I have written in journals since my angst-ridden teenage years. Then came the dawn of the world wide web. As an internet addict and a computer nerd, I happily joined the blogging bandwagon in 2001 and have been doing it ever since.
How did you first hear about Weddingbee?
The very first time I heard about Weddingbee was when my now sister-in-law, Mrs. Poppy, became a Weddingbee blogger. I went through the first few pages of the site and found it very engaging. However, I only stopped by once in a while to see how Mrs. Poppy was doing.
A year later, I got engaged myself. I naturally started blogging about my wedding, and Weddingbee soon became an invaluable source for all things wedding-related. My friends would tell me things like, “Oh there’s this site you have to check out…”, or “Have you heard of Weddingbee? You should apply to be a blogger!”
So I did, and I am happy to say that I was accepted.
How has Weddingbee changed your life?
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Mr. Peony and I both love the Barry White classic My First, My Last, My Everything. While we were not each other’s first loves, we feel that the song’s feel-good celebration of love was a perfect song to be played at our wedding.
My First, My Last, My Everything
My First, My Last, My Everything – Barry White
The first, the last, my everything
And the answer to all my dreams
(all photos by Danny Weiss)
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The song To Sir, With Love is from the soundtrack of a movie of the same name. Released in 1967, we knew that the song would bring back feelings of nostalgia from the older crowd and introduce the younger to a classic favorite.
To Sir, With Love is a tribute to a teacher and mentor who has made a deep impression in the lives of his students. Although it is sung from a female student to a male teacher, we felt that its meaning transcends gender and the student-teacher relationship. We meant it as a thank you to our families and friends for being such an important part of our lives.
To Sir, With Love
Those schoolgirl days of telling tales and biting nails are gone,
But in my mind, I know they will still live on and on.
(all photos by Danny Weiss)
One of Mr. Peony’s and my favorite songs of all time is the Stevie Wonder version of For Once in My Life. As much as we wanted to use it for our first dance, we decided that the medium yet upbeat tempo would be a difficult song to dance to in our formal wear.
(Actually, Mr. Peony could’ve done it – he’s a better dancer than me, having taken ballroom dancing classes in college. Why did he take ballroom dancing classes? To meet girls. Psh. Isn’t it ironic that he married a girl who has two left feet?)
Luckily, another one of our favorite singers, Michael Bublé, has also done a cover of the song. It is short and jazzy and fun. Mission accomplished!
For Once in My Life
For Once In My Life – Michael Bublé
For once in my life
I’ve got someone who needs me
Someone I’ve needed so long
For once unafraid
I can go where life leads me
And somehow I know I’ll be strong
(all photos by Danny Weiss)
I have gone through some internal debates on how to handle my last official recap. After thinking long and hard (that’s what she said), I came across an article in the LA Times where the co-writer of the movie 500 Days of Summer states that “every relationship has a soundtrack.” How true!
Now, I know that everyone has different taste in music, but I personally love the songs we chose for our wedding reception and I feel that each one of them very well represents the many facets of my relationship with Mr. Peony, as well as our relationship with our families and friends.
wedding party intro: “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure
first dance: “For Once in My Life” by Michael Bublé
combined father-daughter mother-son dance: “To Sir, With Love” by Lulu
cake-cutting: “My First, My Last, My Everything” by Barry White
As a result, I have decided to divide our reception into four entries so that I can let the songs and selections from their lyrics tell the story of the Peonies’ reception.
(all photos by Danny Weiss)
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My last recap post did not end on a favorable note. If you can recall, the charter bus carrying over 50 of our guests was running an hour and a half late. I was hyperventilating in the bridal suite, and the boys were taking whiskey shots in their suite.
All my fears and anxiety were quelled when the bus arrived. It took less than 5 minutes for our DOC Christine Viola and the staff at The Fountainhead to shuffle all 50+ guests upstairs to the chapel and have them properly seated.
It was time to get married.
(All photos by Danny Weiss.)
Everyone was finally seated and ready to bear witness to our wedding.
Mr. Peony and his best man took their places at the altar while the bridal party lined up outside the chapel.
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This will be a picture-less post, as I will be focusing on the one snafu in what could’ve been a perfect wedding day: NYC traffic.
NYC traffic on a Friday afternoon is pretty bad. NYC traffic on a Friday afternoon when various VIPs are in town is worse. Who exactly was in Manhattan on the day of my wedding? Let me give you the list, along with my mother’s reactions.
Fortunately, the bridal party got around without too much delay because we had given ourselves an extra hour of padding in the schedule. However, the bus that we had charted to shuttle our NYC guests to our venue got the worst of it.
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I know that family portraits are not always the most popular of recap posts. However, how many of you can boast to having a family as big as mine? (All photos by Danny Weiss.)
“That’s it?” you say? Nope, these are only the ones who came from Korea to attend the wedding. Here are all the members of my side of the family… who were able to make it to the wedding.
