Paper Studio: Tien & David

We love our brides at our Paper Studio. I'm not afraid to say I'm biased here, but whether it's a destination wedding in Costa Rica or a ballroom affair at the Ritz, I happen to think they are all so amazingly chic and savvy about their vision of their big day. So when one of my most adorable couples, Tien & David came in one day to tell me of the sad news that their request to hold their ceremony at the courtyard of their old school was denied, I had to contact two of the very best in the industry who could help out with some advice.

(Above) Tien & David initially met when they were in the first grade. These are the Save the Dates they made from their grade school picture!

Before I jump too far ahead, let me first introduce you to this wonderful couple. I have to resist using the word "adorable" too many times whenever I see them. Tien is bubbly, charming and full of spirit. David is warm, steady and the one who keeps all of us (when discussion of fonts turns into fondant) focused on the task at hand. As my parents would say, they are each other's yin and yang...an absolute compliment to one another.

Tien was kind enough to share the details of their story with us and you will just melt after reading this!

David and I met in first grade (when I fell head over heels for him--must have been the short shorts and bowl cut) and gradually became better and better friends as we passed through elementary school, middle school (I still liked him, this time it must have been his excellent grades and his CD Diskman!) and high school. We never dated, though we were always the couple kids would push together at dances or make fun of should we be caught in the same hallway together. It was cute, I guess...as well as heart wrenching, since I actually did love the boy.

Fast forward a few years after college--he Stanford, me UCLA--and one day I get a voicemail from David Lau, who had heard through the grapevine that I had returned from a two year long adventure in Shanghai. Just like that, he had looked me up on our old elementary school directory (asking my dad for my cell number) and asked me to dinner. It was all easy as pie after that :) I remember listening to the voicemail over and over, thinking "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god...Wait, Tien, you're a grown up now. Stop it!" I'm glad I never did. A year later, he proposed the night before Thanksgiving, proving that someone out there was definitely listening to the little kid in me twenty years ago.

To celebrate our past together, we wanted to hold our ceremony right where it all began, in the little lunch courtyard of our old elementary school in Piedmont. We tried for months to reach the school principal, the superintendent, anyone who we thought could give us clearance, but in the end were told that the school was now condemned for earthquake safety and thus was off limits. Crushed, we decided that the only logical thing to do was to just move our special ceremony to the reception site, St Regis Hotel. Originally, the thought was to give our guests a look into our history by inviting them literally back to where we began as students and friends, then give everyone a real party at the St Regis. Now that we lost the nostalgia element of the wedding, we were faced with the not-so-appealing possibility of just a plain ol' hotel wedding. The place is beautiful and stylish, but we {are}in need something to make it more personal.

PS. By the way, to explain our thing with Whales...I once made a card for David that said "I will love you forever" but screwed up on the "will" and had to turn it into Whale. I drew a whale to roll with it and after a while, it became our word to mean, "I will/whale do whatever it takes to love you."

Their touching story and disappointment prompted me to do some SOS. That, and despite how savvy any bride is...incorporating a story into the details of the wedding can be daunting and overwhelming! So stay tuned as I post up two of the best individuals to go to for wedding advice!