When I first saw this wedding submission, it was the church that truly caught my attention. Perhaps one of the more structurally lovely & stain-glass adorned churches I have seen. Once I got passed the church I realized that today’s feature couple, Melanie Siu-shan Hui & Lawrence Santiago Lipana are absolutely captivating & I am in love with their spirit. Just from viewing their wedding photos, I can tell that these two love life, love laughing & even more so, enjoying life with their friends and each other. The wedding is a gorgeous affair of course, but its the moments they share with each other, family & friends through out, that truly make this wedding so wonderful!
“We cannot thank our parents, siblings, and wedding party enough for all their labor and support in putting our wedding together. Our family also provided much of the entertainment as well, acting as musicians, dancers, and even actors in our program. We also had two friends who acted as day-of coordinators who ran the event like a well-oiled machine despite all the technical and logistical difficulties.”
“Our cousin and her string quartet provided the music and the bride entered to the pipe organ. All of that was pretty standard and tradition, but we also wanted to do something that would make our wedding memorable.”
“We chose the Bay Area as our location becuase of its proximity to our friends in Sacramento and UC Davis, as well as Melanie’s family, who live in the Bay Area. We knew we wanted an indoor church wedding that had a classic look and feel to it, as well as a ballroom large enough to accommodate our guests. We thought the First United Methodist Church had beautiful ceilings and stained glass windows, and the Cabana hotel had a wonderful, large ballroom that provided all the services we would need for the wedding party and guests.”
“Our families, church, and wedding party spent countless hours in prayer, planning, counseling and rehearsal to make this day happen–it is something that we can look back on as an exhausting but unforgettable experience. During the rehearsal and actual wedding day, we were showered with the support and blessings of all our guests, and we could only wish to prolong the time we spent with each of those in attendance.”
“We met on the streets of Long Beach about 6 years before we got married, when I (Melanie) was a senior in high school and Lawrence was a freshman at UCLA. We began corresponding through email and MySpace, but it wasn’t until I decided to attend UCLA for college and ended up living on Lawrence’s dorm floor that we started dating. Our relationship grew as we began attending Grace Community Church together. After graduating from college, we were blessed to be able to attend graduate school together at UC Davis. Lawrence proposed to me during the summer of 2010, one year after I moved up to UC Davis, and we were married a year later.”
The Bride’s Favorite Part:
“The people. We cannot imagine any day when your closest family and friends make the effort to celebrate you and the one you love.”
“We wanted our wedding to be traditional and elegant, yet we also wanted to add some special touches that matched our personalities. We chose a beautiful cathedral-like church with stained glass for the ceremony. The reception was at the Crowne Plaza Cabana hotel, with tall ceilings and chandeliers. The reception room was decorated in our wedding colors, sangria and champagne, and the tables had a combination of tall and short vases of floral arrangements and floating candles.”
“We both love to dance, so at the end of the ceremony, we had a surprise dance number to “Marry You” and then danced back up the aisle with our wedding party. We also broke out in a surprise hip hop dance number after a few minutes of a traditional bride and groom first dance, which was followed by a dance number that included our entire wedding party.”
“We had glowsticks and lights at our grand entrance and the opening of the dance floor, and threw a UCLA football in lieu of the bouquet toss with the groomsmen as the offensive line. Lawrence performed a musical “Aladdin” skit as his dedication to the bride, and Melanie gifted her new husband a collection of letters that she had been writing for him since they began dating.”
Vendor Love
Ceremony Venue: First United Methodist Church
Reception Venue: Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel
Wedding Dress Designer: Mori Lee
Hair Stylist: Jen Lao
Makeup Artist: Jen Lao
Groom’s Suit Designer: Friar Tux
Music: Denon & Doyle
Florist: Jeeryn Dang
Caterer: Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel
Baker: Marissa Villasis
Videographer: Leo Mendoza
Photographer: Ari Simphoukham Photography
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05.31.2012 9:00 am
