A Purely Vietnamese Wedding Ceremony, Experienced for the First Time | William & Diệp

William is a Chinese-American, and Diệp first came to the United States as an international student. They met there, they fell in love there, and somewhere between two languages and two cultures they decided to build a life together.

For their wedding, Diệp had one wish. She wanted everyone to experience a celebration steeped in Vietnamese tradition. She looked after every detail herself, from the decorations to the clothing worn by the bride and groom, their parents, their relatives, and the friends who gathered to celebrate with them. Nothing was left to chance.

Our task was a quieter one. To watch closely, and to catch every warm and unexpected moment as William and Diệp's families and friends stepped into a purely Vietnamese ceremony, a lễ gia tiên, many of them for the very first time.

Their wedding was more than a milestone for the two of them. It was an invitation for everyone around them to step inside the beauty of a culture, and to carry a piece of it home. The traditional colours, from the ao dai to the decor to the rituals themselves, made for a wonderful day, one full of laughter and more than a few happy tears.