There's something refreshing, yet familiar, about Mini and Ryan. I hadn't met them before the wedding day, but it felt like I was taking photos for long time friends. I even felt that way about their wedding party and pastor. I think they surround themselves with the kind of genuine caring that they exude themselves. Mini’s favorite moment from the wedding (besides getting married) was seeing her mom for the first time. Her mom didn’t make it to the hotel that morning, but when they saw each other at the venue, they immediately embraced and held each other so, so tight. Mini also loved dancing to old school Korean HipHop (H.O.T.! if you know, you know) with her sister, the maid of honor. Ryan loved getting ready with his brothers, dad and best man that morning. Ryan gave everyone snazzy aprons as gifts and they did a sweet little prayer together.
Ambrose and I (Ingrid) were huddled in a dark corner furtively and nervously setting the rings on fire. We only had a couple seconds to capture the flame before the bundle tipped over or the fire got out of hand, and it definitely looked like we were doing something illegal, but totally worth it!
Mini and Ryan met working at the same architecture firm so of course, they have ridiculously cool taste in design and food. Their delicious wedding dinner was made by chefs Chris Yang and Marcelle Yang of Hen Zhi and was inspired by the street food and night markets in Taiwan. One of the best wedding meals we’ve ever had!
“We do architecture/art projects on the side and figured there were chefs-to-be at restaurants around the city that had exciting food ideas they wanted to test out. We got connected Chris and Marcelle and ended up sharing our fav memories around childhood food and meals that reminded us of families and friends over the years. They took our ideas and created a menu mixing our ideas and theirs! Chef went over and beyond to create doshirak boxes for kids. Fun side note: We ended up developing a friendship with Chris and Marcelle and helped them with the design of their new restaurant.”
Here are some thoughts from Mini and Ryan about how they made their reception even more special for their guests:
“We really wanted everyone to feel appreciated and know how much they mean to us. To illustrate that we thought about each person, we made custom name tags for dinner with a blurb of how much we love them and how much life they have given us over the years. It was so fun to see photos of people discovering their name tags and our personal notes for them!”
“We also made custom drinks named with special memories we have with people - Mini's dad (a smoky whiskey cocktail), Ryan's Gram (lots of memories drinking martinis by the lake with her), Rhee's famous cocktail that was an unexpected hit (Korean milkis soda with vodka)”
venue: San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, CA // prep and first look location: Hyatt Regency Embarcadero in San Francisco, CA // catering: Hen Zhi Piglet & Co // planner: Whitney Zhou // ring: designed by Ryan Nearman, produced by Cresalia Jewelers in SF // mini’s hair and makeup: diy by Mini herself // earrings & boutonniere: Mariko Kusumoto from SFMOMA // dress: Badgley Mischka (with some edits by Mini) // mini’s shoes: Open Edit Sheena Sandal // ryan’s suit: Spier & Mackay // ryan shoes: Allen Edmonds // ryan’s tie: Drake’s // dancing shoes: Nike Air Max // posters & prints: designed by Ryan // bar: Tyson Mao & Andrew Abalos // wine: Keep Wines // florals: Sarah Kim // music: DJ Neardog aka Ryan made Spotify playlists for throughout the day and had the coordinator just hit play
