While there are many couples that meet in school, Julie and Shy were truly one of CBS’s “IT” couples.  Both were extremely active in student clubs and kindled their love as dancers in Follies, an amazingly talented student performance group that puts on sold-out shows at the end of each semester.  I first met Julie during orientation since we were in the same cluster, and she amazed us all by reciting all 68 names of our fellow clustermates within a couple days of meeting us!  Julie quickly won us over, and served as our Cluster Chair for our first year at school.  I first met Shayan, affectionately known as Shy, since we were both Social Chairs of our respective clusters.  Over the past two years, we worked together to throw some great events!

From the moment they began dating, Julie and Shy were inseparable.  Their engagement story is incredibly sweet: while in Korea on a Chazen Study Tour during spring break, they had arranged to visit the Seoul Central Mosque.  Atop the steps of the “beautiful and glistening white building,” Shayan said “This is the perfect blend of both our cultures…”  He rustled in his backpack to find a special package and bent down on one knee to say, “So, I brought you here to ask you something… Julie Ann Stokely, will you marry me?”  Julie said that the proposal was a completely joyous surprise, and of course she said, “YES, ABSOLUTELY!” 

I was in Kenya at the time that I received an email from Julie, and I remember that I felt like I could sense the excitement and joy pouring out even though I was thousands of miles away.  A few weeks later, Julie had settled on a wedding date less than 5 months away at the stunning Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, TX.  I remember thinking that people thought *I* was crazy for picking a wedding date only 7 months out from my engagement date, but our two weddings are evidence that with a clear plan, focus, and positive energy, a beautiful wedding of your dreams IS possible even with a short engagement!

From the very beginning, Julie and Shy wanted to incorporate both of their cultures (Korean and Pakistani) in their wedding weekend…  with a Mehndi Celebration, Nikah Ceremony, Interfaith Ceremony, and Paebaek Ceremony spread over the course of two days.  In addition to these ceremonies, the wedding was filled with gorgeous traditional dresses (both Pakistani salwar kameez and lenghas and Korean hanboks), traditional food made from family recipes (e.g. chicken tikka masala and Korean BBQ kalbi, yum!!), and special dance/musical performances.

I absolutely loved the dresses Julie chose for herself and her bridesmaids for the various ceremonies… the colors and adornments were candy for the eyes! Check out some of these fantastic photos from Niji Stanley Photography:

From the Mehndi Ceremony:

Love the dresses!!

From the Interfaith Ceremony:

Did you know that the Mehndi artist traditionally “hides” the groom’s name within the bridal henna? Can you see Shayan’s name — it’s there!

Gorgeous bride Julie

During the unity candle lighting, Julie and Shy chose to leave each of their individual candles burning in addition to their unity candle, symbolizing that they would uphold their individual cultures and heritage while uniting in marriage.

The Paebak Ceremony:

The reception:

Check out those beaming smiles

I’d expect nothing less from two Follies dancers! The couple choreographed an awesome intro dance and invited the bridesmaids and groomsmen to join them for the second half — it was SO fun!

Julie also surprised Shy with a special rendition of Ingrid Michaelson’s The Way I Am — soo cute!

Yum! It was a real treat for guests to taste some ethnic cuisine for the reception dinner.

…And the dancing continues! Jai-ho!

Julie and Shy… thank you so much for letting me be part of your wedding celebration! I’m so so happy for the two of you, and it was so fun to be part of your wedding day.  One of the most memorable parts of your wedding day was when Julie took the mic to thank guests for coming… and asked guests to look around to see a room full of people of different backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, cultures, etc… and said that this is how she imagined heaven to be.  Seeing all your loved ones in one room, celebrating your love and their love with each other — reminds me why I love my job!  Congratulations again!!!

It’s always a joy to be part of the wedding celebration for family members, so I was thrilled when Tina and Eric (aka the recently crowned “America’s Top Ten DJs” DJ Enferno!) asked me to help coordinate their wedding, which took place at the absolutely gorgeous St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, DC.

Since the space has so much natural beauty, Tina and Eric chose to keep the ceremony decor to a minimum to play up the grandeur of the cathedral itself.  Check out these amazing views!

