I just love luncheon weddings and what a beautiful wedding this was back in March. We were so blessed to have “California” weather since our wedding reception took place at Club 19 at the St. Regis Resort, Dana Point. Teresa & Thomas met at medical school in Ohio and within one month of meeting each other, they decided to acquire a membership account at Costco. Like most Vietnamese, they tried to save money by obtaining a membership together and the staff inadvertently spelled Teresa’s last name incorrectly by inputting Thomas’s last name….. thus placing them in forever matrimony. To make a long story short….they were first married through Costco. The “official” proposal was in Hawaii when Thomas took her out swimming with the dolphins but the “real” proposal was at their engagement party, aka “Dam Hoi” where Tom’s family asked Teresa’s family for her hand in marriage.
As the festivities began on Friday, a traditional Vietnamese ceremony took place at Thomas’s family residence where only their closest family and friends were in attendance. As Saturday approached, the celebration continued and a second ceremony took place at St. Callistus Catholic Church in Garden Grove. It was important to Thomas & Teresa to have their entire bridal party travel together from Garden Grove to Dana Point so of course, they had to travel in style with an SUV limousine. Talkin’ about getting the party started! As guests arrived, the cocktail reception began in the Botanical Garden where appetizers were being served followed by the lunch reception at the resort’s golf clubhouse, Club 19. This venue is one of my favorites…it brings all aspects of what you love outdoors with the event site having spectacular views of the resort’s Monarch Beach Golf Links. Our photographer, Jon Barber, captured some beautiful moments of our couple as they shared some private moments together.
Teresa wanted her wedding décor to have elegance but with a touch of organic so what better fit than Enchanted Florist as their floral designer. It was important to incorporate lucky bamboo into their arrangements so Nisie Vorachard was able to bring her vision to life by using bamboo to enhance the cylinder vases. Our guests dined on a lovely three course lunch followed by the resort’s signature dessert extravaganza as the finale. Our entertainment was performed by the talented Peter Papadopoulos at Vive Inc. As you know, Peter performs on a weekly basis at the St. Regis on Thursday evenings at “The Address” in the lobby lounge. Peter had a huge influence on Teresa & Thomas’s decision of party favor ideas. The final decision was individual containers of Tiger Balm. Tiger Balm is an ointment that gives you relief for different areas of pain and this product was created nearly 100 years ago from ancient Chinese sources. Since our couple is in the medical field, they chose this specific product because Peter performed at a tennis player’s wedding, this same tennis player use to represent Tiger Balm and our couple got married in the “Year of the Tiger”. This is one of the cutest stories ever told.
It was important to have our children entertained during the duration of the reception so Teresa made sure they had plenty of arts and crafts to occupy their time. Jon Barber captured this extraordinary young talent at the ripe age of 8 who was entertained by the Japanese art form of origami. Incredible craftsmanship.
Photos courtesy of Jon Barber with Barber Photography:
