Well, it’ll be 5 years on Friday, so I thought it was about time I shared my wedding! I’ll be sharing it this week over three parts: Getting Ready, the Ceremony, and the Reception and today is all about getting ready. All photos by Sarah K Chen Photography.
But before we just dive into the wedding, here’s a little background:
Our wedding was inspired by the venue. We were married on the porch of the beautiful Hale House at Heritage Square Museum, and we incorporated many elements of “home” into the wedding design. I’m a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, so Alice was included as well with hints of a mad tea party, pink flamingos, doorknobs, and even croquet.
The wedding was truly a labor of love. My mom and I spent months scouring Craigslist, the Rose Bowl Flea Market, antique stores, and thrift stores for furniture, decor, and all of the mismatched china. At least half a dozen times we received strange looks on the freeway as we used my mom’s convertible to transport a dresser or cabinet. I also hand-stitched seventy (70!) Save the Date postcards, while my husband, Ken, an illustrator and animator, drew all of the elements for the invitations, and Emily, one of my best friends and an amazingly talented graphic designer, took the drawings and created the invitations. She also created the wedding programs, and calligraphied the envelopes, as well as any other handwritten signs. Emily also handmade my garter and my veil, which used the lace of my mother’s wedding dress. She also helped me make a unique fascinator for each of the bridesmaids. I asked my bridesmaids to simply wear a black dress of their choosing, so the fascinators were a way to make them stand out from the other wedding guests. We also hand-polished the mismatched antique silverware, folded a hundred paper airplanes, and handmade the bunting, garlands, signs, and table numbers. Whew! And it was all worth it!
We got ready at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena. My mom, my mother-in-law, and my girlfriends all got ready together in my bridal suite where I hired a hair and make-up artist and we took forever to get ready! And while the ladies took hours to get ready, the boys got ready in speed demon time, then played on the piano, had some shots, then goofed around. We took an old school trolley over to the ceremony and reception location where we took pre-wedding portrait photos so that guests wouldn’t have to wait FOREVER between the ceremony and reception for us to take photos. My ladies were such good sports wearing the facinators! And we were able to squeeze in a few single and couple shots as well! Stay tuned and I’ll post photos of our ceremony on Wednesday!
Photographer: Sarah K Chen Photography | Floral Design: Renee Fontana | Ceremony + Reception Venue: Heritage Square Museum | Invitations: Bride, Groom + Emily Denis | Catering: Rounds Burger Truck | Dance Floor, Lighting, Table + Chair Rentals: Town and Country Event Rentals | Crepes: Crepes Bonaparte | Cakes: Fantasy Frosting | Accordionist: Alex Lavruk | DJ: David Brownstein, GD Entertainment | Photobooth Rental: Classic Photobooth | Table Numbers + Bunting: DIY by Bride, available in her Etsy shop | Hair + Makeup: Leann Seto at Kelly Zhang | Wedding Dress: Alvina Valenta | Veil + Garter: Emily Denis | Shoes: Badgley Mischka | Groom’s Suit: J.Crew