The story of Eric & Emmeline begins in two desks side by side in a high school Calculus class. The two were seated by one another because of their last names, and from there a friendship blossomed that slowly grew to more. The relationship that began with laughter and Eric copying Emmeline’s Calculus homework, went through many stages before it ever unfolded to the beautiful love story they have now. You can read a little bit more about it in their engagement session here! :)
To summarize it a bit, after a rough start to their friendship (probably because Eric was copying her homework! Haha! Just kidding!), Eric finally asked Emmeline to prom their senior year. Once Emmeline found out Eric had interest in her, she had to make things clear that she wasn’t interested (yet). The summer after they graduated, Eric came to know Christ at the same church as Emmeline. He had originally started going for Emmeline, but after time, God became more and more attractive to Him than Emmeline.
It wasn’t until their first year of college that they began to finally date, and six years later, they’re now happily married. :)
“When over the years someone has seen you at your worst, and knows you with all your strengths and flaws, yet commits him- or herself to you wholly, it is a consummate experience. To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.” – Timothy Keller
Their wedding theme was beautiful–green and orange, two very bright and lively colors. Their designer, Trisha Chan (view more of her work here) does amazing calligraphy and design work! She’s a beautiful artist! She made such beautiful invitations, itineraries and other paper products used for Eric & Emmeline’s wedding!
Eric & Emmeline picked this theme because of their love for nature–I quickly learned that Emmeline LOVES leaves. :)
“Eric and I love nature and used to take hikes or walks in parks together, so originally I wanted to have the wedding outdoors. That got quickly shot down when we realized it’d be HOT, but we still wanted to integrate the tree/leaf theme throughout the wedding. It just so happened that both venues fit perfectly! The church was green and had a great natural feel with leaves in the windows, and the reception venue transformed their support pillars into indoor trees :) I also happen to love the color green, which is also pretty obvious.”
Emmeline got ready in a room below the church! She had already been ready early in the morning for a tea ceremony she and Eric had before the wedding with their families! She looked beautiful in their red “qipao” dress (yes, I had to look up what the proper word was for it), and she was ready for her beautiful white one. :)
Isn’t her fishtail bun amazing?!
Eric & Emmeline’s flower girl and ring bearer were just adorable getting ready, too!
Once she was all done getting prepped for the big day, Emmeline got into the most important white gown she’d ever wear–and she was beautiful. :)
Smiles and laughter filled the room as everyone did their last touches–and stretches! ;) Haha!
The guys got ready in a room under the church next to the girls’ room! As usual, the guys didn’t really have much to do.. so John photographed them and got to play with them for a bit! :)
Oh, how easy it is for the men to get ready! ;) They even got to play with the pastor’s sweet baby boy!
Once they were ready, we moved on to their first look in the sanctuary. :)
I asked Eric & Emmeline if they could remember their thoughts during their First Look and their responses made me laugh!
Eric: “Oh I like that dress!”
Emme: “Oh, he looks nice. Oh RIGHTT we’re getting married.”
Sometimes First Looks can be a bit overwhelming, but it’s definitely always such a sweet moment. :)
I loved all the candid moments I got of them walking around during their special day. They were just so filled with joy and you could see it written all across their faces. :)
When I had first met Eric, I thought he was a little intimidating… probably because we were in a more serious environment (class), but I learned quickly that while he’s very mature, he’s also extremely silly! Haha!
Men and their fascination with veils… haha :)
What a beautiful family! :)
Eric & Emmeline had such a beautiful bridal party! I loved the mismatched green bridesmaids dresses and the grey suits! Most of all, I loved their mini entourage. Haley and Camden were the cutest! :)
I loved the silliness that continually ensued with the bridesmaids. :)
That little poor teddy bear you see there is Quentin. And boy is the story behind him cute. :)
“Eric bought the teddy for me while I was working at Target before we started dating, who we affectionately named Quentin. After we started dating we passed him back and forth every week when we went off to our respective colleges as a way to stay connected until we saw each other on weekends. We joked about how Quentin was our “child” that we would have custody of every other week. I loved how Eric incorporated him into the proposal, and decided it’d be adorable for the ring-bearer to also bring the “ring-bear” down the aisle on our wedding day.”
The groomsmen were equally as silly. :)
Check out these two little cuties. :)
As the ceremony time came quickly, everyone headed into their rooms to relax a bit before it began. Guess where John was hidden during the ceremony? He had a great view. :)
As dear family and friends came pouring in and found their seats, the ceremony finally began. :)
The three of them did so great! :)
It was so great seeing Mr. Wong so happy! :)
I won’t repeat everything from the engagement blog (read here), but I will re-share a sweet thing that Eric said about Emmeline:
“She is very loving and kind. She has a lot of patience with people. She takes care of me when I’m tired, sick, or irritated. I love that she invests so much of herself and time into things that are important to her.”
One of the things Emmeline told me that she loved about Eric really stood out to me:
“He loves God more than he loves me. In doing this he can actually love me best by grounding me in what’s true and good, instead of just doing or saying things that make me feel better.”
This was said among three other sweet things she said about Eric. :)
This was a bit funny because prior to the wedding, Emmeline had mentioned how she had a fear about burning down a church with the unity candles and that’s why their parents weren’t going to do the full rack of candles during their ceremony. As they lit the candle that was to represent their union, they had a difficult time blowing out one of the candles. Hence, you see the laughter and the exchange of the fatter candle (which was supposed to be the main candle) for the skinny candle (which represented them each). Regardless, it was still symbolic of their beautiful union! ;) Haha!
I always love seeing the bride and groom exchange hugs with their families. :)
And so the two became one! :)
I loved their walk down the aisle for the first time as a married couple! They danced their little hearts away, happy as can be! But have no fear, there was even more dancing with all their loved ones later in the night….
