#VendorRaves
All of our vendors were great, but two went above and beyond.
(1) We worked closely with Caitlin at Park Avenue Catering to create a wedding menu that paid homage to both of our cultures, and they did a beautiful job incorporating Taiwanese and Cajun food into our menu. Our guests loved that they had items like scallion pancakes during cocktail hour and transitioned into items like shrimp and grits for dinner.
(2) Our florist, Auna at Beijaflor Botanicals, went above and beyond to respond to every request I had, including tracking down culturally symbolic flowers (e.g., peonies) and hard-to-find Chinoiserie vases. We were blown away by every arrangement, ranging from the simple bud vases on each table to the stunning floral installation she created for our ceremony tree.
How did you meet?
We met on Hinge in Cambridge, Massachusetts in August 2020, still at the height of COVID-19 when masking and social distancing were the norms. Both of us were studying remotely—Alethea was in the last semester of her Master’s in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health and Joe was toward the end of his PhD in Economics and Public Policy at Tufts University. We bonded immediately over one of Alethea’s Hinge prompts, which asked which was the best post-run recovery drink: chocolate milk or beer.
When did you become engaged, and how?
Joe proposed to Alethea on the top of Mount Wachusett in Massachusetts on July 23, 2022, during a hike. As background, we both love the outdoors and hiking was a huge part of our early relationship: we drove up to Acadia National Park for our fourth date and spent so many weekends hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Our hike to the top of Mount Wachusett was Alethea’s first hike in nearly a year after developing a chronic injury that kept her off the trails, so we got to celebrate both her return to hiking and our engagement. After Joe proposed, we finished the hike and celebrated over bowls of gumbo at one of our favorite spots: NOLA Cajun Kitchen.
#WeddingGoals
We actually eloped in Mendocino in December 2022, so our September 2023 “wedding” was really a wedding celebration to share with our friends and family. We didn’t have clear expectations, but we knew we wanted a weekend of celebration that felt reflective of us and allowed for lots of time with friends and family. This meant a few things, including having the event outside since we both love the outdoors; choosing a venue with on-site accommodations so some close friends and family could stay with us for the entire weekend; and bringing in elements of both of our cultures, which strongly influenced our Cajun/Taiwanese menu, our Chinoiserie-style wedding decor, and our inclusion of a tea ceremony.
How did the planning go?
Since we did most of the planning ourselves, it was definitely time consuming. Having a partial planner was helpful since they were able to share vendor recommendations and cut down on some of our research, but it was still a lot of work! That being said, there were lots of highs. Many of them were food-related, like our tasting with Park Avenue Catering, when we got to sample the delicious and creative Cajun/Taiwanese menu put together by our phenomenal catering team, and our cake tastings, which allowed us to sample a few dozen cake flavors in a single, sugar-filled day trip to Sonoma.
How would you describe the ceremony?
We are proud of how our ceremony reflected us, both as individuals and as a couple. We crafted the ceremony script ourselves, with help from our friend officiating the wedding, and used it as an opportunity to share more about our love story and our values in a relationship and marriage. We also used it as an opportunity to have a little fun with our guests. As part of our ceremony, we randomly drew guests’ names to come up and read three short passages that represent our shared beliefs on love and friendship. The response was really memorable—there was a lot of surprise and laughter over something so unanticipated, and the guests who were randomly called up did an amazing job reading the passages we selected. It was meaningful to us to involve our friends and family in our ceremony and we love that it was also a memorable moment for so many of them. A lot of guests have told us that they loved how fun and original it was, and asked whether it was really a random draw. Our answer: yes it was!
Memorable Moment
Neither of us are big dancers, but we took a couples’ dance lesson and had a simple choreography to “Can’t Do Much” by Waxahatchee as our first dance. It was so much fun! We got some great photos of our guests’ reactions when Joe lifted Alethea up high for the finale
Special Cultural Features
We had a tea ceremony, which is a special tradition in Taiwanese (and other East Asian) weddings where the newlyweds serve tea to their elders as a sign of respect and gratitude for their love and support. The bride’s parents also had a tea ceremony when they got married, so it was really meaningful both to us and to Alethea’s family to include this as part of our weekend. It was also fun to share more about Alethea’s culture with Joe’s family. Aside from the tea ceremony, there were also nods to our Taiwanese and Cajun cultures in the menu, and our wedding decor was Chinoiserie-inspired.
Unexpected Moment
The crew at Beltane Ranch kindly brought Wally, their adorable Southdown Babydoll sheep, out to mix and mingle with our guests during cocktail hour. He was even clad in a bowtie. We had initially thought that Wally would be a fun addition for the kids at our wedding, but he ended up being a big hit with our adult guests too.
Joe’s Best Part of the Day
For Joe, the best part of his day was the reception dinner when he could relax, sit with Alethea, and see everyone enjoying the day they had envisioned for so long.
Alethea’s Best Part of the Day
For Alethea, the best part of her day was getting to exchange their original vows from their elopement in front of their closest friends and family. She loved getting to hear Joe say his vows a second time.
What do you think guests will remember most about your wedding?
Many of our guests reached out to us afterward to tell us how much they loved the beautiful setting and grounds at Beltane Ranch, the delicious Cajun and Taiwanese food, and the relaxed atmosphere. A lot of folks also talked about how much they loved Wally the sheep!
Advice from the couple:
Start early, especially if you are planning your wedding on a holiday weekend! This will help both you and your guests, since you’ll get to choose from a wider range of available vendors and your guests will have plenty of time to book travel and hotel arrangements.
What would you have done differently if you had the chance?
We would have enjoyed spending the night after the wedding at Beltane Ranch too (instead of driving home that morning), so we could have had even more time with friends and family and kept the good times rolling.
