After spending a week in Northern California, we drove down on Friday, May 22nd for the much-anticipated wedding of our dear friends Megumi & Daniel! The rehearsal dinner was on Friday evening, and the wedding was on Sunday, and we were honored that Megumi and Daniel had asked Mio and I to part of their bridal party — I was so touched that Megumi had asked me to a bridesmaid, and Mio a flower girl in what was to us the wedding of the year! We were all so excited to see them and our mutual friends again since it’s been so long since we were last together, but it was truly extra special to be there by their side as they tied the knot.
We drove down on Friday and got to Glendale in the afternoon, in time for the rehearsal at Vertigo, where the ceremony and reception would be on Sunday. The rehearsal went well, full of heartwarming moments and hugs with friends we had missed so much!
After the wedding rehearsal on Friday
After the ceremony rehearsal, everyone was invited to Daniel’s parents’ beautiful home in Alhambra, where a taco truck catered a delicious rehearsal dinner, along with lots of amazing sides and desserts cooked up by Megumi and her family and friends.
We got to meet Ali and Tim’s adorable son Kanoa for the first time! He’s only a few months older than Mirei, so it was cute watching them play together.
Cuties at the rehearsal dinner in Alhambra.
I loved meeting Megumi’s adorable niece and nephew! Here’s sweet Leila-chan.
The Kaminaga kids! Leila and Julian. 🙂
They loved taking selfies with my camera, so I took a bunch of videos of the adorable kiddos.
On Saturday evening, we had dinner at Granville in downtown Glendale with some of the other bridesmaids and friends from San Francisco/Nakayoshi who were in town for the wedding. So glad we got to spend some extra time with them. 🙂
Dinner at Granville with friends
Mirei cried when Uncle Graig held her, but was pacified when he fed her his fries. lol
“Mama, take a picture of panda!” Mio feeding a sprig of rosemary to the panda doll that accompanied our travels.
Sunday started bright & early for the bridesmaids, as we got breakfast together at the hotel and gathered in Megumi’s suite for makeup and hair.
Getting my hair done as a bridesmaid on the wedding day.
Megumi getting ready!
Sam enjoying some In-N-Out during prep! The bridal party’s got to eat, and these were some pretty satisfying provisions! 😀
The gorgeous bride in her wedding dress.
Isn’t she just breathtaking? *sigh* Megumi was truly stunning!
Selfie with the bride! I don’t recognize myself with all the heavy makeup. lol
With the lovely Maid of Honor, Sam!
Room for the ceremony. Those hanging white flowers were made out of coffee filters and pipe cleaners, and many hours of hard work by the bride and the other bridesmaids (I only helped a little at the end when I came into town). They turned out gorgeous!
The venue Megumi & Daniel chose was so glamorous. Even the bathrooms were gorgeous, with these huge, ceiling-high leaning mirrors!
First look between the bride and groom. ♥
Of course, I had to get it on video, too.
Mio getting ready as the flower girl!
Can’t believe Megumi sewed the flower girl dresses! The inspiration was Carrie Bradshaw.
Shy Mio with beautiful Sam.
The happy couple with the kids in the bridal party. The cutest flower girls and ringbearers 🙂
The bride & groom enjoying some pre-ceremony libations
The wedding cake was gorgeous, with gold ombre and beautiful details. Everything was perfection — not a surprise, considering that it was Megumi’s wedding!
Mio being silly with the photobooth props
Dan arriving with Mirei. He was on babysitting duty during the ceremony, since Mio and I were in the bridal party.
Because I was in the ceremony, and Dan was busy wrangling a cranky Mirei, we unfortunately don’t have any photos from the actual ceremony, but it was beautiful and tearjerking, and so fitting for Megumi & Daniel!
Afterwards, we had fun mingling with friends, and Mio had a ball playing with the photobooth props.
Mustached Mio
Mio showing Megumi’s mom her mustache. lol
Megumi changed into a gorgeous purple kimono for the reception. It went perfectly with her wedding color scheme, and she looked absolutely beautiful in it!
The bride & groom looking amazing in their kimonos
Megumi surprised her parents with the kimono! So sweet ♥
The kimono was gorgeous, even from the back. Look at that obi!
With the stunning bride in her kimono.
Dan made the table numbers for the wedding. The centerpieces came out gorgeous!
During the reception, Megumi surprised Daniel by serenading him with John Legend’s “All of Me” during the slideshow. It was so romantic, and Megumi has such a beautiful voice. 🙂
Cakecutting time! Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Xavier!
Megumi’s bouquet toss!
Mio caught a small part of the bouquet… a single rose head. 🙂
Garter toss!
Daniel kept hilariously pulling out random items (like this rolling pin!) out of Megumi’s dress.
Alas, we couldn’t stay too late into the wedding, as we had to catch a plane very early Monday morning, so we had to say our goodbyes and return to our hotel to pack and get a couple hours of sleep before we had to depart the following morning.
Saying goodbye to aunties Ali and Sam
One last photo with fellow bridesmaids Ali and Sam
One last photo with the happy, beautiful couple before we had to say goodbye.
Congratulations Daniel & Megumi! We were so happy we could be there for your big day. Thank you for letting us be a part of it! ♥
As we mentioned earlier, we had the opportunity to take some Japanese-style wedding portraits in kimono while we were in Honolulu. I’d grown up seeing various cousins’ wedding photos from Japan, and my relatives always urged us to take some, but we never had the opportunity until this summer. Masako Formals in Honolulu is a bridal boutique that specializes in wedding dresses, tuxedos, and other formalwear, but they also offer photography packages in which you can take portraits in traditional Japanese wedding kimonos. It includes the kimono rental (in my case both shiromuku and iro-uchikake), makeup and hair for the bride, and dressing assistance. They did a wonderful job, and both Dan and I were very impressed! Here are some of the photos!
The female staff were especially taken with Dan during the photoshoot, squealing that he looked like Tom Cruise (I perosnally don’t see it!), and were snapping a bunch of personal photos on their cell phones… lol. You can see us featured on their blog as well. A huge thanks to our friend Yumi who referred us to Masako Formals! ã¨ã£ã¦ã‚‚ã„ã„記念ã«ãªã‚Šã¾ã—ãŸâ™ª ã‚りãŒã¨ã†ï¼:D