Anne and Tac got married on December 19, 2015. It was a cold and cloudy morning. I was praying for the rain to stay away, at least long enough until after we have taken formal photos. Theirs was the 13th and last large event that we photographed for 2015.
We arrived at the Citizen Hotel at 7AM to find Orchid and her sister applying hair and make up on Anne.
At 7:15 AM, Tac and his men arrived at the Hotel to escort his bride back to his parent’s house for the traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony.
Hummer Limo- CHECK!
Shades on a cloudy day- CHECK!
Looking sharp in their men-in-black suits- CHECK!!!
Jenny, the maid of honor, and the girls met Tac and the guys at the front of Anne’s room. Per tradition, they had prepared challenges and questions for the guys. If they get them all right then they can enter. If they get them wrong then there will be consequences.
Well, the guys got ALL of the answers WRONG!!!
“It’s not fair,” I heard one of the guys said. “She asked, what is Anne’s favorite color? GLITTER is not a color.” (>.<)
(Kate Spade is the theme for Anne and Tac’s wedding so I am not surprised by that answer at all. hahaha)
After all of the exercise, everyone was cheering when they got to see the bride.
THEN off to the groom parent’s house they went!
BUT FIRST, Let’s get this party started!!!
THE TEA CEREMONY:
You can’t go to a tea ceremony without taking pictures of the aunties cooking and prepping in the back. I love these best because it’s just so festive. Everyone is so happy and excited for the new bride and groom.
The ceremony started with Tac’s Dad chanting and singing. Then the bride and groom poured tea and offered it to his parents as greetings and showing sign of respect. I’ve been to a lot of Vietnamese tea ceremony before but this is the first Chinese tea ceremony. In addition to the parents and older siblings, the bride and groom had to offer tea, food and fruits to all of the relatives. Tac’s Dad and auntie sang throughout the ceremony. And even though I didn’t understand anything they said, I could feel that the room was packed with so much joy, so much love, and so much laughter.
She opened and counted every envelope they were given. And grumbled that it’s little or cheered that there is so much. So honest, my gosh! And we laughed our heads off with her.
THE DETAILS & GETTING READY PHOTOS at the Citizen Hotel:
After the tea ceremony, everyone ate lunch at the groom parent’s house before heading back to the Citizen Hotel for the wedding ceremony. Anne and Tac’s Kate Spade wedding was a photographer’s dream. There were so many pretty things to photograph. I was in heaven!!!
Look at those gorgeous shoes and the details on them. The best thing about the citizen is that they have so many bold surfaces that I can use to make the subjects POP!
Her something “blue” given to Anne by her maid of honor.
Isn’t her bouquet designed by Nikki of NC Event Designs so, so amazing? It had all of Anne’s wedding colors in addition to glitter and the bling. Indeed “today is a perfect day for a perfect day.”
The girl even prepared a mimosa bar in the bridal suite, loaded with all the pretty KSNY details of course!
Cheers to many wonderful years of friendship!!!
Meanwhile in the adjacent room, the guys are squeezing in for some last minute photo ops before heading out to the ballroom on the 7th floor.
THE WEDDING CEREMONY:
Here comes the bride lead by her handsome father. He was smiling the whole way.
Tac was all smiles the whole time too.
As they were about to say their vows, Anne started to tear up. Then you can see that the bridesmaids was tearing up too.
Underneath four golden lanterns on a beautiful Saturday afternoon as the sun was shining brightly through the giant windows, witnessed by their closest family and friends, Anne married Tac.
Right after the ceremony, we spent about 30 minutes on pictures with family and friends. 
Then it’s onto some fun photos with the bridal party.
Anne has 5 guys who are like brothers to her. She really wanted them to be a part of her big day so she asked them to be ushers at her wedding. 
Cute photos with the girls.
The guys had way too much with their photos. Look how cool they looked. #gq #actionshots #BeatlesWalk #malemodels
Don’t they look like they belong in a magazine?
After the bridal party photos, we set some time to take formal photos just of Anne and Tac.
Now it’s time to head to Happy Garden for the Wedding Reception:
Anne hired Nikki of NC Event Designs to transform Happy Garden Chinese Restaurant into a Kate Spade dream party. Everywhere there is extravagant usage of gold, hot pink, sparkle and glittery. All of the peonies you see are silk flowers. Right after the previous Christmas, Anne’s bridesmaid raided Michael’s and bought all of the peonies that they could find. Then Nikki helped her design her dream reception arrangements. 
The MC/Wedding Singer. He was pretty talented. He knew how to sing Chinese and popular English songs, both fast and slow songs. 
Tac’s parents, uncles and aunts took turn to karaoke at the wedding. 
They brought flowers (and even cuties) to cheer on the wedding singers. **so cute**
Both parents + the groom + bride cheered and thanked the guests
Then came the first dance.
Can you see all of the guests shining their flashlights?
Their wedding cake was just so gorgeous!
Here comes the bouquet toss:
O.M.G.. Look at Tac’s brother jumping for it!
Tac surprised Anne by singing to her Tony Rich Project’s “Nobody Knows”. All the guys chimed in so it made it even better. It’s one of those songs that we grew up listening to. Who knew Tac can be so smooth!?!?!
He got on his knee and the crowd went wild!!!!
And they lived happily ever after!!!
Cheers everyone.
Thank you so much for coming along for the ride.
Congratulations to Anne and Tac. May you be blessed with a million more happy moments as you start your life together as husband and wife. Henry and I love and adore you guys so much. We cannot wait to document many more big moments in your life.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
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Photographer: TWO TWENTY PHOTOS
Event Designer: NC Event Designs
VENUE: The Citizen Hotel and Happy Garden Chinese Restaurant
MAKE UP & HAIR: Orchid Duong Artistry
VIDEOGRAPHER: Koi Fish Production
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To tie everything together, I put together a slideshow that showcase your wedding day in 5.5 minutes. I hope you love it!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Q-Su0tSpE&w=560&h=315]
Love,
Tra
Two Twenty Photos
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