Back in May, my brother-in-law, Ka-Wah, got married to Jen. Ka-Wah and Jen met in med school (both are now in their residencies), and started dating sometime after Ka-Wah asked one of his friends in Cantonese, “who’s that cute white girl?”. hehe 
. Although Jen spends most of her time in the ER, her real passion is music – she sings, plays piano, and plays this fairly unknown instrument called “hammered dulcimer” (which, incidentally, was the only instrument played during the wedding). Her love of music was reflected in many aspects of their wedding day.
Jen and her mom did most of the planning for the wedding (seriously, her mom was such a work horse! I didn’t have the benefit of having my mom around to help with mine, but if you do, put her to work! While there are some mom’s who don’t want to help with the wedding, I’m pretty sure that the vast majority do – especially if you’re the only daughter!).
Since Jen’s family live in Lancaster, PA, they chose to have an outdoor wedding at Riverdale Manor in Lancaster.
So, to some highlights for the day:
Jen had both her parents walk her down the aisle. It's perfectly fine to break from tradition and have both your parents escort you, or come down by yourself.
Rather than using an ordained minister of a church, there are a number of couples now who are asking their friends to marry them. Jen and Ka-Wah's friend Christina got ordained online (clicking on the photo will take you to EHow.com with instructions on how to get ordained to marry).
When you have bridesmaids with different body types, skin colors, personalities, etc, it's often better to pick out a color (or range of colors) and let each maid pick out her own dress. Each of Jen's bridesmaids picked out the style of their choice from Alfred Angelo. Rather than renting tuxes, the groomsmen all wore black suits, with Jen and Ka-Wah giving them their ties as gifts. Jen got her dress from David's Bridal and had the straps added.
Everyone received a candle as their wedding favor. Jen also had a candy station (awesome idea!) set up in one corner where guests could fill up Chinese takeout containers with candies of their choice. Jen's mom and friends put the whole selection together, with all the candy either being from Pennsylvania, or homemade using cala-lilly shaped chocolate molds.
To keep the budget down, Jen chose a simple but elegant cake. If you look closely, you can see Mario and Princess Toadstool as the cake topper! Jen told me this reflected both of their geeky sides!
And my favorite thing? Green Appletini's! Yum!!!
Towards the end of the reception, Jen got changed into a cute green dress (also from Alfred Angelo). She also switched into some crazy high heels which she'd found the day before for $30! (Jen is a shoe addict - last count was 75 pairs! She managed to wear just 3 of them on her wedding day.)
I interviewed Jen about some of her favorite (and not so favorite) parts of the wedding and planning process. Here’s what she said:
Favorite part of wedding planning: “Without a doubt, the dress shopping. I loved trying on different styles and seeing how they all looked on me, smiling at the pretty ones and laughing my ass off at the hideous ones. I still watch Say Yes to the Dress on TLC to get my wedding dress fix.”
Favorite part of wedding day: “Too many to name! I loved that we did a first look prior to the ceremony; it was a truly special moment that we were able to capture in photos. It was very cute when Ka-Wah took out a paper with his vows and said “I need Cliffs Notes!” The food was really good, cake was both pretty and tasty.” (Nat: I also loved that the caterer put different food stations at each corner of the reception hall – definitely helped to keep the lines short).
Any wedding day surprises? “Oh yes. The Mother’s Day Truck Convoy, where all the trucks drive down one nearby stretch of road and honk their horns, and somehow this raises money for Make A Wish. Luckily it started after our ceremony, but it could have been disastrous. Our venue did not make the effort to warn us when we chose the date.”
Warnings/Tips for other brides: “I should have been more firm with the bridesmaids about not choosing thin/stiletto heels for an outdoor wedding. I let them choose any kind shoe that they wanted.” (Nat: Since the wedding was outdoors on soggy grass, the girls kept getting their shoes stuck in the ground!)
“Also, I learned very quickly that wind and wireless microphones do not mix.
“Finally, don’t go dress shopping with people who clearly have opposite senses of style to yours (i.e. me and my mom – should have stuck with friends only!).”
DIY Projects:
- Jen made her invitations using a DIY kit from Wilton (available at any craft store).
- She also DIY’d her programs by folding a Letter sized sheet of paper in half and printing it in a similar way to her invitations.
- Jen’s also a bit of an origami fiend, so she made origami boxes for her bridesmaids gifts, and oragami cranes for decoration at the reception.
- Jen’s mom made the centerpieces using candles from Wal-Mart and placemats from TJ Maxx.
- Each of the tables were named after different classical music composers. Jen printed a composer bio and photo on cardstock and placed each on a small table easel from IKEA. The escort cards doubled as favors, and were CD’s with songs from that composer.
Jen and Ka-Wah used the following vendors:
Jen and Ka-Wah were able to stick to their budget, but still incorporate things that represented them as a couple and individually. How will you be expressing yourself in your wedding?
