Chinese American Wedding

Yay! I’ve got Kelly & Glen’s wedding photos! WOooohooo! Gavin Holt, the photographer, took some amazing photos. I highly recommend him! Thanks Kel for the awesome review on Project Wedding.

If you’re planning a Chinese American wedding, first learn about some of the chinese wedding traditions, then hit up  Chinese Weddings by the Knot.

Mother of the bride preparing offering to ancestors

Preparing incense

Offerings for the ancestors

Small red lanterns hanging along the fence.

Small red lantern

Mother of the bride performaing Chinese hair combing ceremony while reciting, "First comb to comb till the end, Second comb to bring love and respect till old age, Third comb to bring lots of children and grandchildren".

The groom and his men brought roast pig to bride's family

Traditional chinese wedding door games hosted by the Bridesmaids to make sure the groom proves his love and intent to marry the bride.

 

Groom and his guys came to fetch the bride

Each of the guys were given a yoga pose and they have to strike the pose and hold it for 10 seconds.

Bridesmaids accepting red envelope from Groom and his men as bribes to get to the bride

The Groom and his guys have to sing "Tell Kelly I love her"

Lyrics to "Tell Kelly I Love her"

The bridesmaids prepared sliced bitter melon for the groomsmen to 'enjoy' as one of the door games

Yummy bitter melon

Taking the bride home

Western Ceremony

Bride and groom offering tea to elders

Chinese wedding tea ceremony

Double happiness red envelope

The bride and groom present towel to Aunt.

Congratulations Kelly & Glen!

Cambodian Wedding

I went to a Cambodian wedding this past weekend. The traditional ceremony lasts three days, but Sothy and Sophea condensed the ceremonies in 4 hours. It was a very colorful wedding with lots of props and delicious Cambodian cuisine. Check out some of the pictures I took:

Kings Hawaiian saved another wedding! Sophea asked me to help her find a bakery to create her wedding cake, two weeks before the wedding! Since the ceremony was held in Long Beach, I suggested Kings Hawaiian. We had a complimentary tasting in Torrance at the bakery and Sophea picked guava chiffon cake with strawberries for the top layer, and vanilla chiffon with fresh strawberries for the mid and bottom layer. I didnt get to eat the cake at the reception, but I heard everyone loved it. Here’s a picture of it before the flowers went on:

Lazy Susan Round Table Decor

For the asian brides out there looking for clever ways to decorate their round table with a lazy susan, here are some inspirations I found from asian bridal magazines. If the lazy susan at the restaurant is not appealing, you can always cover it with Sculptware Spandex Cover, (I think the HB round size would be good for lazy susan cover).

Follow me on Twitter to win a Disney DecoPac Decoset

Hey everyone, I am giving away a few DecoPac cake decoration toys for FREE. If you’re into decorating cakes or have a themed party coming up, this is a good opportunity to get a freebie from In the Clouds Events. All you have to do is follow me on Twitter and let me know which of the following DecoPac you want and I’ll get in touch with you. (First to send me a message on twitter gets first dip, limit one per person. )

Pirates of the Caribbean

Wall-E

Hannah Montana

Ratatouille

新娘物語 I Do Wedding Magazine

I bought a new Chinese wedding magazine today, called Weddings. It’s distributed in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. I got mine from Life Plaza in Arcadia, CA.  I love that it contains wedding planning advise from industry professionals, and of course, the pretty pictures of bridal gowns, accessories, jewlery, floral designs, tablescape, plus great wedding favor ideas!

I scanned a couple of cool favors to share with you.

1. mini bottled coffee beans – you can pick up pounds of your favorite coffee beans and pack them into these little corktop bottles, tie a ribbon and gift tag, and voila, unique wedding favor!  For exotic coffee beans, try Funnel Mill in Santa Monica, CA. I’ve gotten mini bottles from Sav-On Crafts at affordable price.

2. mini square vase with single white rose, can also hold placecard

For a cute reception sign-in table, add a pair of figurines or statues dressed up as bride and groom.

ISES JAM

The International Special Events Society (ISES) Los Angles chapter hosts an annual mixer/trade show event called JAM (Joint Allied Mixer). Last year, it was held at the Pasadena Convention Center with lots of industry professionals. This year, it was held at the Millenium Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA. The size of the event has definitely shrank a bit, probably due to the economy, but I still got to meet some great vendors. Here are some pictures:

cool light up lounge chairs

Gorgeous black and red roses floral arrangement

pink and gold/champagne floral arrangement

pink and gold/champagne tablesetting

Kelly & Glen’s Wedding

Kelly & Glen are married! I had the honor to coordinate their wedding day. I couldn’t have done it without my trusty assistant, aka husband, David, and my best friend, Kien. Thanks!

