One Thousand Weeks to Forever and Always

by Carolyn Fraser

 

One fateful day, Cris noticed a beautiful lady alone at the bar. He longed to meet her, but regretfully, the moment passed him by. Later that night, Cris couldn’t believe his eyes when he happened to see her again, out celebrating her birthday. This time he didn’t miss the opportunity to speak with the woman of his dreams. Exactly one thousand weeks later, Cris surprised Shirley with a beautiful wedding ceremony at Ramhorn Farm.

 

The Proposal

Cris: “I always knew I wanted to go back to the place where we met to propose on her birthday. The restaurant wasn’t there anymore, but I took her back to the location anyways, got down on one knee, and proposed in the same spot where I first saw her. Our wedding was 1,000 weeks from the date we met. Seriously, we counted.”

Wedding Style

Classic and romantic, with a touch of modern chic.

Color Palette

Red, white and black. Red and white are the two most prominent colors in a Chinese wedding. Red is considered a bold and lucky color that symbolizes love, prosperity and happiness.

Must-Have Detail 

Shirley: “I absolutely wanted my parents to be honored, so a table was reserved in their memory and their pictures were placed on the chairs.”

Worth Every Penny

Cris: “Front Room was incredible. They created a video and slideshow of our ceremony, which was ready to play for our guests at the reception later that night.”

The Ceremony

Shirley: “Cris wanted to surprise me with the ceremony, so he planned and coordinated it with everyone on his own. I had absolutely no clue what to expect. When I arrived at the ceremony location that morning, Cris made sure the photographer captured my reaction as I looked around. The site was breathtaking. It was so much better than I could ever have imagined, and every detail was perfect. I always knew I was marrying the right man but this solidified it, and I couldn’t wait to walk down the aisle!”

Cris: “It was like a dream come true. Ramhorn Farm was the perfect location for our ceremony. Every vendor and wedding guest was sworn to secrecy to keep it a surprise. I planned every single part of the ceremony, with the help of Elizabeth from événement. Incredibly, no one told Shirley, and she got to have a big ‘ceremony reveal’ on the morning of our wedding. And yes, she cried the moment she saw it.”

Funny Moment

Cris: “Our puppy, Lambeau, was the ring bearer and ended up stealing the show. He looked so cute in his tux and was quite the ham; posing and showing his ‘good side’ in every photo. He even plopped down on Shirley’s dress train during pictures.”

Bridal Ensemble
Dress: Backless gown with lace straps.

Headpiece: I wanted to wear my hair half up and half down, off to one side so it didn’t hide my back. My maid of honor made a flowery headpiece that she wove into my hair.

Shoes: My shoes were absolutely the best part! I splurged on a pair of gorgeous crystal Christian Louboutin heels. They looked like the glass slippers that Cinderella wore to the ball. I loved them so much and was so excited to wear them!

Jewelry: I wore my mother’s wedding set on my right hand to keep her close to me. I wanted a sophisticated, classic look, so I chose diamond jewelry. It’s always timeless!

My “Somethings”

My mother’s wedding set was my “something old.” My shoes were “something new.” My Maid of Honor let me borrow her grandmother’s ring, and a hint of blue was woven into the handle of my bouquet.

DIY

At the ceremony, we provided our guests with honey jars from Ramhorn with our wedding logo. We used a hand-painted poster of a tree in lieu of a guestbook for the reception. Guests left their fingerprint on the tree to fill it with “leaves.” We also created a cute “Hangover Kit” in little red Chinese take-out boxes for our guests to take home at the end of the night. It included aspirin, a small bottle of water, mints, EmergenC, pineapple cakes and a wet nap.

Advice To Future Brides

Hire a wedding planner so you can enjoy the day without worrying about the details. Also, when something doesn’t go as planned just go with it. It will make for a much more interesting story.