REAL WEDDING: JACQUELINE & DEMIAN

‘Hi Janie, I’ve been a big fan of The Bride’s Cafe since I discovered it earlier this year while planning my wedding this fall – it was such a fantastic source of inspiration to me, and I still enjoy reading your blog as a married woman 🙂  I thought you might be interested to see the photos from our wedding, courtesy of our wonderful photographers, and to hear our story. 

My husband Demian and I were married on September 6, 2008 at the Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, California.  In planning our wedding, we were very much inspired by the natural, dramatic beauty of our venue, which is the oldest surviving Japanese-style gardens in the Western hemisphere, consisting of historic buildings nestled amongst hillside gardens, bamboo forests, and koi ponds.  Because September is water lily season at Hakone, our wedding stationery featured a water lily and koi motif. 

The fall garden theme reappeared at our traditional Chinese banquet reception, which featured submerged lotus pod, calla lily, and pincushion centerpieces set in moss and river rock containers, as well as a four-tier (two flavor) cake covered with sugar paste river rocks, water lilies, and topped with a replica of the garden bridge at Hakone.  In keeping with the regal elegance of the gardens, taiko drums signalled the beginning of the ceremony and entrance of the groom with his groomsmen and the officiant.   

At the end of the day, Demian and I had the most fun making our wedding personal, from our music selections to the favors we gave to guests.  Having been best friends since high school, we wanted to add details to our special day to acknowledge the things that we have, over the years, come to enjoy together and love about one another. 

By way of example, Demian’s parents and my bridesmaids entered to Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune,’ the first piece that I ever heard Demian, an accomplished pianist, play at a school concert during our freshman year of high school.  Rather than walking down the aisle to ‘Here Comes the Bride’ or Pachabel’s ‘Canon in D,’ I descended my hilltop perch to the ‘Portugese Love Theme’ (a song from my favorite movie ‘Love Actually’), carrying as my ‘something blue’ a collection of short stories by Roald Dahl called ‘Kiss Kiss.’ 

At our reception, each of our guests was given an envelope escort card, containing a table assignment and a little-known fact about the couple.  And on each table setting, we placed for our guests a tin of Earl Grey tea (Demian’s favorite), as well as one of my first dessert recipes – Earl Grey chocolate truffles. 

Even though Demian and I had known for many years that we would eventually marry, our engagement and the wedding itself was no less sweet.  We hope you enjoy perusing some of our favorite wedding photos!’

Credits go to: 
Photography: Kerry Rodgers Photography and Gloria Nunez Photography
Event Coordination: Crystal Lequang, Amazae Special Events
Floral Design: Nicole Ha
Cake Design: Stephanie Masquelier, Flours