The busy wedding is finally over. The ceremony was very simple, only 60 guests were invited, half of them family members and half of close friends who grew up together. They are the people in the world who know me best and care about me the most.

When I was planning the wedding, I told my brother that I actually don’t like Chinese-style weddings where hundreds of people gather around a round table in a hotel. Everyone doesn’t know each other and cares about each other. After lunch, everyone paid and left. , it’s lonely as a participant.

The most ideal ceremony must be in spring. On the lawn at sunset on Saturday evening, Beijing is the most authentic with catkins flying. Relatives and friends arrived in Beijing one after another from Paris, Toulouse, Vancouver, Seoul, Busan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Changsha. They lit candles at night, exchanged vows and rings, kissed and hugged each other with tears. It’s hard to express gratitude and love. So let’s dance, take out the good wine we usually collect, and The one you love most hangs out late into the night with the band.

The basis of transnational marriage is that both families need to be open-minded enough and respect each other's culture and values. I have always been very grateful to my parents for their tolerance and education, allowing me to live independently and do what I like. They never mentioned the wedding gift, nor did they interfere in any wedding details. My parents' attitude was enough to express their trust and respect for us.

This is probably an anti-"traditional" wedding. There is no bridesmaid dress, and the groomsmen and bridesmaids are basically composed of married people and minors. They are all our truest friends and family. , so everyone can wear the same color and wear what they like and feel comfortable. For example, my sister, Jiao, has a oily haircut and wears a white suit. It looks better to be herself.

My vision for the wedding a long time ago was that I wanted an all-wood retro feel. I asked two wedding planning companies in Beijing that the whole package price starts from 50,000 (they said they will do it all, including helping you choose some ugly Taobao souvenirs).

Later, I walked into Youyue by chance. The price of the wedding package (host + photography + videography + makeup + floral arrangements) is relatively reasonable. If there are events or consultants who particularly want to take your case, they will also provide free services such as lighting and floral arrangements upgrades. Compared with other planning companies that are aloof and claim to be high-end, Youyue's staff and service attitude are very heart-warming.

Fortunately, Youyue upgraded all my projects and hired a very good photography teacher and the best bilingual host Six in Beijing.

I care more about the details of the wedding, down to the paper napkins and table runners on the table. I have to buy them myself, so after leaving the overall direction to the wedding planner Nana to take care of and coordinate, I especially enjoy the late-night treasure hunting and overseas shopping for props every day.

The on-site construction required about 1,500 meters of string lights, about 100 candles, and other large lights. There were no problems with the lighting and photo effects for the wedding at night.

Location

Beijing Fulou French Restaurant

Fulou, a century-old Parisian brand, has a very good reputation and service in Beijing. The marketing manager Violet is very dedicated and professional. Every communication in the past six months has confirmed that holding our wedding here is the best choice. In addition to having a pleasant communication with the staff here, the decoration in the restaurant is also Parisian vintage. On the wedding day, the interior is really beautiful without too many embellishments.

Choose dark red to match the dark wood decoration of the restaurant. You will still like this photo ten years later. No matter how you change, you will never lose your love for retro things.

After two attempts, we finally settled on the menu. Considering that male and female guests may have different appetites and taste preferences, we asked the chef to prepare two sets of dinners. The main course for the girls was Icelandic halibut (my personal favorite). Love), and the boys’ main course is the French favorite of baked duck legs with foie gras.

Our wedding was actually all about food and drink. A wedding with good wine, meat and good friends is the most perfect. Among them, 20 bottles of champagne and ice wine were brought to us from France and Canada by relatives and friends. The answer is full of true love.

It is interesting to get married to a Frenchman in FLO French restaurant. You are surrounded by French friends and delicious food. During the meal, French managers and chefs came to say hello and presented you with champagne. This kind of atmosphere is completely unaware of yourself. Actually still in Beijing. Also, the photographer made the little brother very cute.

Wedding Dress

Brand: Pronovias

Rented from: SeSe Wedding Kingdom

My expectation for the wedding dress is that it is simple, no lace, and suitable for the lawn. event, so according to such expectations, it is really difficult to buy wedding dresses in China, and we can only choose some foreign brands.

Langang’s SeSe Wedding Kingdom has a very large store, and the one-stop service from dresses to wedding planning is very convenient. It has a wide selection of domestic and foreign brands and styles, which is more suitable for people like me who don’t like to shop around and only believe in love at first sight. The price of the rental package is also reasonable. My fully handmade Spanish Pronovias wedding dress rental + my brother’s custom-made dress cost about 10,000 yuan.