After the ceremony, we headed over to Turnip Rose Celebrations for the amazing reception and for some bride and groom portraits. :)
I loved Emmeline’s whimsical bouquet! The colors were so bright, and I loved the loose leaves around it! Her florist did a wonderful job! :)
“People often look at us and say that we’re the epitome of “opposites attract.” Not just because of our height differences, but also from our personalities. I’d say that we’re not so much opposites but more complements of each other in our gifts and strengths, which makes it great to do ministry together. I’m more of a go-getter and task oriented person, and he’s more laid back, with a gift of discernment and visioning. I love that he slows me down and challenges me to think things on a deeper level since I tend to jump into situations or tasks too quickly. I think the fact that we also communicate well and are very honest with each other helps a lot. And then there’s the common foundation that we have in Christ” – Emmeline
It was so sweet to see what Eric meant about Emmeline truly investing in others when he spoke about a time he felt a absolute love for Emmeline.
“One time I felt absolute love for Emmeline was when I was very sick and had to stay home instead of go hang out with people…Emmeline left early to spend time with me and comfort me. She bought me food and Gatorade, and also just stayed near me the whole time. It showed me how much she cared for me…”
Emmeline also shared a time she remembered feeling absolute love for Eric that I truly loved to hear. :)
“There was one fight where I felt very ashamed for something I had done wrong. Instead of criticizing me or making me feel worse, Eric came up to me and hugged me tightly, apologizing and admitting he had wronged me in some ways too. He then went on to affirm me of things that he loved about me and shared how thankful he was that I was in his life and was willing to be with him. That moment I knew that no matter how much we may fail each other in our shortcomings, we could trust in the fact that we still love and help make the other person become more like Christ.”
I had so much fun with these two… their love for one another was truly so sweet. :)
There were so many beautiful spots at Turnip Rose! :)
When the time came, we all headed into the banquet hall for the reception. :)
Remember Trisha? She hand wrote all the name cards on these sweet name cards! She’s amazing I tell you!
And here begins all the amazing surprise dances and well-enjoyed dancing! :)
In place of a slow dance, Eric & Emmeline shared their first official dance to Michael Buble’s song, “Everything”! It was SO cute!!!
Loved it! Job well done to these two!! :)
And sure enough, after their dance, the clinking began! Check out their very classy first clink -enforced kiss! ;)
I loved hearing the fathers’ speeches! They were so touching and great! :)
Eric & Emmeline’s bridal table overlooked their guests! It was a pretty great sight! :)
By the way, this is the same Trisha who made all the graphics! She was also one of Emmeline’s fabulous emcees! :)
And another part of the reception I enjoy–maid of honor and best man speeches! :)
And as Eric and Emmeline toasted away with their guests, we toasted them from behind afterwards! ;) The two on the right are Grace and Chris, two other great friends I work with! Chris is a videographer! You’ll see his highlight video from this wedding, soon! (Like his Facebook to find out when it get’s posted! Or check out his Vimeo here!)
They also got clinked into a very classy Spiderman kiss! ;)
Eric & Emmeline had such a beautifully designed cake! :)
After the cake, Eric and Emmeline shared dances with their parents. I loved Emmeline’s classic dance with her father. So sweet!
Once “You’ll Be in My Heart” began to play, we were all surprised to see Eric walk on over to his mom, and see them perform a specially prepared dance instead of the traditional slow dance!
You could tell they thoroughly enjoyed this moment together! :)
After the father-daughter and mother-son dances, Emmeline changed for a third time. Out of her qipao and into a fun purple party dress to celebrate! Check out the fun lights on their dance floor! :)
By the way, if their dance floor wasn’t cool enough, did I mention they had my favorite kind of bar?? AN ICE CREAM BAR!! SO AWESOME! And they let us get our own ice cream sundaes after we finished our coverage!!! :)
Eric and Emmeline both agreed that celebrating their marriage by dancing the night away with their friends was definitely one of their favorite memories of their wedding! Great music mixes DJ BLeeV!
You might recognize these two from their wedding blog! Sam and Grace are great friends with Eric & Emmeline! :)
There was indeed a moment where Eric got picked up off the dance floor and got to crowd surf for a bit! ;)
“It feels good now that we’re committed. It’s nice to know the last 6.5 years prepared us well for marriage.” – Eric
“As cliche as it sounds, it really IS nice coming home to someone especially having had over 6 years of goodnight phone calls or driving home. It was interesting figuring out what it means to be a wife and learning not go get too sucked into the high expectations I had for myself. Fortunately Eric has been very understanding when faced with my craziness! :)”
“We could not have asked for a better day! We are blessed to have had great vendors and coordinators that made the day so smooth and worry-free :) I think being able to have the gospel shared and worshipping with all our loved ones was awesome too.” – Emmeline
Emmeline also shared some tips for you future brides that she learned while wedding planning on her blog! You can read her full list of advice here! My favorite two were:
“Pinterest is AMAZING for providing inspiration and ideas for setting up your ideal wedding, but it can also be dangerous. I confess I got caught up in the comparison game, and every beautiful pin made me feel more stressed instead of inspired. It’s refreshing now to go back on it and admire the work of other vendors/brides without feeling insecure or discontent.”
and
“Despite having barely any sleep, Eric and I decided to have as much fun as possible the day of. I was glad we drove together by ourselves between each location, giving us time to spend with each other and laugh things off. Deciding to enjoy the day was the best decision we made, because all our fatigue and previous stress melted away. It also makes for great pictures! We were so happy we scheduled in 1.5 hours of dancing, and ended up dancing the ENTIRE night with our friends and family (I think we ended up being the last few on the dance floor too..)”
Truly great words of advice!
CONGRATULATIONS ERIC & EMMELINE! I am so happy for the both of you! :)