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Mimi & Winston in St. Louis, MO

Mimi & Winston in St. Louis, MO
Mimi and Winston's wedding celebrated multicultural traditions in St. Louis, Missouri.
Photos By: Susan Jackson Photography, St. Louis
Location: Chase Park Plaza
Mimi and Winston wound up marrying with two wedding ceremonies. The day began with a Vietnamese-style ceremony in honor of Mimi‘s heritage. "Tradition has it that the groom‘s family forms a procession and bears gifts to the bride‘s family in her home," Mimi explains. Afterward, everyone gathered in the couple‘s living room, which was decorated with two large kites -- one in the shape of a dragon and one in the shape of a phoenix, representing man and woman. The couple offered tea to their parents and burned incense for their ancestors, and received gifts and words of wisdom from their relatives.
"Although I am Buddhist, I was born in America and grew up watching brides walk down an aisle with a white dress," Mimi says. "So I broke tradition and had a second ‘American‘ ceremony at the Chase Park Plaza in the Starlight Ballroom." Mimi walked down her own aisle lined with vases filled with sand and seashells collected from Wrightsville Beach. Even sweeter, Mimi surprised her groom with a song during the ceremony, accompanied by one of her uncles on guitar.
"Orchids are my favorite flower and they are a symbol of the Thai culture (Winston is Thai-American) so I knew it was the perfect choice," Mimi explains. She ordered green and white orchid straight from Thailand and combined them with flowers and greenery from her parents‘ and uncle‘s backyards to create all of the floral elements for the wedding day. White orchids and bear grass set ikebana-style in green ceramic dishes sat atop the tables at the reception at the Chase Park Plaza. Small "kites" which Mimi had made herself from photos of she and Winston floated above each centerpiece.
During a visit to Toronto, Canada, Mimi discovered the wedding dress boutique Studio 163. "I was able to sketch out my dream dress and have it custom made," says Mimi. Her desire for simple elegance translated into an off-white, peau de soie silk, A-line strapless gown with covered buttons down the back with a large French bustle train and small asymmetric gathers on the front. The studio also designed a cathedral-length circular veil with a slim ribbon edge.
"I had traveled to Vietnam to have dresses made but they did not fit the four girls well, so one week before the wedding I had to go on a search for the perfect green dress," Mimi says. She finally found just the right one: A silk gown with wide straps, a plunging neckline, and an open back that extended into a long train.
Guests were treated to two favors to represent both Mimi and Winston‘s cultures: Chopsticks make of teak wood from Vietnam, engraved with the couple‘s names and wedding date and metal elephant-shaped key chains from Thailand which open up to hold small trinkets.
After two years of long-distance dating (with Winston in San Diego and Mimi in Kansas City) the couple finally ended up together in North Carolina, where Winston was stationed and Mimi was accepted into a medical residency program.
 
The Bride Mimi Vo, MD, 25, internal medicine resident
The Groom Winston Tavee, MD, 28, flight surgeon for US Marine Corps
The Date August 29
 
While house hunting together in Wilmington, Winston suggested they explore Wrightsville Beach. "He surprised me with a beautiful pink, blue, and green kite in the shape of a Siamese fish," says Mimi. "I had expressed my desire to fly a kite at the beach during one of our first dates and he remembered!" After sending the kite soaring into the night air, Winston ran toward the ocean to catch it when it began to fall. He called out for Mimi, saying he'd fallen, and she ran to him -- getting tangled up in the kite's string and tripping herself! Before Mimi had time to compose herself, she looked down to see Winston holding a diamond engagement ring twinkling in the moonlight. The sweet proposal became one of the themes for their wedding celebration. Mimi and Winston pulled together two wedding ceremonies and a reception that celebrated Winston's romantic proposal.

-- Alonna Friedman