Plaza De Magdalena Wedding

This Wedding was in San Juan Capistrano at Plaza De Magdalena. The Groom was Nigerian and the Bride was Chinese, so they wanted to incorporate both cultures. They changed clothes 2 different times, and we helped with 3 different Grand Entrances to honor each culture. We also played music from both Ghana and Nigeria to help the celebrate the groom’s African heritage. We also worked along side Stop and Stare Events who Coordinated the Wedding.

“Hello! This is the bride speaking!

Obi and I have known each other almost 8 years, and had been dating for a majority of that time. We met in college at UCLA through our mutual involvement with the University Catholic Center. I was a freshman, he was a Junior, and he had this uncanny ability to help me be more myself than I ever let myself be. After years of adventuring and growing in the heart of LA, Obi eventually found his way up to Seattle, WA for graduate school at the University of Washington. A few more years of studying, adventuring, and growing, and my heart got tired of the long distance. I landed a dream job at Starbucks doing product development, and moved my life out to the pacific northwest. A year and a half in, we were engaged, and now we’re married!

Early in our relationship, Obi and I quickly realized that our cultures had a lot in common. Obi is Nigerian American, and I am Chinese (Taiwanese) American. We both value and respect family, and hold tightly on to community. Obi’s family is very well connected to the Nigerian community in Southern California, and my family has its own community of Taiwanese friends and family. When we started wedding planning, we knew we wanted a wedding that would showcase our two beloved cultures, as well as our faith. In the end, I believe that’s exactly what we did, and I couldn’t be more happy.

Our wedding couldn’t have been possible without the love, support, time, dedication, and patience of my loving parents. Obi and I were planning for a SoCal wedding all the way from Seattle. My parents drove to all of our potential venues to pick the right one, and vetted out all of our potential florists, caterers, bakers, etc. Every little detail in the wedding was purposeful and meaningful, and I’m excited to share it all with you!

My bridesmaids and I got ready in the bridal room at the Plaza de Magdalena, where the reception was.

After mass, the bridal party walked over to the Historic Mission to take pictures. Before meeting everyone else at cocktail hour, I stopped by the local Starbucks to pick up an Iced Coconut Milk Mocha Macchiato 🙂 Mhmmmm

Also another sentimental details was that My mom changed from her beautiful red dress into another green, blue, and gold dress, only to later change in to a pink dress! The green, blue gold dress was a special request from my grandmother (maternal). It’s the EXACT SAME dress that my grandmother wore for my mother’s wedding. She still had it in her closet, and my mom actually fit in it! It was awesome, and probably gave my grandma some major flash-backs.

I also have to thank my awesome older brother, Eric, for taking these beautiful pictures! Eric picked up wedding photography on his own in college, and has been doing it as a side gig ever since. I personally think he’s got great artistic style, but, I’m a little bias.”

Photography: Eric Lin