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It was a summer afternoon when I first met Vicki and Todd in a pub called The Flower Shop in Manhattan’s lower east side. We chatted over a few drinks and right away knew they were the kind of lovers I wanted to photograph. They’re super chill, cool and fashionable. I couldn’t wait to document their wedding. We talked about their version of the Asian fusion New York wedding. Vicki, is a communications director at a creative agency,and also the cofounder of Banana magazine, a publication dedicated to contemporary Asian culture while Todd is in retail management at Suit Supply.
They decided to have a wedding in the woods somewhere outside the hustle and bustle of New York City where they grew up. They found the perfect place at M&D Farm in Westerlo NY. In Vikki’s words, “It didn’t feel purposefully renovated for a wedding, didn’t feel staged.” It’s a 58 acre property and is comprised of a gently preserved 1940’s barn, romantic English – European inspired gardens, pond, pastoral fields and woods.
It was very important to them that they celebrate Vicki’s Chinese and Todd’s Filipino heritage. Halfway through the reception, they changed into their traditional garbs. Todd wore a barong and Vicki wore her mom’s wedding dress, a cheongsam, from decades ago. Perfect idea for this Asian fusion New York wedding theme.
They made sure there were asian ingredients in the meals that they served which was the hardest part because according to Vicki, “It’s really hard to find an Asian caterer who understands Chinese food and Filipino food, and impossible to find one upstate.” Fortunately with the help of Vicki’s Banana network they found Guang Xu—she’s a private chef who also works at this restaurant called MáLà Project and within a week she came up with a private menu.
Of course there was roast suckling pig or “lechon”, with servers carving it out and putting it on Chinese buns.
Chelsea, Vicki’s close friend who’s a florist helped with the flowers for the bouquet and table arrangements. They chose wild flowers and purchased them at flower district a few days before the wedding spending only about $600.
“We’re, like, really big hip-hop heads also, so a lot of music was very hip-hop focused. We were introduced into the reception with Memphis Bleek’s -Like That”.
And did Sade’s “Lovers Rock.” for the first dance
A black sesame ube cake was made personally by the chef Guang.
Vicki’s friend Maddy runs a stationery company so she did the invites, signage, and menus.
More photos from the wedding:
And some of our favorite classic black and whites:
We hope this inspires more couples to be more creative and personal and to go the “not to feel like a wedding!” direction for their wedding. See more of this wedding here.