Bridesmaids counting red envelopes (photo by Tanya Nguyen)

Groom and groomsmen fetching the Bride (photo by Tanya Nguyen)

Groom and groomsmen making CUTE faces (photo by Tanya Nguyen)

Kelly & Glen work together, and their boss let them borrow his gorgeous garden in Los Angeles to hold the western ring ceremony. The white chairs were set up by Kelly and the girls + Kien on Friday afternoon. We decorated the aisle with sunflowers and tulles. We placed sandalwood fans on every other chair, so the guests keep cool. Kelly and the girls made their own floral bouquet. Unfortunately, one of the bouquet started to fall apart before the ceremony started, thank goodness for the certified florist, Kien (Signature K), she reconstructed the bouquet and rewrapped the ribbons. Kelly prepared another tea set and red towels for the second tea ceremony for Glen’s family. The officiant, Lisette, integrated this into the ceremony seamlessly.

Sunflower ceremony aisle decor (photo by David Wang)

Sandalwood Fan (photo by Cristalle Timbal)

Tea Ceremony Props (photo by David Wang)

Me carrying the bridesmaids' bouquets (photo by David Wang)

Dave, Tina, Kelly & Glen (photo by Gavin Holt)

Menu, table name card, and centerpiece (photo by Tanya Nguyen)

Chinese Wedding Reception Games [photo by David Wang)

Wedding Cake (photo by Kien Nguyen)

My second full-day coordination was hectic, but again, I love feeling accomplished at the end of the day, and that I made another bride worryfree on her special day.

Joe & Nina’s Malibu Wedding

My husband’s buddy, Dr. Joe, got married this weekend to his girlfriend, Dr. Nina. We were invited to their $$$$$$ Malibu wedding. Their wedding colors were blue and brown, but you will see some yellows and blues in their floral decor (they are both UCLA Alumni).  There were about 180 guests. Food was catered by Truly Yours Catering. Nina’s friend, Eva, from Red Velvet Occasion was the wedding coordinator, she probably had 3-4 assistants (that I counted). The weather was great while the sun was up, but as it gets darker the temperature also dropped a notch. Ceremony and reception were both outdoors on the lawn, walking on the grass was a bit hard with heels, but the kids definitely loved rolling around.  Flowers were by: Magnolia’s Florist. Photography by: Lok In the Moment. Rentals by: Persiano Event Rentals. Enough wordy descriptions, pictures are better.

Malibu Mansion

Red carpet experience

Main house with blue and yellow accents

Wedding reception set up

Wedding ceremony set up

Ceremony chair flower

Groom and Groomsman trying to fix the fallen altar

Bridesmaids wore blue strapless dresses and blue/white hydrangea bouquet

Father of the Bride walking her down the aisle

Bride and Groom saying their vows

You may kiss the bride

Cute mini shell photo frames for placecards

Placecard table floral decor

4 of the 6 groomsmen: Alex, Dan (BM), Dave (my hubby), and Rob

Reception tablesetting and centerpiece

Little guest tipping over on the lawn

4 tier buttercream wedding cake with blue ribbon and goldish-brown damask design

Grand entrance with top hat, and feather boa

Another shot of the mansion

The Wedding Salon

My girlfriends invited me to the Wedding Salon in West Hollywood tonight.  I really enjoy these little gatherings where you get one-on-one time with local wedding vendors, compare to the huge bridal shows, where the vendors barely want to talk to you unless you’re a bride. I got to meet some cool vendors tonight, here’s a quick highlight:

• Cloud 9 Photography – awesome photography
• Eventures Inc. – amazing decor and designs
• Dress My Party – beautiful tablescape
• A Pinch of Spirit – delicious moist cake
• Winnie Couture – gorgeous wedding gowns
• Signature Limos – unbeatable limo services and prices
• Lucky Strike – a different kind of bachelor/ette party
• Jen and Kim Shoes – perfect shoe party
• One Love Travel Club – romantic honeymoon packages
• Grand Velas – destination Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico
• Bernardus Lodge - Carmel Valley vineyard wedding
• Hansen’s Cakes – breathtaking cake designs

Secret Project

I’m researching on a secret DIY Wedding Project. I will soon to reveal what the project entails and show you pictures of the results, so stay tuned! Bookmark and check back!