DQ and Jeanne’s Wedding with a Gangnam Style twist

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Sarah

Congratulations to our very own DQ, who got married 12/12/12, a date chosen because it’s the last date with three consecutive numbers and it will never repeat again in our lifetime. We thought we’d interview his lovely new wife, Jeanne, about their special day. I went to the wedding -she looked stunning and wore four dresses! I have never been to a wedding with such an amazing wardrobe. You can check out all of their wedding photos from the Kaptur they created of their special day here.

Interview with Jeanne, DQ’s gorgeous bride:

How did DQ pop the question?

It was a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon in August. We drove out for another one of those weekend road trips. This time he told me to dress up. I picked out a green cocktail dress and got all dolled up for the evening. He drove me to the middle of New Jersey saying he had a surprise in store for me. The roads felt unfamiliar to me and all I saw was farms and vast land, it was like a kidnap scenario in the movies. I wondered what the surprise was and was super excited—since I love surprises! When we arrived we parked the car by the parking lot and I saw a Spanish restaurant in sight. I had to use the bathroom and then saw a bunch of people chatting outside the bathroom window. I thought to myself and was wondering if he brought all our close friends to do a surprise party for me. But I was wrong, when I came out of the bathroom; he took my hand and walked me to the back of the restaurant. Low and behold, we were greeted by our host (a couple) that introduced themselves to us, they asked to sign the papers waiving our rights if anything happens and then I realized that I was signing to get on a hot air balloon. I was ecstatic, it was my first time on a hot air balloon ride and I was scared and excited at the same time—with heels on! Other people were going on a hot air balloon too! Except on a different one. We had a balloon all to ourselves in addition to the hot air balloon driver. We quickly filled up the balloon together with hot air, got into the basket and were the first team in the group to take off. I was very nervous and held on to anything I could grab my hands on because I’m afraid of heights. As we got up higher and higher, about 1,000 feet up in the air, he played Canon in D on his iPhone setting the mood of the ride. As we started admiring the view from the flight, the driver of the hot air balloon said there is a nicer view on the other side, and I step over to the other side to see and he told me to look down. I glimpsed down for a second and noticed that it’s a black banner with white letter and two pink hearts (one on each side of the banner). I finally read the question clearly and started blushing and smiling with joy. The banner read “Will you marry me?” I was silent and shocked for a moment. Then he got down on one knee and pulled out a box and opened it. It was the engagement ring we had picked out months ago. I was expecting the proposal soon but not in such a thoughtful and unique way. It was flawless and felt like one of the themes from a Korean drama—something I would watch on television happened right before my eyes.

You had a lot of guests at the wedding, which was in a perfect wedding venue, The Grand Prospect Hall. Did your guests travel far? And why did you choose that venue?

A majority of our guests were close friends, co-workers, and family and relatives that lived in New York. We chose the wedding venue because it was big, beautiful and convenient for all our guests. I was watching television one day at a member firm I was regulating for work and noticed the commercial for The Grand Prospect Hall. The commercial looked so elegant and beautiful because they showed off the Victorian style ballroom with color lights and balcony. It’s like nothing I’d ever seen in my life. The Grand Prospect Hall is a historic site that used to be an opera house. We fell in love with the venue at first sight when we set foot there for a tour, and decided to go with this place for our big day. In addition, the wedding planner at The Grand Prospect Hall was experienced, understanding, patient and friendly. He listened to how we imagined our ideal wedding, catered to our needs and made it perfect from planning to execution on the actual day and customized everything the way we want it.

You wore four amazing dresses on your wedding day and DQ had two different suits. Is this tradition? What made you choose four dresses and how did you decide on the colors? More importantly, how did you manage all of the dress fittings?

The dresses were a tradition that we have in Chinese weddings instead of wearing a single dress like in American traditions. The dresses consist of a traditional red Chinese “Qua” that I wore for the tea ceremony pre-wedding, a white dress for the ceremony (walking down the aisle), a white dress with red contour outline the body’s curve for our first dance, a maroon evening gown I chose for the second half of the event (cake cutting and games), and a light blue gown for the cheers to each table and to greet the guests for departure. I chose from a variety of different dresses based on uniqueness of color and design. This was done to entertain the guest, and it represents the wealth of the bride in that she is able to afford so many dresses. This is very common for Asian weddings to reflect their status and it will create a wider variety of style and color composition for wedding photos.

One of Jeanne’s dresses:

Tell us a little bit more about the hosts and the games at the wedding:

We had two hosts, one male and one female at the event that spoke both Cantonese and English to entertain the crowd and to lead the event. One of the games at the wedding was a kissing game where couples imitated an intense kissing position shown on screen. Another was a version of musical chairs where guests passed a napkin around the table to win the centerpiece to take home as a prize. The hosts also danced hip-hop and sang a song to entertain the guests as well.

What other special touches did you incorporate into your special day?

