Western - Vietnamese Wedding
Advise from Bride to Bride:
Well, first of all, CONGRATS!!! Enjoy this experience because it’s absolutely amazing. You certainly chose a perfect place to get married in San Francisco. And, if you’re still interviewing photographers–you might as well stop. I have to tell you Rosemarie and Gerard are the most incredible photographers EVER!! From experience, the beautiful thing is that you never felt that you were on camera–it was just so natural. And the most candid pictures–they completely captured the essence of the entire wedding events, from Hans Fahden to Los Angeles reception (I don’t know if you got to peruse the entire wedding on Pictage). Some of those images are so special to us that I was amazed they captured it. Especially at the Vietnamese altar—WOW. We do have much to talk about how to integrate the East-West ceremonies. Another thing to consider, is that I have asked my friends about the weekend in Sonoma–they kept on raving about Rose & Gerard–how fun they were, how artistic, and mostly, unobtrusive. That is so so so important I can’t emphasize enough how you’ll need that on your special day.
How did I get away with not having 400 guests at a Chinese restaurant??
Frankly, by paying for it ourselves–Ha! Ha! Honestly though, my family wasn’t thrilled with the fact that they weren’t allowed to invite their friends, it was strictly immediate family and our closest friends, no aunts, uncles, cousins–100 people max. Yeah, we had our battles but we also had the LA reception where they could invite friends, etc. (but of course I did give them a max. headcount, which they HAD to stick to. Even LA was somewhat a destination for their OC friends & extended family, which also limited the number of confirmed replies). We had it at a friend’s house, outdoors, catered bbq for 250, band, dj and just celebrated. It was very very very different for my entire family as they’re so accustomed to the Chinese banquet–ultimately, everyone had an incredible time. IT WAS A BLAST!! It’s amazing how much they enjoyed this experience–it’s just that they weren’t used to the idea. My nieces and nephews even said when it’s their turn; they want it just like ours which was sooo cute and way to premature for them to say that! Boy I’m old.
So the lesson, stick to your number and don’t budge–once you open one group of friends or family members, you certainly will have to open many more doors. And if you start budging, you’re gonna start budging the budget. If you can get away with not having a local reception, I certainly encourage it. Destination weddings as I’m sure you know, are by far not a way to save money, in fact, much more but so worth it.
Most important though, do it your way. Accept and embrace that you’re not going to make everyone happy–but who cares? It’s quality vs. quantity. The day’s about you and your future husband. You’ll get a ton of people telling you how the day went by so fast, that they couldn’t remember anything. B.S. It’s all about your attitude and desires–for us, we wanted an intimate weekend celebration(s) amongst those closest to us, and to remember for a lifetime. Which looking back, Cindy we remember everything about our wedding weekend. Like I said, the experience was AMAZING.
Carol
Tied the knot at Hans Fahden Winery, Calistoga
Since the couple had already the ceremony at a different site, my coverage started with some bridal photos in the surrounding settings of Tra Vigne.
