Ceremony at New Community Baptist Church in Mountain View and reception at Ming's in Palo Alto.
It is Friday, January 4, 2008. The National Weather Service has a severe storm warning posted and is forecasting hurricane-force winds for the Bay Area. The Sierras around Lake Tahoe is forecasting blizzard conditions (extremely rare). We are going to have 3 straight days of chilly inclement weather. I just completed another scouting trip to Stanford and it doesn't look good. The wind is blowing rain everywhere, good luck finding a dry spot. Even I am worried at this point - but I did call Jeannie and joke that I was going skiing on Saturday instead of photographing her wedding because of the epic snowfall ;)
Saturday morning was clear enough for the groomsmen to gather outside while preparing for the seemingly universal Asian tradition of gift offerings, tests, bribes, and begging before being allowed inside the home of the bride's family. Several of the tests were... entertaining (one involved some ladies underwear). Shortly after entering Jeannie and Hyung served tea to Jeannie's relatives. Gifts and blessings were exchanged. After a mid morning snack and a quick change of outfits we were off to the Four Seasons - our backup bad weather indoor location - for bridal party pictures. The hotel was very accommodating!
It is starting to rain heavily again. It has rained so much up to this point that half the church's parking lot is underwater when we arrive. Jeannie is still all smiles though as they exchange vows and perform another tea ceremony. Korean this time. A unique aspect of this tea tradition is the throwing of figs and chestnuts. The more the couple the can catch, the more children they will have. Another wonderful thing is how each nationality has such different and colorful clothing.
At Ming's everyone is looking much more relaxed and we've all but forgotten about the rain. It seems the bridal party may have gotten their shoes wet because they changed to sneakers, hahaha. There was an abundance of food, a touch of emotion, lots of Karaoke, and tons of music. One thing worth mentioning was the DJ/MC - he was pretty entertaining if you prefer highly interactive DJ's.
Floral Arrangements: Nicole Ha
Cake: Napoleon Super Bakery
DJ: Macala Entertainment
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