Traditional Chinese-style banquet weddings are held at restaurants that have a golden dragon and phoenix statue on a red velvet backdrop wall. Since we decided to go with an American-style wedding, we decided to keep a small piece of the tradition by incorporating it into an ice-sculpture instead during the cocktail hour and a cute mini wedding topper of a married couple in an old-fashioned red traditional attire (the husband giving the wife a piggy back ride). To match the theme of our wedding, we gave traditional Chinese glass cups with dragon and phoenix as well as other traditional designs for party favors to add a touch of Chinese culture.

For our reception intro, we decided to do the Gangnam Style dance to loosen up the crowd and start the party with a bang! Even though the bridal party didn’t have that much dancing experience, we still managed to pull it off together by practicing the day before and by watching PSY’s Gangnam style music video (a very popular Korean hip hop song). We knew everyone probably knew the song, so we picked this song to get everyone pumping and in an upbeat mood.

The Kaptur Team at the Wedding:

Real Wedding Story: Kaptur your Wedding!

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Sarah

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Meghan McMahon was kind enough to tell us the story of her wedding and how she Kaptur’d every moment when she got married in Williamsburg, VA.

How did your husband propose?
My family was having a birthday party for my brother-in-law then having more friends over later for swimming, dancing and drinks on our back deck. My husband used this opportunity to pull me aside and pop the question. When we came back, the DJ (my brother-in-law) was playing Beyoncé‘s “Single Ladies”!

Did anything unexpected happen on the day?
We had more time than we thought we would. I’m a planner, so I baked in an hour between the wedding and cocktail hour – but pictures didn’t last too long and our guests arrived early. So we entered the reception early!

Were there any unusual themes or special touches for the wedding?
We both went to James Madison University and we had the traveling Duke Dog (mascot) attend – which was just a small statue named Road Dawg. We really wanted our wedding to be simple and elegant, so our small touches were there.

What Meghan had to say about Kaptur:
I love being able to see all my photos and friends’ photos from our big day in one place. I know my friends have enjoyed seeing them all together and have created albums of their own. I am excited to incorporate this into other events in the future!

Thanks Meghan! It sounds like you had an amazing day.

Real Wedding Story: The Mother of the Bride

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Sarah

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Late September in 2011, my older daughter got married. I have been to many weddings in my life, but I think anyone who has planned a wedding will from that point on see weddings in a completely different light. I had no idea how complicated everything was, and how hectic the actual wedding would be, until we planned one. I have a new respect for anyone in charge of planning a wedding. And if I attend a wedding and the mother of the bride seems a bit distracted, I now understand her lack of focus completely.

Every family has variables that make a wedding more complicated–variables such as divorce and remarriage, finances, family relationships, and distance, among others. Our family wedding had more variables than most. We had issues with all of the above.

The first and foremost complication was that the groom (whom I am crazy about) was from the United Kingdom and the wedding date depended on when his immigration papers came through. Complicating things further, he was also in the process of joining the United States Armed Services, so we were also dependent upon his Army unit and the DOD in addition to the Department of Immigration and Naturalization. And to complicate things even further, the groom’s 35th birthday was rapidly approaching, and he needed to have the wedding ASAP so he could apply for his green card.

This meant that the wedding was basically planned in three weeks—three weeks from the day that we got his green card from Detroit’s Department of Immigration and Naturalization.

To add to the drama, my daughter’s father and sister refused to attend the wedding (because they somehow disapproved), and my son was deployed in Iraq. But we still invited everyone from her father’s side…uncles and grandparents…and then waited to hear if they were going to come. Some of them never even bothered to RSVP. In the end, only one attended, which was good, as every one of the guests who did attend were there because they wanted to be there to show their love for the new couple. I have a large family, with lots of nieces and nephews, so we still had much family support, and the groom’s mother was close to Brit David Atkins, who wrote the Madonna hit Ray of Light. David wound up walking my daughter down the aisle, so in the end, everything turned out for the best and it was a lovely wedding. All the drama took place before, rather than during, the wedding, for which we were all grateful!

In addition, because I was divorced from my daughter’s father, and because he disapproved, the brunt of wedding expenses fell on me. And because the groom’s family came from the United Kingdom, with a sizable number in Australia, the fact that the wedding was so last minute meant that most of the groom’s family would be unable to attend as well. But his mother, whom I also loved dearly, flew in from the United Kingdom, and we read letters from some of his family, and my daughter is planning another celebration in England for the rest of the groom’s family, when the time is right.

Fortunately, my daughter and I are quick with decision-making, and fortunately, The Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids, Michigan did a great job of referring us to printers and designers (for the invites), and to the best florists. In addition, the perfect room was available, and the Amway Grand Plaza did an outstanding job with the catering, wedding cake, and hiring musicians.

My daughter found her wedding dress on the Internet for only $135 and she was a lovely bride. People asked if her dress was from Fendi. What we saved on the dress, we spent on the flowers. I contacted the photographer who took my younger daughter’s excellent high school senior photos. We were making decisions up to an hour before guests arrived…the florist asked if we wanted a unity candle, and we said, “Why not?”—not realizing that there was actually a protocol to lighting the candles, which I was whispering to the mother of the groom as we took our candles to the canopy to light. (My “consuegra”—co-Mother in Law, as the Spanish delightfully call it—accidentally put out her candle, which I fortunately was able to re-light…one of the many funny glitches that make a wedding human and interesting.)

