Liriodendron Mansion Wedding in Maryland

Overall Theme for the Ceremony & Reception

“I picked rose gold, blush and light gray as the theme colors, with rose gold being the color of my ring. We also wanted to incorporate elements from our lives in the wedding, with the travel theme being one of the major features.”

Best advice you received while planning your wedding?

“My husband always reminded me whenever I’m stressed about wedding planning, that I should focus on knowing that regardless of what happens that day, I will be married to the love of my life at the end of the day. It does keep me grounded with the chaos at times.

“The WeddingWire website and forum were very useful during the wedding planning process.”

Where did you buy your wedding invitations?

“My friend who is a graphic designer helped design and printed them.”

Describe the Bride’s Attire

“I had 3 dresses! My wedding gown was designed by Allure Bridal. It is a ball gown with a scalloped sweetheart neckline with floral lace throughout the dress. This was pared with a pair of peep toe shoes in blush and rose gold that I purchased from DSW.  For the Chinese tea ceremony, I wore a Chinese wedding dress that is in red with gold threads. It’s in a trumpet/mermaid style with laces throughout the entire dress. I paired this with a pair of red and gold pumps. I purchased both the dress and shoes in Hong Kong.  My reception dress is from Cache. The top has gold beads on a sheer material. The bottom is a flowy white dress, paired it with a pair of Mary Janes from Kate Spade in rose gold glitter.”

Wedding Flowers

(From the florist’s proposal)

• Bridal Bouquet: A romantic floral grouping of white hydrangea, lambsear, frill white tulips, blush peonies, pale pink ranunculas, white lisianthus, blush spray roses, gathered and wrapped with an ivory fabric with lace overlay.
• Maid of Honor/Bridesmaids: A grouping of all white hydrangea with lambsear.
• Groom Boutonniere: A white ranunculas bloom with lambsear leaf.
• Best Man/Groomsmen Boutonnieres: Double light pink spray rose with a lambsear leaf.
• Guest table arrangements: A glass bubble bowl displaying a lush, garden style design of white and blush florals including hydrangea, roses and spray roses with lisianthus, lambsear and seeded eucalyptus.”

Ceremony Music

“Processional: Never Stop, by Safetysuit; Brides entrance: All of Me (instrumental); Recessional: I do by Colbie Caillat”

Bridesmaids’ Attire

“They wore knee-length dresses in light pink. I let them choose the style they wanted. I purchased all of them when I went to Hong Kong and provided the boutique their measurements. I asked them to wear nude colored shoes and they picked the style they wanted as well.”

What did you give your bridesmaids as a bridesmaids gift?

“I gave them each a bathrobe with their names embroidered, which we purchased from Etsy. I also gave them handbags in rose gold from Guess. I stuffed the bags with snacks and Capri Suns so they can have those that morning whenever they get hungry.”

Describe the Groom’s Attire

“His tux was tailor made in Hong Kong. His shoes are black patent dress shoes from Calvin Klein and his black bow tie is from Armani. He forgot to bring his belt so he bought it the day before the wedding at Marshalls.”

Highlights from the Ceremony and Reception

“Too many! The highlight from the ceremony for me was when I saw my soon-to-be husband tear up at the altar. He’s not an emotional guy, so it definitely surprised me! The reception overall was just really fun, but doing our first dance successfully, which we lip synced to the Frozen song love is an open door, was a wonderful moment (and relief)! I also loved it when we took out the glow sticks during dancing time. Everyone had fun with them!”

“He got them a box with a bunch of small items including: flash drives with different minion personalities representing each groomsman, pocket knifes (from eBay I think), bottle openers from Brooks Brothers, and also their bow ties for the wedding day from Etsy.”

Wedding Favors

“My sister and I made salted caramel sauce as wedding favors. We had a pretzel and popcorn bar to go with the caramel sauce.”

Did you go over or stay under the budget?

“We went over the budget, but not by much. I also tried to stay within the budget by purchasing many used items from Craigslist and thrift stores.”

Where did you go on your Honeymoon?

“Since we actually have two weddings (US one being the first, second one done in my hometown, Hong Kong), we only had a minimoon after our US wedding. We stayed in a lovely cabin at the Iris Inn in Waynesboro, VA. We are currently on the way to our honeymoon in Greece! We’ll be visiting Myokonos, Santorini and Athens.”