Chinese Wedding Theme Dominates Autumn Gala Of Lisa And David
For the autumn wedding of Lisa, who is Chinese, and David, who is Italian, it should be no surprise that it was the bride’s heritage that carried the day, resulting in Chinese wedding decorations trumping Italian wedding theme decorations. After all, the day is all about the bride; right?
Still, the happy occasion was a true group effort with lots of do-it-yourself wedding decorating and prop setup on the part of not only the bride and groom, but also of numerous friends and family who pitched in to create a grand celebration on the bank of Willow Lake, an estate in the Taconic Mountains of New York’s Hudson Valley.
It came to pass that this autumn wedding took place on a beautiful, bright October day. The scene of the ceremony was something one might liken to the poetic mood and ideal landscape of a Claude le Lorrain painting. In this composition, the spectator sees the backs of guests in white wooden folding chairs witnessing the wedding ceremony taking place on the bank of glass smooth lake reflecting luminous, hazy impressions of the sunlight, golden-hued sylvan hillside on the far shore.
The lovely Chinese bride was attired in a white Christina Couture wedding gown. The fitted sheath featured a floor-sweeping fit-and-flair skirt while the bodice was tailored with a scoop neckline and a plunging back to give an air of understated luxury to a sleek silhouette. Minimal but effect accessories included dangling dual-pearl gold earrings and a yellow cymbidium orchid in the bride’s chignon that was striking against her jet black hair. The bride’s bouquet was fashioned from brilliantly colored yellow cymbidium orchids and red mokara orchids with sprays of hypericum adding a real styling bonus.
The do-it-yourself wedding decorations for this autumnal, predominately Chinese theme, wedding included the requisite Asian paper lanterns. Stringing them inside the tent where the reception was held and getting them to work properly required five hours plus three trips to a hardware store. Another do-it-yourself Chinese wedding decoration project was the creation of escort cards. They were decorated by the bride and groom with each guest’s name and an image of a fortune cookie; though technically speaking, fortune cookies are an American invention.
This autumn wedding in New York also saw the couple participate in a Chinese theme wedding ceremony ritual: the Chinese wedding-cup-exchange ritual, which symbolizes the joining of their individual lives.
Guests at the, mostly, Chinese theme wedding reception had the option of trying roast pig as well as pasta with garlic and rosemary, a dish offering something from the Italian wedding theme side of the cross-culture newlywed’s celebration. When it came time to select the wedding cake, the bride opted for ice-cream cones instead - her favorite desert. Each was personalized with a wrapper bearing a caricature of the bride and groom.