Wedding Date on May 21, 2022

ALAINA & SIMON IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "We met on Hinge (a real 21st century love story lol!). We went on our first date at M. Bird in Tampa and we were both so nervous that we couldn’t eat anything, even though we were both starving. We didn’t want the night to end and went for a walk on the Tampa Riverwalk and the rest is history. Simon proposed in front of the Chinese Theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We are big Disney lovers and Runaway Railway was the first ride we went on together! He was dragging me all over the park and had me thoroughly confused as to why none of the bathrooms were good enough, when he finally pulled me up onto the platform in front of the building that was clearly roped off and had a sign that said “show in progress”. Little did I know, we were the show! Simon had worked with my parents to arrange the area and had flowers and a photographer waiting for us there. It was truly magical! Our original plan (the original plot of the movie) was to elope and then have our large wedding a few years down the road. However, I am an only child and Simon is the oldest; our parents got wind and said, and I quote, ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT’! I had always wanted a Disney wedding I just didn’t know that it was going to be possible for us at this time in our lives." DESCRIBING THE WEDDING: "MASS CHAOS AND PLANET-WIDE PANIC! Not really. We had a lot of last minute unexpected changes, but there must be something to be said for Disney magic because it all worked out for the best. When our venue got changed three hours before the ceremony, it was chaos trying to get people redirected. However, it was for the best because it felt like a sauna outside and it did in fact start to downpour as we walked into our reception space. But, it’s all good luck and was beautiful. Walking into our reception space all by ourselves and getting to see all of our fine details come together, especially our cake! To get that moment to take it all in and see our vision become reality was amazing. We were all about romantic elegance, and used the pinks and greens we did because Simon could see them (he’s a bit color blind) Flower: we used Disney floral for everything except my bouquet. It was made of wooden flowers! I used Shy Chic Boutique. The owner of the shop was in Europe for the weeks leading up to the wedding and had it finished the day before! It turned out spectacularly and had a VIP seat in one of the groomsmen’s car on its way to me. We had a crystal hidden Mickey in Simon’s boutonnière too! My gown was another example of the serendipity associated with this wedding. Much like how Simon walked into the jeweler and walked out 20 minutes later with my ring, I walked in, tried on three dresses, and walked out with the dress of my dreams. Our favors were one of our favorite details (we feel like we say that about everything). My best friend made custom designed and handmade sugar cookies with the most amazing designs. We also had one of our favorite traditional Chinese candies to celebrate Simon’s heritage. All this came packaged in beautiful red and gold boxes. OUR CAKE! We still dream about the cake and can’t wait to get a freshly made top tier to celebrate our first anniversary. It was this beautiful piece of art that tasted amazing. We had two flavors: almond cake with orange scented white chocolate filling, and orange cake with raspberry mousse filling. We originally had planned to serve the top tier, but Disney packaged it up for us to take home. However, it didn’t refrigerated and just kind of fell apart because it was so moist. Because of this, instead of taking it home to freeze, we took it with us on our honeymoon and got to enjoy wedding cake every night for a week! We know some people think this is bad luck, but it was right in line with us and who we are: people who enjoy simple pleasures like eating cake on a balcony in the middle of the ocean. Oh goodness what didn’t we do! - Our invitations were designed by us and included a Chinese translation for Simon’s family - Our programs, menus, place cards, unplugged sign, welcome sign, table numbers, and seating list were all designed by us and one of our good friends - Our favor boxes were done by us - Alaina’s shoes were hand painted by the officiant" ADVICE FOR COUPLES: "Get a day of coordinator and don’t scrimp on photography and videography, the day is too precious to be spent in a bundle of stress and nerves or to not be captured in a spectacular way. Take a breath and enjoy every little moment! Looking back on it, despite all the hiccups and stress leading up to the moment of the ceremony, it was a beautiful day and we wouldn’t change a thing about it. Also, we watch our wedding videos at least once a month!"