Although many girls believe that getting married is a once-in-a-lifetime event, they should order and buy their own wedding dress. But I insist that it is not cost-effective to buy a foreign wedding dress in China. I saw an Oscar de la Renta that I liked in a wedding dress store in Guomao and the price was over hundreds of thousands. Even if a high-end brand spends RMB 30,000 to RMB 40,000 to customize a wedding dress, it may not be cost-effective, and many of the so-called original styles are also plagiarized and borrowed from foreign designs.

Overseas, you can buy a pair of beautiful and latest Pronovias for 2000-4000 euros. This price is suitable for purchase. However, finding a reasonably priced place in China to rent a foreign high-end wedding dress is actually the most ideal choice.

This backless wedding dress looks simple, but the petals and pearls on the top are all hand-embroidered, the high-waist skirt is slimming, and the gauze is close-fitting and light, making it suitable for lawn weddings. It is said that this Pronovias high-end wedding dress has been in the store for a long time. I rented it for the first time because most girls still prefer traditional lace skirts. I have tried many styles before. For example, the fishtail skirt is not wearable because it cannot open my legs. The tube top tutu skirt is not suitable because it has no breasts! Therefore, a well-fitting wedding dress must be comfortable to wear and be able to cover up shortcomings.

The reason I didn’t buy a wedding dress of my own in Beijing is because I have another wedding. After accumulating this experience, I will save my patience and surprises for the church wedding in Germany the year after next. :)

Band

Grace&Daniel

The band for our wedding is actually a non-professional couple playing and singing duo, with Grace as the lead singer and Daniel as the program accompaniment. After our ceremony The cocktail party and the after party were lit up all night long by them.

At that time, through the introduction of a Filipino friend, I met the couple who sang at Schindlers in Sanlitun on weekends. Compared with those foreign bands that were managed by managers, the couple who took music as a hobby had the ability to open up and open up. The affinity is stronger, and it is our little luck to meet them.

My German mother-in-law can’t stop dancing, she’s so cute~ The dress code I ordered for everyone on the wedding day is: girls all wear white, boys just need a casual suit. In fact, when taking wedding photos, the most taboo thing about guests is wearing too fancy clothes. The effect of white is very good.

Small items

I made the wedding candy box into a snack box. I really like French elephant tea bags and German Ritter Sport chocolates, so I asked my father-in-law to do both. My mother-in-law brought it back from Europe. In addition, I also added some Japanese juice gummy candies, super mini Tic Tac, Loacker wafer biscuits, jujube cakes, and Haribo gummy bears. Anyway, the snacks in each box are different~

The menus on the dining table are all customized, with the names of the guests written on them. The advantage of having a small wedding is that you can be more attentive in everything.

A lot of wine was prepared at the wedding. After the ceremony, everyone started the cocktail party with champagne and Canadian ice wine. During the dinner, the boys had red wine with baked duck legs, and the girls had white wine with halibut. The after party prepared Sangria, champagne and Armagnac, a specialty of southwestern France. The bottle of Armagnac in the picture is a customized collector's edition with both of our names. A lot of care was taken in the preparation and selection of the wine, and everyone had a great time drinking it.

As for jewelry, I actually like Japanese design brands very much. I finally chose Tasaki for my wedding ring. My brother’s is a platinum ring, and mine is a bezel-shaped half-circle of broken diamonds, which I purchased at the Tasaki International Trade Store.

In fact, after my brother proposed in Kyoto last year, we went to look at wedding rings. We particularly liked a wedding ring brand called Ahkah. Unfortunately, Ahkah has no store in China and does not support any mailing. The requirement is one month. I will fly back to Japan to pick up the ring in person later. (Next time I have the opportunity to write an article about my brother’s proposal in Japan and the Japanese wedding ring brands.)

I remember that it was raining heavily the day I first met my brother, and we were trapped in a double room. After chatting for 4 hours in a Starbucks in southwest Jingnan, I told my boss that this was the first time I had a crush on a boy. This kind of love and happiness continues to this day, and every time I think about spending a lifetime with the other person, I can't help but raise the corners of my mouth.

Sometimes happiness comes because you have cultivated deeply enough, gone through so many detours, suffered so many grievances, and finally met the right person. Then, please give me your guidance for the rest of my life.

It's hard to find a sad banana, WeChat public account Banana Sisters Talk ID: bananatalks