Mark and Yuli's Wedding
It felt so natural for me to officiate Mark and Yuli's wedding since I've known Mark since before high school. When he moved to Los Angeles and met Yuli, we were roommates until he moved in with her. I've been super close with them together as a couple but also as individuals and I wanted to make sure their wedding reflected that.
Yuli's family is from Taiwan and it was important to me to make the ceremony was inclusive to everyone and yet keep it personal and intimate, and mainly about Mark and Yuli. It was also important to make sure I included both of their cultural backgrounds. I decided to learn a few phrases to share in Chinese during the ceremony. Granted, as someone who is attempting to learn Chinese, it was intimidating to form a full phrase in a coherent way in front of a crowd of native speakers. The night before the wedding I met with one of Yuli's bridesmaids so she could help me with some of the details of the articulations. I was practicing up until minutes before the ceremony began!
Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.
記住幸福是個旅程而不是終點站
To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.
給你力量的是當你深愛著一個人. 給你勇氣的是被人深愛著.
The theme for the ceremony evolved into the idea of travel. Mark and Yuli crisscrossed the Pacific Ocean so many times, accidentally missing each other, gathering all their friends who were present at the ceremony. I was able to tie this idea of travel throughout the whole ceremony especially since the guests had traveled from around the globe! It was a universal theme in the speeches given later, as Marks father later told me that I stole all his lines and he was going to have to come up with new ones during cocktail hour!
One of the other moments that made Mark and Yuli's wedding ceremony really special was their twist on the Unity Candle Ceremony. Instead of lighting a candle, they mixed coffee together. This is how we explained it during the ceremony:
Mark and Yuli share coffee every morning. They always joke that Mark puts more coffee than milk, but Yuli puts more milk than coffee. Today they've reached a rare compromise and will be putting in equal amounts of each. Mark will pour the coffee, Yuli will pour the milk, and once the coffee and milk are combined they can never be separated. You'll never look at a cup of Dunkin' Donuts original blend the same again...
The mug they're using today will quickly become their most cherished one, as it is clear and contains their engraved names. To some, a morning coffee together is just a small part of the day, but for them it's a daily reminder that they are together, and now they will be together forever.
I can't wait to continue having our wild karaoke nights, our conveyor belt sushi visits, and continue to be a part of your lives as your family grows over the coming years.