Combine Final Fantasy music, beautiful settings, Yoshi, and you have the unforgettable ceremony and wedding of Esther (Chung) and Andy Hall.
“Over all it was just a nerdy wedding with Final Fantasy music, Yoshis, Lord of the Rings quotes, and a little bit of sea life with jellyfish and humungous octopus plushies on the gift table,” says Hall.
The couple set the tone for their wedding with their save-the-date magnets they worked with local designer Elizabeth Jones of Poshta Designs. “Our Save the dates were this Yoshi design that I worked with Poshta to create and printed at Igloo letterpress to be magnets,” says Hall. “The quote from Lord of the Rings we used on the save the dates was kind of amazing, it started as a joke and then I just ran with it – “I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise. “Don’t you leave him Samwise Gamgee.” And I don’t mean to. I don’t mean to.”
The couple returned to the bride’s home church in Upper Arlington, Covenant Presbyterian, for the ceremony.
“My home church was an important part of my life so I really wanted to have another milestone to be there,” says Hall. “It was a beautiful chapel that needed very little decoration. It was also important to me to have the organist I grew up with to play the music I wanted (Final Fantasy video game music on organ and harpsichord).
Rev. Jeffrey Jaynes officiated the wedding.”I knew he would give us the kind of unforgettable ceremony we wanted,” says Hall. “He definitely made it memorable because we had forgotten to give him back our letters the we wrote to each other which would of been a big part of ceremony so instead he watched Lord of the Rings to get acquainted with the Quote from our save the date. That was very heavily mentioned in our ceremony and it was a good laugh all around.”
The bride wore a dress she designed herself. “I made my wedding dress with the encouragement of my mom,” says Hall. “Originally, I didn’t want to even think about making the dress because it seemed so stressful, but my mom told me I had to do it or else why did I bother going to school to be a designer. Mom’s are always right.”
The dress combined the bride’s Korean heritage in its silhouette and style and the Western formalities of being white. “It was a bit of a tough decision to make it white because in Korean culture you wear a white Hanbok (traditional dress) for funerals,” says Hall. “That was a little bleak to think about, but I thought of it as the death of the single life.”
Her dress for the reception was the same combination but opposite, using traditional Korean Hanbok colors in a very Western style.
The beauty of the venues made it easy to celebrate with little decoration. “The North Bank Park is a gorgeous space,” says Hall. “Andy was dead set on having the reception there so I let him take care of all those details. He just always loved the venue and we bike past it in the summer all the time.”
Flowers were kept simple. “The morning of the wedding we picked lavender sprigs from the garden and paired them with these little hand painted eggs to look like Yoshi eggs for the groomsmen,” says Hall. “For the bridesmaids I had plush Yoshi dolls with green hydrangea from the garden. For my bouquet I used the same green hydrangea, a pinkish purple dahlia and some other blooms.”
Wedding coordinator Davin Leigh from Elite Celebrations kept everything organized. “Neither us nor our family had to worry about anything but enjoying ourselves,” says Hall. “It was worth every penny.”
For entertainment, the couple had My Kid Sister playing live, and their friend Vinh Vu DJ’ing. “Vu interjected some K-pop for me,” says Hall. “Highlights of the night were friends singing different songs for us, such as the solo version of Summer Lovin from Grease, Fly Me to the Moon for the Father-Daughter dance, and me singing Beastie Boys’ Sabotage with my friend TJ.”
The best part of their wedding was having everyone together. “Having an amazing blow out of a party to celebrate our life together and just good times all around was wonderful,” says Hall. “As we were closing down, fireworks from the Huntington Park were also going off. There couldn’t have been a more perfect ending to the dancing.”
The couple honeymooned in Europe, visiting London, Paris, and Rome.
Wedding Details
Ceremony Venue: Covenant Presbyterian, Upper Arlington
Officiant: Rev. Jeffrey Jaynes
Reception location: North Bank Park Pavilion
Bride’s dress: Handmade
Bride’s hair styling and makeup: Erica Stewart
Bride’s hair coloring: Stephanie Mahone at Studio Elements
Bridal Party accessories: Lotus blossom necklaces from Untamed Menagerie
Rings: Matching set by Verragio
Invitations: Poshta Design, printed at Igloo Letterpress
DJ: Vinh Vu
Band: My Kid Sister
Food: Berwick Manor
Cake and dessert table: Elite Sweets by Sean Maynard
Wedding Coordinator: Davin Leigh
Favors: Airplants from the centerpieces, the live orchids, and rosewood fans.
Fun: Tote bags screenprinted by Alison Rose with the couple’s kissing Yoshis design for out of town guests.
Photography: Candace Moser Stafford of Rogue Magnolia.
All photos provided by Candace Moser Stafford, except fireworks photo provided by the couple.
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