03.20.10 A Big Wedding for Anthi & Long

I rarely take on a project like wedding day coordination with less than a month's notice, because by this time I probably would not be involved in meetings and discussions with key vendors like the ceremony site, the reception site, and the DJ. Usually, if I am not involved with these key vendors, a lot can go wrong, so I didn't want to put my reputation on the line. However, Anthi & Long's wedding was a special case because Mary, my partner, knows Anthi, and she tells me that Anthi is the scrap book queen and she is super organized.


It turns out that Mary is correct. Anthi did have a lot of details in her wedding, from decoration details like hanging the ceremony programs on shepherd hooks, using paper lanterns to accent the garden, and decking out the reception ballroom with drapery and lights - basically, whatever romantic and creative ideas you can have, you can find it in Anthi's wedding. Her wedding reminded me of both Joyce's wedding (Japanese garden ceremony) and Daphne's wedding (paper lanterns and drapery), yet, it was individually unique as its own.

Anthi & her bridesmaids were intimately involved with the entire wedding process from the inception to make her wedding personalized and special. But the problem is, all of them are in the wedding party, so that means someone needs to be in charge when they are doing their processional, their entrances, speeches, and partying. Anthi & Long's wedding is also very big, with 350 confirmed attendance, which makes it riskier as there are more potentials of things going wrong. 


It helps to have one point of contact for all the vendors and helpers on the wedding day to know who to talk to for answers. As I have mentioned before, a wedding day coordinator is like the conductor of an orchestra. Each of the musicians is highly talented, but in order to perform beautiful music together, they need the conductor to help everyone jive along.

Anthi's 10-people bridal party and her countless volunteering friends help make the set-up and tear-down at the ceremony and reception easy. All I had to do was making sure that we move along as planned, and tried to make each activity connect as smoothly as possible.  Since Mary is expecting her baby any moment now, I recruited my husband, Greg and her husband, Daniel, to help with some set-up & clean-up. 


I think my presence also gave her wedding party and volunteered helpers the chance to relax a little & to enjoy the wedding toward the end of the evening. As they danced the night away, I slowly started to clean out the vases and prepare to tuck things away. I stayed until the very end to make sure all the items that Anthi needed saving were put away in her honeymoon suite.


And the wedding? It was a beautiful spring wedding at the Japanese Garden at Cal State Long Beach preceeded with a traditional tea ceremony which the bridal couple paid their respects to their elders. The reception was at at Lincoln Plaza Hotel with the traditional 10-course Chinese banquet dishes with Chinese appetizers during the cocktail hour, complete with photobooth, an open-bar all night long, and awesome lighting and music. There were a total of 37 tables in the reception ballroom. The guests partied and danced until 11pm, when the restaurant staff gave the courtesy notice that they had to start the clean up.

Set-up for tea ceremony

The guest's view of the bridge where the couple gets married

Anthi walking down the aisle with both of her parents

Guests seated by the pond

The couple says I do on the bridge

Place cards hanging on a board

The sign-in table - notice the 7 framed photos of the couple's families, the hand-made sign-in boards and the bird cage in lieu of a gift receiving box.

The table decor - note hand-made table card and menu

The reception ballroom - note the draped walls and chandelier, and the lighting.

The wedding cake

The sweetheart table on an elevated stage

The centerpiece

The bride in her traditional red dress with the groom and her father, thanking the guests for coming and making their day special.

The guests dancing the night away!

It was a long day, but seeing how everything was done so beautifully, and that everyone seemed to have a good time made it worth my time!


Congratulations to Anthi & Long on the beginning of their new journey! Thanks for letting me be part of your big day!

 

Photo slide show courtesy of Jan Garcia Photography: