Please click the link to view Lauren's pictures from the reception.

August 4, 2009

Thank you to everyone who attended the wedding! We hope you had a great time.

A few thank you's that we didn't get a chance to say (and believe us, this will be updated even more in the next week or so!):

1. Tina Chang, our wedding coordinator. She offered her services for FREE and she did an incredible job. She coordinated with the DJ and all the vendors; she helped with the transition from the family ceremony to the church ceremony to the reception; she dealt with any and all last minute changes; she made sure we ran as closely to the day's schedule as possible; and she kept track of and tied up all the loose ends. In short, she was indispensable. Please let us know if you would like her contact information. We cannot sing her praises enough! Also, thank you to her boyfriend, Tim Lam, who also assisted with the wedding preparations.

2. Lauren Miyake, our second photographer. Lauren has only recently gotten into photography in the past few months, which is pretty surprising because her photos are amazing. She did a complimentary engagement shoot for us (the picture of us between the trees was taken by Lauren!) AND she took pictures throughout the ENTIRE wedding, including at 7 am as the bridal party was getting ready. Her boyfriend, Joe, also came early and took shots of the groomsmen as they got gussied up. Please see Lauren's website, and pictures from our engagement shoot, here: http://www.laurenmiyake.smugmug.com/

3. Kim Tran, or crazy Kim, as she is known to those near and dear, for taking complimentary engagement shots of us at the Orange County Fair. That black-and-white canvas shot of us on the rollercoaster that was displayed at the guestbook table was taken by crazy Kim! Kim's website can be viewed here: http://www.smallwonderphotography.com/

4. Bridesmaids Uyen Thach and Ly Vu for their hair and makeup services on the day of the wedding. Yes, ladies, those two did the hair AND makeup not only for themselves, but also for me, Jenny Wong, AND Edlyn Chao. No small feat, especially when they were only given two hours to do three girls' hair and makeup!

5. Ceremony and reception attendants: Jamie Huynh, Kathryn Pham, Niki Nguyen, Stephanie Liu, Marie Vu, Deborah King, Kathy Oeung, Jackie Phung, and Tammy Le. It was thanks to them that the line kept moving at the reception!

6. Our out of town guests, including but not limited to our friends and relatives from San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Vancouver, Canada; Houston, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; New York, New York; Boston, MA; Washington, D.C.; and Melbourne, Australia.

7. A special thanks to Bridesmaid Edlyn Chao (our worldly traveler--she came to us by way of Melbourne, London, and Singapore) who really helped us out with last minute wedding preparations the week leading up to the wedding. The worst of it probably was that she had to stay in Michelle's room, otherwise known as the Black Hole or the Deadly Abyss, during her visit.

8. Another special thanks to Groomsman Van Le who was the Edlyn counterpart for the groom's side before and after the wedding.

9. An additional thanks to the CaboTRANS who helped us newlyweds take care of my five rambunctious cousins at the Orange County Fair the DAY AFTER the wedding. Hello marriage boot camp!

10. Stephanie Liu and Jeff Bautista for hooking us up (along with my uncles, aunts, and cousins) with great seats for the Disneyland fireworks. It was Gil's first time at Disneyland and indeed...it was magical!

11. Uyen Thach and Kris Do got us on the guestlist at Heat...when it was Heat's 1-year anniversary! The only reason we got in was because of them!

12. Linda Nhan helped out with the hair and makeup trial on the Tuesday before the wedding. Unfortunately, Linda became sick the day before the wedding and was unable to make it the next day, BUT my mom looked great at her television appearance that Tuesday AND Linda was able to make it to the reception, even though she was still feeling under the weather.

13. Michelle Tran arranged a happy hour at Sharkeez in Newport Beach the day before the wedding; we had to cancel it because of the traffic, but those who did end up going enjoyed the Orange County beach scene.

Lastly, we are currently posting links to photos from guests. If you send us pictures and give us permission to post, we will do so accordingly.

Love,
Gil and Michelle

Friends, we received a Best Buy gift card without a name attached some time in June. If you are the generous gift giver, please let us know!