Julian & Gao Ia • Married • Fresno, CA
I’ve never been to a wedding with more attention to detail put in by the bride herself. Gao arranged the bouquets, created the signs, aisle runner (with lyrics to their favorite Sleeping at Last song), place card ribbons with her beautiful calligraphy. All these personal touches made the beauty of their day even more special to them. Here’s what Gao had to say about her and Julian’s best day ever.
“Here’s the short story to how Julian proposed. It was the morning of December 12, 2016. We had just bought a home together and barely settled in. When I walked into the dining room that morning (the room was dressed like the proposal scenes you see in movies... roses, candles, the whole shabang) he got down on one knee and said” I can’t wait any longer, you are my present and my future… will you marry me?”. I had just woken up, I didn’t look cute. That’s how I knew he meant it!
We had some time to think about our wedding and different options.We agreed to keep a very reasonable budget yet plan a wedding that was a reflection of us: intimate, traditional and fun. That encouraged us to get creative in our wedding design and decor. Susan, from Circle of Events helped keep us on track every step of the way.
We got married in my parent-in-law’s backyard. It was perfect for the intimate wedding we were wanting. We did a first look and exchanged personal vows privately, before guests arrived. We had to get all the wedding jitters and ugly crying out of our systems. Our friend Mike Olsen served as our officiant. He made it so personable and memorable. We didn’t’ have a wedding party. Just the two people that knew us best, my sister who was the matron of honor and Julian’s brother, who was the best man. We exchanged formal vows, written by Mike, in front of our wonderful family and friends.
I have a lot of favorite moments from our wedding day, but if someone said they’d give me one million dollars to choose one (because to us, our wedding was really that awesome), it would be walking down the aisle and seeing Julian. At that moment I saw everything, the wonderful life we’ve built together, the father-to-be for my children, my future.
Cocktail hour and the reception followed over at the Quail Lake Clubhouse. Our guests, as well as us, thoroughly enjoyed the ambience and love in the air that was carried throughout the night.
Our wedding was planned with Susan as my cooridnator. She helped me create a clear vision of the romantic backyard wedding that Julian and I wanted to achieve, and then executed everything just the way we had dreamed it up together! Ellie Koleen Photography was another huge part of the wedding planning process. She was so kind and made us feel so comfortable. We seriously had the dream team on our wedding day!
Second Shooter - Stephan Alvin
Venue - Quail Lake
Planner - Circle of Events
Florist - Bride
Calligraphy - Bride
Linens: La Tavola
Dress - J.Mendel