The actual wedding was a blur. Hotel staff were asking me things as the night progressed, old friends were approaching me to talk, the photographer was making requests, I was keeping an eye out for the bride and groom, making my rounds to visit all the tables…and the next day, David said “Things went beautifully. And all planned in only three weeks. You could have planned this for a year and it all could have gone horribly wrong.”

In the days after the wedding, everyone was exhausted, but we all wanted to re-live the event, discuss the highs and lows, process the drama, and bask in the glow of the newlyweds, whose next challenge was to apply for the groom’s green card so that he could join our Armed Services.

This is where Kaptur came in. Many people of my demographic (mother of the bride or groom) might not be as Internet-savvy as our daughter’s generation, but Kaptur is easy to use even for those of us who aren’t on our computer daily. It takes weeks if not months to receive the professional photos from a wedding, and in the meantime, in this day and age, most guests take their own photos and upload them to Facebook.

To be able to go to Kaptur, enter the date of the wedding, and collect my daughter’s wedding photos in seconds, was a godsend. In addition, I created a Kaptur photo book and the auto flow made a book with perfect picture order. After all of the wedding stress, I was glad that Kaptur made those lovely wedding memories so simple to “Kaptur” and create books from.

A Handmade Farm Wedding – Holly and Wes

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Jeany Kwon

Holly and Wes created a Kaptur of their lovely farm wedding through our Kaptur Your Wedding with Beyoncé site. Holly shared the story of Wes’s proposal, their wedding photos and her wedding experience with us.

I am so excited to have been asked to tell you all about my wedding story here on Kaptur! I guess I’ll start my story about a year ago, when Wes proposed to me. It was just before Christmas, and my friends had been driving me crazy asking if I thought I would be getting a ring this year. We had been dating for about three years, and I suppose it was assumed that we would get engaged soon. The night he chose to pop the question was completely unexpected though.

I had just come home from a long shift at work and was in a terrible mood. Working at the mall during the last few days before Christmas can be so exhausting, and I told him I just wanted to go to bed immediately. I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, and was facing the kitchen sink, when he came up behind me and put his arms around me. I thought he was just being his usual sweet self, until the things he was saying started getting more and more serious, and his voice started shaking a little. I turned around, he dropped to one knee, and said the magical words, “Will you marry me?” We jumped around the kitchen, cried, said “WE’RE ENGAGED!” about a million times, and called our parents (who were asleep – sorry mom).

I didn’t get any sleep that night because I was so excited, but little did I know that would not be the only sleepless night before the wedding! Over the next nine months, I read more blogs, saved more pictures, and bookmarked more web pages then any healthy person ever should. Wes and I had a very specific feeling that we wanted our wedding to have. We wanted it to be very laid-back and fun, and definitely not stuffy or formal. We knew we wanted to have it on my parents’ farm, so it would feel country but not too country. With help from our family, we made almost everything ourselves from the decorations to the invitations, which not only saved a lot of money, but also gave everything the handmade feel we wanted.

More than the decorations, food, music, or any other detail, what I was genuinely most excited about was the fact that the man I am so in love with wanted to stand in front of our family and friends and vow to love me forever. I know everyone says that, but nothing else really mattered. Even if a million things had gone wrong, it still would have been the best day of my life. Since meeting Wes, I have had more fun than I have ever had. He makes me laugh every day, and I am so excited to keep laughing and having fun adventures together.

If you would like to know more about the decorations and DIY projects involved in my wedding, check out my blog at hollywouldblvd.blogspot.com

Real Wedding Proposal, Susie and Richie

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Jeany Kwon

The future Mr. and Mrs. Smith tell us how their wedding proposal went down:

We met each other in the dorms our first year at Old Dominion University. Move-in day was about a week before classes began, so everyone took this time as an opportunity to get to know each other. Richie was always shy and didn’t really say too much to anyone; I was the complete opposite.

One day a group of people, including Richie and me, were watching a movie together. I decided that I wanted to get a laugh or some type of reaction out of him, so I slipped a bottle of soda under his butt as he was about to sit down. We’ve been best friends ever since.

Almost four years later, we were planning a trip to the beach with a group of friends for the Fourth of July. Every single one of my friends ended up bailing on us the day before we were supposed to leave, but I had already booked our room on my credit card. Surprisingly, I was still in a good mood and when we got to the beach, everything was PERFECT. The weather was amazing, and it was pretty late so Richie and I basically had the beach to ourselves. I started playing around and got down on one knee and said “there’s only one thing that could make tonight any more perfect” and fake proposed. He pulled me up with a huge smile and we continued down the beach laughing. About ten paces later he got down on one knee and said “seriously, there IS only one thing that could make this night more perfect.” I thought he was joking and started to pull him up off the ground…until he pulled out a ring and asked me the question every girl dreams of hearing: “Will you marry me?”