seven-degrees wedding | vivian + sean (part 2)

This is part 2 of Vivian & Sean’s amazing wedding, so if you haven’t seen part 1 yet, please check out part 1 first!

If you’ve been a long time reader, then you may recognize Vivian & Sean from their 3 part engagement session:

part 1

part 2

part 3

They even had a cameo from Nathaniel Ayers here.

Vivian technically booked me before she was even engaged, so we go way back.  I remember how excited she was (and still is) about her wedding when we first met.  She had all these great DIY and Asian-fusion ideas to connect her & Sean’s culture.  The cutest part was when she told me that she wanted me to be her wedding photographer, but that she wasn’t engaged yet.  She asked me to “pencil” her date until he proposes because she didn’t want to look like the crazy girl who planned her wedding before being engaged.  We both laughed, and 2 weeks later, I got an excited email from her that she’s engaged and it’s time to go into “full wedding mode”.  What I later learned to be “full wedding mode” was no joke.  This girl thought everything down to the last detail and left no stones unturned!  I’ve become so close to her through her planning that I felt like I was watching my sister get married.

…

So on with the pictures!  She was going for a modern, Asian-fusion look, which Allison from Flower Allie executed flawlessly!  I LOVE the hanging crystals and the pattern down the aisle.

Isn’t that just the perfect setting for a wedding?  They exchanged very personal & touching vows.  To incorporate part of Vivian’s culture, they did a very short traditional tea ceremony where they offered their parent’s tea.  Offering tea symbolizes respect, and when the parents drink the tea, it represents acceptance of their marriage.

They also did a sand ceremony in lieu of lighting a unity candle.  Again, I love all the crystals!

And they are now husband and wife!!

And on to cocktail hour!  I love the horsetail that Allison used in the decor.  It’s so modern with an Asian touch.  They offered a signature drink called the Blushing Bride Martini.  I don’t know what’s in it, but it looks pretty!

Vivian DIY’ed a little message board… in pink, of course!

Her “escort cards” came in the form of votive candles.  Guest names and assigned table numbers were printed on vellum and wrapped around the votive.

And then you have the jaw-droppingly beautiful reception.  I was literally stunned by all the beauty & details when I first walked in.  I remember thinking how will I get all the details here!  Just when I thought I was done, I notice something else.  The head table was in the center and was a long rectangular table.  Then there were round tables around it.

The centerpieces were manzinita branches adorned with pink orchids, hanging votive candles and crystals.

Her beautiful cake was also decorated with pink orchids.  The great thing about [seven-degrees] is that it already has lighting.  It’s an art gallery, so the space is already rigged with all the lighting you would need.

And you can’t have crytals at your wedding without Swarovski toasting flutes!  I remember this was all the rage when I got married.  I love all the little crystals in the stem.

A view of the long head-table.

I LOVE how many vases filled with pink orchids there were!  And so many candles!

More details of the head table…  I LOVE the use of horsetail.

They also had all these lanterns above their dance floor.  So modern, yet still ties into their Asian-fusion theme.  It was a great focal point for the dance floor.

To continue with the Asian-fusion theme, they hired lion dancers!  The room turned red and was filled with the sounds from their beating drums as they danced their way in.

To take advantage of [seven-degrees] lighting, Vivian and Sean had them change the color throughout the night.  I used their cake as my constant and took pictures of the cake at each color.

Vivian filled little Chinese take-out boxes with candy.

I really loved how emotional this wedding was.  You could tell how loved Vivian & Sean is.  Sean’s mom baked him a grooms cake with his favorite baseball team.  And throughout the speeches & toasts, the room was filled with laughter & tears.

My favorite of all the cake photos would have to be with the blue uplights.  The pink & white on the cake contrast the blue wall well.  Something to keep in mind for those of you who are planning your uplights & decor.  Some contrast is a good thing.

Cheers to the happy couple!  This was such a heartfelt & amazing wedding to be part of.