Soaring Ceilings:

The dashing groomsmen:

The lovely bridesmaids:

The ring bearer, Emmitt, giving the bride a kiss before she walks down the aisle!

Lush red roses, wrapped in satin with crystal detail:

I love this shot… you can just see the joy in the relationship

I really love when couples choose to incorporate elements of their cultures into their ceremonies and receptions to truly personalize the wedding day and help their guests to learn more about them.  Tina and Eric incorporated both Filipino and Korean wedding traditions, such as the Filipino coin, veil and cord ceremony and “money dance” during the reception and the Korean paebaek ceremony.

Eric carrying Tina on his back, to prove that he can “support his wife”

Here are some more wedding shots from The Edge Photography:

Celebrating the start of an exciting day in the bridal suite:

Some gorgeous shots at National icons:

The rings, embedded in beautiful green cymbidium orchids:

The reception was held at The Westin Arlington Gateway.  The decor featured gold chiavari chairs, tall centerpieces of green cymbidium orchids, and a soft pink accent lighting to cast a soft glow on the room:

The cake was a stunning four-tiered beauty with delicate dots and fresh, cascading orchids down the side – yum!

And finally, here is the wedding highlight reel, produced by the amazingly talented Barnaby Draper Studios… I ADORE the mix of vintage and modern style:

Congratulations, Tina and Eric!  Welcome to the family!

The One event which inspired me to pursue event planning full time is none other than my own wedding, which took place on April 7, 2007. After dreaming of the perfect wedding since I was a little girl (yes, I was that girl who used to make fake wedding invitations with my best friend…), it was an absolute joy to finally plan the big day… and of course even better to marry the man of my dreams!

We wanted to have a wedding filled with personal touches that allowed our guests to see glimpses of our personality… something stylishly elegant yet romantic and playful… celebrating both our cultures (I’m Chinese and Brian is Korean)… and lots of GOOD food and dancing! We know that our goal was achieved since our friends still rave about our wedding as one of the “most fun” weddings they’ve ever attended! Here’s a peak at some event details:

The Ceremony
The ceremony took place at Arcola Korean United Methodist Church in Paramus, NJ and the reception was held at The Estate at Florentine Gardens in River Vale, NJ. This was incredibly special to us since Brian’s father, a Reverend in the UMC Church, married us.

Chinese Tea Ceremony & Korean Pae’Baek Ceremony
Both Chinese and Korean weddings have unique cultural ceremonies, and we wanted to incorporate both into our wedding as a means of paying respect to our families. While our guests indulged themselves in our 10-station cocktail hour, our family and wedding party joined us for the Chinese tea ceremony and the Korean pae’baek ceremony. I will elaborate more on these ethnic ceremonies in future posts!

The Reception
The feel and flow of the reception was really important to us because we wanted our guests to be fully engaged at all times. We followed the excellent rule of thumb that something new should happen every 30 minutes or so (i.e. introducing the wedding party, serving new courses, tossing the bouquet, cutting the cake, etc.)… and it worked like a charm! Since Brian is a huge music junkie, he hand selected every song that was played that night… and the DJ did an amazing job of working with the emcee to make sure that guests were up on their feet for most of the night. Some people ask what my favorite part of the day was, and after being on a strict timeline all day, I was just so thankful to have a few moments alone with my new husband.

Wrapping it all up…
One of the reasons I was sold on Florentine Garden’s in house videography team is because of their “wedding wrap up” video. A growing trend in the wedding industry, our videographers edited and compiled a 5-minute video wrapping up our entire day to show to guests at the conclusion of the reception… from wedding ceremony to the cultural ceremonies to the reception (and you might even catch a glimpse of the bride and groom tearing up the dance floor)! Without further ado, here is ours:

And that’s a wrap! Thank you so much for reading! Through this blog, I hope to share

• Photos and stories from other events I’ve planned
• Insider tips about event planning
• Design and style inspirations
• … and much more!

I hope that you’ll subscribe and stay connected to Elisabeth Events!

(All images by Milton Gil Photography)