This is the wedding of Gloria Choi (WPIC alumni) to her fiance (now husband, Teddy) submitted by Caryn Lim, WPICC, DWC of a Timeless Celebration.
Our team, A Timeless Celebration and Ashley Macphee Photography travelled to Costa Mujeres, Mexico with Gloria & Teddy for 8 days to celebrate their wedding with 50 of their closest family and friends. The guests all came from Ontario, Quebec and as far as Australia. We had the absolute pleasure of helping the couple with some of the planning and the full design of the florals and stationery, as well as photography. The bride gave us carte blanche in the designs from beginning to end!
It was definitely a week-long celebration! The bride incorporated some of the traditional Chinese wedding elements into their wedding celebrations. Time was set aside to have the bride’s hair combed before her wedding day. It symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood. The person chosen to comb the bride’s hair should be a woman of “good fortune”. This woman is known to achieve great fortune and have a surviving husband with children and grandchildren. Gloria had chosen her wonderful sister-in-law, Michelle, to comb her hair the evening before walking down the aisle. Although young and without grandchildren, Michelle is a very blessed woman indeed. Michelle recited the traditional phrases of blessings as she combed the bride’s hair four times from top to bottom:
“May your marriage last a lifetime”
“May you be blessed with a happy and harmonious marriage until old age”
“May you be blessed with an abundance of children and grandchildren”
“May you be blessed with longevity”
Although far away from home, nothing stopped the bride and groom to show their respect to their family. The traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony happened under the beaming Mexican sun as Gloria & Teddy offered tea to each of their family members. In return, they received red pockets,words of encouragement and blessings from the family members. It was quite emotional!
We were told by locals that Mexican weather should have been good during the time we were there. It turned out to be a pretty rough week for that time of the year. The “worst” was on the day of the wedding. No sun at all and rained most of the morning. The planned outdoor ceremony in front of the beautiful beach had to be moved indoors. Regardless, the bride and groom were so relaxed, and they just enjoyed their special day. No stress, whatsoever. You can tell from that huge smile on the bride’s face that no matter how bad the weather was, she was determined to marry her prince, and that was all that mattered to her.
The groom’s three sisters and mom were pretty much all who were needed to get all the girls ready and pretty! One of the sisters and mom did all of our hairs, another did the bride’s makeup, and another took care of all the details and made sure they were all so perfect! The men, can’t forget them! They helped care of all the ceremony setups and made sure the bride’s wishes for the ceremony was carried out. Time was tight due to the last-minute location change, but some of the guests also popped in to help – with drinks in their hands! After the ceremony, the sisters oversaw the transition of all the flowers from the ceremony to the dinning room, they setup all the details and made sure everything was flawless. They made the best impromptu table I’ve ever seen! What an amazing team Gloria & Teddy had, everyone came together to made the day oh-so perfect!
The beautiful wedding ceremony was officiated by a very good friend of the bride & groom. All the kids in the bride & groom’s family were part of the bridal party. They proudly marched down the aisle before the bride and boy did they have some cute messages to send uncle Teddy! And just like that, Gloria and Teddy tied the knot!
The wedding reception was fun and chill with many heartwarming speeches as the guests enjoyed some great Mexican food. It was such an honour to be a part of this absolutely beautiful wedding; we felt the love and happiness the entire week.
Location: Grand Palladium Costa Mujeres, Cancun Mexico | Planners: Gloria Choi & A Timeless Celebration | Floral & Stationery Designer: A Timeless Celebration|Photographer: Ashley Macphee Photography| Hair & Makeup: Groom’s sisters & mom |Wedding Gown: Essence of Arabella |Guests: 54 with bride/groom & photographer/hubby
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