Day 1: Khoa + Stephany | Portland Vietnamese Wedding | Portland, OR

6/25/2019

Day 1: Khoa + Stephany | Portland, OR Vietnamese Wedding

Portland, OR Vietnamese Wedding

Day 1: Khoa + Stephany | Portland, OR Vietnamese Wedding

Khoa and Stephany had a 2-day wedding celebration in Portland, OR staring with a Vietnamese ceremony and parade on Friday afternoon and a huge all-day wedding Cambodian celebration on Saturday…and it was INCREDIBLE! To make this each day of their wedding weekend shine, I wanted to separate Friday’s ceremonies from Saturdays to get a feel for both culture’s wedding vibes.

Day 1 of their weekend wedding celebration was dedicated to their Vietnamese culture. The day stated with an awesome parade with Khoa’s family members lined up with gifts to offer for Stephany’s dowry. Once the dowry offerings were transferred, his family was invited in and everyone was introduced to each other. After the dowry gifts were opened, Stephany’s parents accept the gifts and Stephany walks down the stairs to be accepted by Khoa and they are recognized as a couple. They conclude their ceremony and then head to Khoa’s parents house for their Tea Ceremony.

Another parade starts, but this time with dancing lion dragons!! YAY! It was so cool with the drums and the dancing lion tigers all walking down eh street, and even firecrackers in the background that scared me to death!

They then walk into Khoa’s parents home at an altar to honor their ancestors and start the tea ceremony. As a ‘thank you for raising us’, Khoa and Stephany offer tea to their parents and grandparents on both sides who are in front of the altar. Gifts are then exchanged (Khoa got this awesome golden bracelet that symoolizes that he’s a married man- all the married men in their family have one. And Stephany received gorgeous diamond earrings). Then we had some family pictures time and then it was time for lunch which concluded their Vietnamese wedding ceremony.

Day 2 is now on the blog, so head over here to check out their Cambodian Wedding Ceremonies.

A little bit about their love story and how they met: “My cousin, his close friend had an end of the winter vacation getaway at her beach house in Cannon Beach, Oregon and we both went. We didn’t talk much but there was a game night, Cards Against Humanity and we kept picking each other’s cards. I was really liked his humor because it was on the same level of mine and I have a twisted sense of humor  At the end of the trip, while everyone was saying their goodbyes, Khoa and I “saved” each other for last. When we hugged good-bye, there was feeling of spark and sense of fitting and belonging into each other’s arms. The moment came and went but the feelings of that hug, stayed. Fast forward to about a month, I’m back in California and Khoa in Oregon, Khoa asked to be friends on the good ole Facebook and sent me GIF of Harry Potter (We found a common interest of Harry Potter during the trip). It caught me and then we started talking. We exchanged messages for about a month until I made the grand gesture and gave him my number to actually call and talk. We talked and Facetime for a month and then something in me felt, “I don’t want to talk to any other person”. That’s when I knew, I really liked Khoa and I was willing to take the next step, long distance relationship!”

When asked how Khoa proposed: “I am a chronic late person, always late to things  I was about an hour late to the surprise proposal! That’s how Khoa knew I didn’t know anything about the proposal was about to happen. (It’s difficult for us to keep secrets from each other). He got our friends to make up a story for an event for us to go to. Again, I was an hour late and Khoa kept calling me and asking where I was. I was rushing to make it to Jamison Square in the Pearl District and was finding it difficult to find parking. When I did finally find parking, I ran to the restaurant where the “event” was suppose to be. When I went inside, the restaurant was empty and I panicked knowing that I was so late and I missed my chance to support our friend. The waitress asked my name and then handed me a single yellow rose (my favorite flower) and a note that said “turn around and walk into the middle of the park”. It didn’t register in my mind what was about to happen and all I felt was panic because I was late! I saw Khoa across the park and I knew he was going to lecture me so I ran around the park not noticing all the yellow rose petals scattered in the middle of the park where I was suppose to walk through. I slowed down my running and started to walk towards him when I noticed the petals, thinking to myself (Awww this is cute! We haven’t had a day date in awhile!) Next thing I know, Khoa is on one knee and proposed! I expected him to lecture me but then I was so surprised that I cried and screamed and he had a surprised photographer to capture the moment! What a day with all the spectrum of emotions hahaha.”

These two are seriously the cutest and their wedding was incredible. Check out their wonderful wedding day below:

Vendors:

Photography: Works by Sarah Jane Photography

Wedding Gowns: Davids Bridal (white dress) & Savana Long (Traditional Lhmer Outfits)

Bridesmaids Gowns: Lulus

Groom + Groomsmen Attire: Kenneth Cole/ Macy’s

Cake/ Dessert: Whole Foods Market + Rathana’s Catering

Caterer: Rathana’s Catering

Favors: Traditional Scarves sent from family in Cambodia

Florist: Mai Doan (groom’s sister)

Hair: Kimberly Davis

Makeup: Bianca Keo-Williams (bride’s cousin)