Thao + Robert’s Wedding 7.31.10

Where do I even begin on this wedding? Well….I must say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Thao and Robert’s wedding! To have the opportunity to work on their spectacular wedding is beyond words can express. I have to admit that as the wedding day was getting closer, I was super duper nervous and doubting myself if I would be able to make their wedding a reality 🙂 I was in constant communication with Thao a month into the wedding and was a bit overwhelmed with all the details she had. I honestly didn’t want to disappoint her and Robert. To tell you the truth, I was intimidated with Thao and Robert (not that they are mean or anything), but maybe because she has been in the industry for a long time and since I am starting out, still felt like I was green behind the ears to take on such a big show.

Thao, being such an organized and detailed person, made it very easy and clear to me what she expected me to do at the wedding. As a wedding planner, a bride like this is a dream come true 🙂 She had excel spreadsheets of what needs to be picked up the day before the wedding, what needs to be done, who in the bridal party is in charged of what etc…

(Now enough about me!) Thao and Robert are a sweet sweet couple. They are high school sweethearts and are very much in love. They are as nice as can be, you can definitely tell from the outpouring of love from their families and friends at the wedding.

The festivities started early, I picked up the flowers from the florist, drove to Robert’s parents house to pin boutonnieres on the groom, groomsmen and family members and drop off the bouquets so they can bring it to the tea ceremony.

Rob’s boutonniere perfectly pinned. It stayed intact the whole day!

Then I was off to Thao’s parents to pin flowers on family members. As soon as I reached Thao’s parents house, I received a phone call from a groomsman telling me that they don’t have the bouquets for the bridesmaids but the flower vase that were supposed to go to Thao’s parents. BIG WHOOPS!!! *blush* I ran back over to do the switch. I had to talk myself into being calm from then on so that I don’t make anymore stupid mistakes.

Hard at work….PS: If you notice, I tried to match their wedding colors 😀

Tea ceremony at Thao’s parents. They also did a second tea ceremony at Robert’s parents. Thao looked gorgeous! I love her sparkly Ao Dai.

Thao’s bouquet! Vibrant with colors.

The bridesmaids’ bouquet was just as beautiful.

Thao went back to her place for a change of clothes. Don’t you just adore this customized velvet suit she is wearing?

Let me now post some photos of her GORGEOUS GORGEOUS wedding gown. Thao wanted to look like Belle from Beauty and the Beast and honestly….I think she looks hotter and better than Belle in her gown.

Are you mesmerized and drooling over this dress yet? Well ladies and gents, you ARE in luck!!! Thao is selling her gown! If I was her size, I would totally buy her dress for my upcoming wedding. I really couldn’t stop admiring her in this dress. She just beamed in it! Thao is one of the most poised and elegant bride I’ve met. If you are interested in the dress, please contact Thao directly at thaovu.com or at thaoandrobert.com.

You can feel there was a special moment here between Thao and her bridesmaids. KimLe from KimLe Photography did an amazing job at capturing the little moments.

It feels so spiritual getting married at a church.

Just Married!!! Congratulations Mr. Robert and Mrs. Thao Archey!

Up next was Rancho Las Lomas! This place is absolutely dreamy! The bride and groom and bridal party got some amazing pictures there. The wedding colors on the dapper groomsmen and beautiful bridesmaids compliment the environment of the venue so well.

The boys had a monogram bling on their tie.

Not to be outdone, the girls also had monogram bling on their bouquet.

Thao and Robert = HOTNESS!

This picture is one of my favorites!

And now for the details…:) Since Rancho Las Lomas is quite hidden, Thao made some signs to direct her guests to the venue. I spent about 2 hours putting up the signs and tying balloons along the way. Renrick, my betrothed, drove every couple feet so I could tie the balloons and put the signs up. Luckily, in the meantime, I had help at the venue from my dear friend Diana starting setting up. Unfortunately, it was quite windy that day so a lot of balloons popped even before the guests start arriving.

Thao and Robert displayed their engagement and wedding photos along with their parents wedding photos. It was such a sentimental touch! I LOVE that idea!

The card box was all hand-made by their friend. They have such talented and loving friends. The house box was so detailed, it’s just precious!

The seating chart was also a DIY and was finished the day before. These boards were pretty heavy!

LOVE the setup! The sign by the arch is hand-made. You can feel when a bride puts her heart into a wedding by DIY a lot of the details. I wish I was crafty like this!

Each guest had a framed place card with their name.

Thao made sure that each one of her bridesmaids and groomsmen was recognized with a name tag behind their chairs.

Of course the very BEST for the bride and groom! Isn’t this soooo cuuuutteee???

Their custom vinyl sticker for the dance floor. Thao really stuck to the theme of the wedding. It was everywhere! Again….LOVE!

I came across my 1st problem at a wedding and needed to put on my Super Kelly wedding planner hat on to resolve it. The cake was delivered 1 hour late. We kept calling the vendor but no one responded. When they arrived, I found out that during transportation, 1 tier of the cake didn’t make it and couldn’t be salvaged. The cake vendor wanted to go back and fix it but due to time constraint, I decided to display a 3 tier cake and still keep the 4th tier in the back for serving. Of course, they ended up receiving a full refund on the cake. I found out later by Thao that the cake was totally different from the design she wanted and the flavors were not what she and Robert ordered.

More details….did I mention we had a lot of candles to light? We had about 30 min to light hundreds of candles. Thank goodness to the catering staff for helping out or we wouldn’t have made it on time.

Thao and Robert had a silhouette artist present to entertain their guests. It was a HIT!!

PS: I am IN LOVE with Thao’s engagement ring. It’s ginormous!

Thao changed into another Ao Dai for table greetings. The photo below always puts a smile on my face. It looks so….Sex and the City ladies!

She then changed into a 3rd dress.

Guests were invited to party upstairs to enjoy the candy bar from Boomies Goodies and have fun with a photobooth.

While I was downstairs guiding guests upstairs and then putting things away. Annh, my assistant, had to put out fire upstairs. Guests started to pick up their 1 hour picture frame with the bride and groom. Most of the frames were lined up properly but as soon as someone bumps the table or a frame, a domino effect followed and all the frames would fall one by one which took time away from her finishing inserting the photos into the frames. Annh managed and pulled it off! All the guests received their photo frames. I have to admit, I have the best assistants ever and they are always on top of everything and thinking on their toes. Thank you Annh for your hard work!!

Thao channeled Beyonce and surprised Robert with a dance at the end of the night. It was firing smoking HOT FIERCE!

And here is another favorite photo of mine of Thao and Robert. So romantic!

Thao and Robert, I can’t thank you enough for letting me be part of your spectacular special day. I am honored and humbled that I got to work on such a detailed and amazing wedding. It will forever be THE wedding of the year! You are one of the nicest people I have met and you both are truly meant for each other. Your bridal party were so nice and very helpful. I wish the both of you from the bottom of my heart a blessed future together as husband and wife and eternal happiness!

Wedding Highlights Video