Elegant Bay Area wedding featuring Chinese & Mexican traditions

To celebrate Lunar New Year (which happens to be my favorite holiday!) we wanted to show off one of the most iconic features of Lunar New Year traditions featured in this elegant wedding: Lion Dancers. Seen during yearly celebrations we think it’s a fabulous way to incorporate your culture & wow your wedding guests. Featured in 2019 on Bridal Musings, this wedding is so festive…

Two stylish grooms, elegant Roman & Greek design, atmospheric photos, pretty pups, lion dancers, tea ceremonies, live painters, ball pits, mariachi…we have A LOT to gush about today!

Let’s just say, Justin & Jo’s Bay Area wedding is the kind of event we all hope we get invited to. Filled with cultural traditions, unique party vendors, elegant decor and a wedding dinner planned with ultimate craft & care. No detail was overlooked by the stylish San Fran couple & their incredible team of planners.

While we could go on and on about all the details we love (click through the gallery photos and you’ll understand!) we were particularly inspired by all the unique vendors. To incorporate their cultural heritages in a lively way, the couple were brought into the reception with Chinese Lion Dancers & then serenaded by Mexican mariachi. To entertain guests (and show off how fun this day really looked) the reception featured a ball pit photo booth.

And not only did the two receive last-a-lifetime photos by Jordan Voth and film vignette from Robert Michael Films but the couple hired a live painter to interpret their beautiful wedding ceremony.

Our Love Story

Justin and I both worked at Facebook together in different departments but sitting on the same floor. We sat about twenty feet from each other so it wasn’t long before we met. We became great friends fairly instantly and stayed friends for over six months before we decided we were on the same page and wanted a little more from the relationship.

Justin and I dated for two years, got a dog, and purchased a home together – later that winter I proposed to Justin in Union Square while ice skating with our families.

The Venue & Planning

Our venue, Rosewood Sand Hill, perfectly encompassed elegance and a relaxed atmosphere. It also combined California’s natural beauty with world-renowned dining and hospitality. The culinary staff the biggest reason we choose our venue! We knew that we would delight our guest with a high-quality menu that the Rosewood was able to offer.

Our Wedding team, Crystal and Maribel from Amazae Events, was an extremely thoughtful and sincere pair. This wedding was the first large-scale same-sex wedding for the company and they approached every detail with such care and meticulousness. They helped make the day so effortless for us!

The Wedding Style & Attire

The colors of the wedding were predominantly green, white and ivory with silver and gold accents. For the overall style, we wanted a clean, effortless, overall organic beauty with accents of Grecian & Roman design elements.

We wore matching Brunello Cucinelli tuxedos but in different colors. Jo wore a gray tuxedo with a black bow tie. Justin wore a black tuxedo with a white bow tie.

The Tea Ceremony

The tea ceremony represents a tradition in Chinese culture to pay respect to our family elders that have played a pivotal role in molding us into the people we are today. It was important for us to incorporate some traditional elements from both of our heritages.

Photography & Videography

We wanted a photographer who would be able to capture the outdoor-space really well and someone who’s color palette was dark and muted. So many wedding photographers specialize in images that are bright, airy, warm and vivid. We wanted our photographs to have subtle tones and come off a bit moody and editorial. Receiving our photographs and photo albums validated all of our initial instincts and confirmed how talented Jordan truly is. On top of everything, Jordan was one of the nicest guys we’ve ever met and he has such a cool energy about him. He made us feel so comfortable and was a pleasure to work with!

We knew we wanted Robert Michael Films to do our wedding from the first time we watched his portfolio of work! Rob’s artistic style, editing, and composition are breathtakingly beautiful. We were amazed when we saw our final film. He captured every emotion of the day in such a touching way that so authentic and truly us. Rob delivered a stunning video vignette that so beautifully evoked the magic of our wedding day. It was a pleasure to work with him!

The Cultural Ties

Justin really wanted to incorporate our Chinese and Mexican heritages into the wedding so we decided to do so in the form of entertainment. We had Lion Dancers and a traditional Mariachi band surprise guests. Instead of having the DJ introduce “the married couple for the first time” we had the lion dancers strike a gong and start playing the drums to announce our arrival at the reception! We proceeded to walk out with the lion dancers and they escorted us to our head table. The guest LOVED every second! The Mariachi played later in the evening throughout dinner and dessert. Both cultural elements made the evening special, fun, and memorable!

The Unique Vendors

We had a live painter at our wedding! She is an extremely talented artist named Talia Koval. We stumbled on to her work through Instagram and once we saw her creativity and talent we knew we wanted to incorporate live-painting into our wedding. The final paintings are absolutely incredible and one of our favorite parts of the wedding.

We wanted to include an activity for guests to enjoy themselves while taking a break from the dance floor but wanted to do something unique and unconventional! We were joking with our wedding planner that we wanted to do laser tag, arcade games, a ball pit, etc. She laughed and told us that a ball pit might be possible and eventually put us in touch with Snapfiesta! The ball pit was a huge hit and probably a highlight for most guests! I’d recommend couples consider a ball pit for their wedding!

Advice to Other Couples

We loved using Zola as our wedding registry and guest list tracker. It allowed us to conveniently personalize and streamline a wedding website, our registry, and guest list.