn't attend the wedding, many tears were shed. James' dad played a Chinese classic love song, 'The moon represents my heart' by Teresa Tang, during cake cutting. Although that was pre-planned, he also surprised us with a short harmonica stint singing "Home Sweet Home" by John Howard Payne, at the end of his father's speech.

Special Detail #2

Our first dance was to "Love is a Verb" by John Mayer. After many weeks of practicing, nerves got the best of us and Carolyn started too early, throwing the entire dance off. James tried to stall to catch up to the correct pace. But, at the end of the night, the DJ surprised us and played it one more time as the final song and we ran through the dance one more time with our friends and family gathered around us, swaying on the dance floor.

Special Detail #3

Ceremony - our groomsmen walked our 2 Italian greyhounds down the aisle in their little tuxedos. Also, seeing our friends and family cheering and throwing dried florals at us as we walked back down the aisle during the recessional.

Couple Portraits