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Where were we? Oh, yes, the limo. (All photos by Danny Weiss.)
About half of the bridal party dozed off on our way from Manhattan to Westchester. I didn’t find out until after the wedding that the boys had held a party the night before in their hotel suite, staying up until 4AM. They had finished off numerous bottles of whiskey (save for one, more on that later 
), vodka, and wine… the hotel security came up twice to ask them to quiet down! I knew something was up when they all refused the complimentary champagne in the limo – they were all hungover!
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The reason we had decided to get ready in Manhattan was so that we could take pictures in the city before heading off to our venue in Westchester. I wanted to hit all the quintessential New York photography spots: the majestic Brooklyn Bridge, the cobblestone streets of the Meatpacking District, the tree-lined streets of Greenwich Village, the edgy backdrop of TriBeCa… we wanted it all.
In the end we decided to play it safe with time and decided on just one spot: Central Park (with Grand Central station as a backup, just in case it rained).
After doing some research, we discovered that certain locations in Central Park – such as the breathtaking Conservatory Garden – require a photography permit. Ever the lazy bum, I purposely chose a location that does not require a permit: The Pond, located at Central Park South between Fifth and Sixth Avenues…
(All photos by Danny Weiss)
We arrived at Central Park in style. I tried my best not to trip as we traversed the crowds. Many people shouted congratulatory words and wished us well. However, it being New York, there were also the occasional “Don’t do it!”s.
Off with the qipao and on with the wedding gown. Let’s rock ’n’ roll! (All photos by Danny Weiss)
Mr Peony and his groomsmen were patiently waiting for us in the hotel lobby…
“They’re here! Turn around, Mr Peony!”
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Hi, remember me? The girl who promised a full round of recaps – only to disappear after a paltry three, never to be seen again?
Life got in the way. There have been many ups and downs in the Peony household this year and I am ashamed to say that I didn’t take the downs too gracefully. It was difficult to look at pictures of the happiest day of my life when life was dragging me down… does that make sense? Nonetheless, I am a strong woman (hear me roar) and I am getting things back on track.
On with the recaps!
After the Chinese Tea Ceremony, the bridal party separated once again so that I could change from my qipao to my wedding gown. (All photos are courtesy of my super-talented photographer Danny Weiss.)
I’m not sure what my bridesmaids were discussing here. I think it was something along the lines of, “What comes first? Shoes, crinoline, or bustier?”
(Disclaimer: as I am not Chinese, some of the things I write below may be incorrect. Please correct me if I’m wrong! And, as always, all photos are courtesy of our wonderful photographer Danny Weiss.)
The Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony between the couple and the groom’s family is designed to formally introduce the bride to the groom’s family. It is probably, if not, the most significant part of a modern Chinese wedding.
Traditionally, the tea ceremony takes place early in the morning of the wedding. Although the ceremony is usually performed at the groom’s home, we decided that shuttling everyone to and from New Jersey would take up too much time and money. As a result, Mr Peony’s family set shop in a suite in the same hotel where the bridal party got ready.
Mr Peony’s uncle, waiting patiently for the ceremony to begin:
In addition to the Chinese Tea Ceremony, Mr Peony was also eager for us to participate in Chinese Wedding Door Games.
I am not too familiar with the tradition, so I will let China Bridal do the explanation:
Door game originated from ancient time which implies that the bride is a lovely girl and her family and friends do not want to marry her away. The groom will be blocked at the bride’s door, and her friends will try to stop him from entering by asking questions about the bride, a way to test if he really cares about her. They may also do other tricks to delay the bride’s leaving. The groom will try to buy his way in by presenting “Li Shi”, token money wrapped in red envelopes. The entire “bargain” process is joyous and good-natured.
There is a large variety of games that can be played, and some of them can be rather embarrassing! For some examples of funny door games, see here and here. Many times, the groom is not able to fulfill the task by himself, so his groomsmen will need to step in and help out.
Since our wedding party was at a hotel, we decided to keep the door games relatively short and painless…
The boys arrive at the girls’ suite:
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With all four bridesmaids, my mother-in-law, and myself all scheduled for hair and makeup, we girls started the day bright and early at 8AM so that we would be ready for the traditional Chinese tea ceremony at 1PM.
The only problem with this plan was that we had booked our photographer, Danny Weiss, for 10 hours. Would we sacrifice “getting ready” pictures for more photos of the reception?
In the end, Mr. Peony and I decided that reception photos were more important to us. As a result we scheduled Danny to arrive at 12 noon. He got to the hotel just in time to catch Claudia Pedala, my hair stylist, add finishing touches to my ’do (all photos by Danny Weiss):
Mrs. Peony, New York Age and Occupation: 27, Marketing Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA Engineer Engagement Date: June 28, 2007 Wedding Date: April 18, 2008 Venue: The Fountainhead Blogging Since: August 7, 2007 About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.
