Classic and filled with fun, Rachelle and Aiden had a joyful wedding day together filled with the smiles of those that they love. We love the candid moments juxtaposed against some beautiful portraiture that captured their day so well!
From the planner: “Rachelle and Aiden come from a background of strong religion, family, and cultural values. There was nothing but real, pure love on this day shared between the couple, their friends, and their families. I knew just how deep the love was when Rachelle wouldn’t want to start an event (Ex: Cutting of the cake) unless her parents were there front row as she knew they would want to capture every single moment. “Leslie, can you find my mom in the crowd? She would not want to miss this”, were the words that I will never forget.
When we first met, I knew instantly that Rachelle and Aiden were going to be one of my favourites because they had mentioned how important this was for them and their parents. They turned to each other often for reassurance instead of speaking over one another and allowed each other to speak their thoughts and opinions one at a time. Their pastor officiated the wedding and their friends helped with the cake, slideshow and emceeing for the evening. There were so many fun moments thrown in during the day that also added to the memorability of this wedding such as an audio guestbook (the newest trend these days), a neon sign and flower wall as a photo backdrop, a champagne tower, and we managed to sneak in golden hour photos!”
How did you two meet? What were your first impressions of one another?
It all started when we met in the 8th grade at church camp. One might think it was love at first sight but it most definitely wasn’t. While Aiden was busy showing off his party trick of making himself pass out on command, Rachelle was off daydreaming about the Jonas Brothers.
Fast forward to 3rd year of university when Rachelle’s close friend, who also happened to be Aiden’s cousin, decided to do some matchmaking. “Hey, you should date my cousin. You both go to the same university and you both go to church”. What started off as a joke turned into DMs, cousin game nights (with the secret intention of forcing Aiden and Rachelle to spend more time together) and now the rest is history!
Tell us a funny story relating to your wedding day or relationship!
Aiden’s dad is a big fan of karaoke but we weren’t too keen on having karaoke at our wedding. He asked Aiden if he could sing at our reception but Aiden politely declined his request and we left it at that. When the time came for our reception, the day was flying by and the champagne had been flowing. Just after Aiden’s parents made their toast, the DJ must have intuitively sensed that Aiden’s dad was just itching to get at a mic and sing for all our guests, as he played one of Aiden’s dad’s favourite songs. It all happened in a blur and before we knew it, Aiden’s dad was on the dance floor, mic in hand, singing for all 250 of our guests. It wasn’t what we expected but we loved every second of it.
Any special ways you incorporated your family or family history into your wedding day?
Family is really important to us and we wanted to incorporate our loved ones into our special in as many ways as possible. On our welcome tables we displayed the wedding photos of our parents and our grandparents. We felt it was a special way to honour and celebrate the love of the people who raised us. We put together a slideshow with photos with the friends and families who were there with us since the beginning, and included all the amazing people we’ve met throughout the years. It was such a fun way to see how far we’ve come and all the memories we’ve shared with them. Aiden comes from a Malaysian background so we wanted to incorporate a toast common in Malaysian and Singaporean-Chinese culture that is often performed on wedding days. The ritual of toasting “Yam Seng” is a form of blessing from the wedding guests to the couple and their families. The tradition is to yell the word “yam” for as long as possible, before ending it with a short and loud,“seng”. The longer the toast, the bigger the blessings. We, along with our guest, loved participating in this tradition as each toast that followed got louder and louder.
What part of your wedding day was/is most important to you?
One of the most important parts of our wedding day was the traditional Chinese tea ceremony we had the afternoon of our wedding. The tea ceremony symbolizes the union of two families. The bride and groom demonstrate respect and love to their families by serving tea to their parents, in-laws, and other family members of the older generation. Our tea ceremony was especially important to us as it symbolized each of our families officially welcoming and accepting us. We’ll always remember the smile on Rachelle’s grandparents’ faces as they hugged and welcomed Aiden to the family and when Aiden’s father announced to the room “I’ve raised 3 sons and have always wanted a daughter. Now I finally have one”. The tea ceremony will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Photographer: Danika Camba photography
Venue: Parq Vancouver – Jw Marriot Hotel
Stylist / Planner / Designer: Leslie Luu
Floral Designer: Josephine Deng
Dress Boutique: White Day
Cake Designer: Jackie Wong
Makeup Artist: White Day
Hair Stylist: White Day
Rentals: Leslie Luu
Stationery: Leslie Luu
Accessories / Decor: White Day
FLOWER WALL: Ishan
AUDIO GUESTBOOK: Jacob Cash
LIMO: Vick Jhooty
DJ: DJ Brown Sugar (Wade)
Publisher at The White Wren and Bajan Wed, Award Winning Photography + Videographer at Live View Studios, Dad, 80s music lover, crunchy health advocate
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