One Year Wedding Anniversary

Today marks our one year anniversary! We have officially been married for exactly one year and so far, it has been amazing. No one ever told me how wonderful it is to be married.

Since we still have school, our anniversary trip will be next month, in September, when we travel to Europe for about three weeks. Meanwhile, we decided to get away for the weekend and celebrate our anniversary in San Diego, California.

We got a corner suite at the Kimpton Palomar Hotel in downtown San Diego. I loved our room!

To start out our anniversary day, we grabbed brunch at Snooze an A.M. Eatery. The food was delicious!

So after brunch, we went Horseback Riding!

I told Robin before how much I wanted us to go horseback riding together so, for our anniversary, he took me to Pony Land in San Diego. At first, I kind of laughed at the name, but it turned out to be this great place!

We went on a private, two-hour, horseback riding on the beach, and it was an amazing experience!

Our tour guide was Gloria and she is absolutely the best tour guide ever! She is very knowledgable and educated us about the horses, their behavior, how to command them. Gloria was super laid back and kinda let us do whatever we wanted.

Gloria taught us how to control our horses to trot and gallop. We got our horses to go at a faster pace and it was really scary at first, but when we got used to it, it was a lot of fun. I have to say, I really love horseback riding!

This was Robin's first time, but I actually went horseback riding once before and I didn't enjoy it as much since they were pretty strict with everything. There was no trotting or galloping. No one was allowed to do anything and the horses were only allowed to walk in a straight line.

This time, was just so much better since I got the full "horse-riding" experience. I loved my horse! Even though it was a short ride, you really feel connected to your horse. Isn't he beautiful? That's a photo of him on the left.

Overall, I had a wonderful time and it was nice that Robin and I got to experience horse-back riding together, especially as husband and wife.

After horseback riding, we went back to the hotel to get ready for our date night. We had our anniversary dinner at Greystone Prime Steakhouse & Seafood. We had a very lovely dinner.

Robin and I had an amazing time in San Diego. We are so thankful for being able to get away for the weekend to celebrate our one-year annivesary. We wanted to relax, but do something fun at the same time, and I think we chose the perfect place to celebrate.

Getting Our MBA's Together

A month after we got married, we were still feeling so overwhelmed with happiness. We thought to ourselves that getting married was the best decision ever. One night, we stayed up talking about all the things we wanted to do in life, but never got the chance to. One of the things that we both wanted in life was to get our Masters in Business Administration.

Robin did try to get his MBA earlier in his life at a different university, but it wasn't the right time for him. Although he was well into his first semester in the program, he was also dealing with starting a new position at a new company and couldn't devote the time to group projects, studying, etc. He decided to put a pause on his goal of pursuing an MBA and focused all of his time on his real estate career.

As for me, I always knew that I wanted to get a Masters's degree, but I never thought it would be in business. The truth is, I have always admired those with an MBA degree, and as much as I wanted one myself, I was always intimidated by the program and just never thought I could do it. For one, I never took any business classes during my undergrad, and also, I never really had the opportunity to go back to school. Thankfully, my husband continued to believe in me until I believed in myself and pushed me to go after my dreams.

Therefore, as newlyweds, we decided to do this together. We started by looking up different MBA programs around the country, and we both fell in love with the program at Santa Clara University! We both got accepted into the program and are now working hard towards our dream together. #oneteamonedream #santaclarauniversity #mba

Our Wedding Day

August 18, 2018, the best day ever! What a lovely day, spent with my lovely new husband, and all the people I love!

(All photos are taken by our amazing photographer, Duy with Duy Ho Photography)

We got married at the Silver Creek Country Club in San Jose. This was the very first venue we looked at, and we pretty much had our heart set from the moment we saw this beautiful venue. We wanted to take this moment to share some of the details of our special day with everyone.

On the morning of our wedding day, my mother and all bridesmaids all joined me in my bridal suite at the Fairmont Hotel so that we could all get ready and spend quality time together.

We were fortunate enough to have Aimee Makeup Artistry do our makeup and hair. Aimee did both my hair and makeup while her team did hair and make up for my mom and all of my bridesmaids. Aimee and her team did an amazing job.

My mother, my maid of honor, and one of my bridesmaids helped me get into my beautiful wedding dress by Maggie Sottero. I had two different dresses for our wedding day, but the Maggie Sottero wedding dress was the one that I wore for the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Robin and all his groomsmen got ready in his hotel room in the other tower of the Fairmont Hotel.

My bridesmaids accompanied me as I walked up the stairs to meet Robin for our first look. Our first look was probably one of my favorite moments of the day. I was so excited to see him and show off my beautiful dress!

Our first look was a very special moment for us and it was filled with so many different emotions.

Before heading over to our wedding venue, our photographer, Duy, took some more amazing photos of the two of us.

Also, I got to take some photos with my bridesmaids, and Robin took some photos with his groomsmen.

My lovely bridesmaids all wore such gorgeous long Sweetheart Strapless gowns from Jasmine's B2 collection in the color sweet pea.

Here are some more photos of the wedding party. There is one photo here that I absolutely adore. Maybe it had something to do with the random rainbow umbrella.

We also had a lot of fun while we were waiting for the limo to arrive.

Finally, our limo picked our whole wedding party up from the Fairmont Hotel and drove us to our venue. We also had limos pick up both our families.

We still had some time before the ceremony so we took more photos of our wedding party.

This is my favorite photo of our wedding party in front of the most gorgeous backdrop.

Our ceremony was held over by the Lakeside overlooking a beautiful waterfall. The weather was lovely, although it was on the warmer side. We offered lemonade, iced tea and iced water for all our guests to enjoy.

What made the day even more beautiful were the flowers. I am still so in love with my bouquet and all the centerpieces. All of our flowers were designed by Jinger Leonard with The Flower House. Flowers consisted of off white and blush pink hydrangea, garden roses, tea roses, lisi, brovardia and fressia with a light frame of camilla.

We had about 200 guests and it was such an incredible feeling to know that everyone we love came out to witness our love and to celebrate our special day with us.

Our ceremony started at precisely at 5:30 pm, where everyone walked down the aisle to the traditional “Canon in D.” First, Robin walked down the aisle with both his mom and dad. I am so thankful for his parents for raising such an amazing man.

Followed by the wedding party.

Our nephew, Mason, was our ring bearer was a bit shy, but still did a great job!

Our flower girls, Rielle and Rizelle, tossed rose petals as they walked down the aisle.

Our nephew, Eligh, had an important message for his uncle...

My mother and father both walked me down the aisle to a piano version of the song, "Beautiful in White." I could not imagine walking down the aisle without these two very important people in my life, and I wanted to share this moment with both of my parents.

When I was walking down the aisle, I was a bit nervous since all the attention was on me. I was afraid that I might stumble over my dress, or if something went wrong, etc., but when I saw his face and his gorgeous smile, I forgot about all my worries. At that moment, I just focused on how happy I was to finally marry such an amazing man. It was a beautiful feeling that you never really forget.

Dan Kennedy did an amazing job officiating our wedding with such heartfelt words of encouragement and advice.

During the ceremony, Robin and I exchanged personal vows before we said our I Do's. After, we performed a sand ceremony, to symbolize our unity as husband and wife.

Officially Husband and Wife! Yes! I finally got myself a husband! We did our grand ceremony exit to Rachel Platten, "Stand by You."

Right after the ceremony, we took some photos with our family and friends before they headed over to the Chaboya lounge for cocktail hour.

We even got a chance to take some photos of just the two of us. They were so perfect in every way!

It was a nice walk from our ceremony site to the Chaboya lounge, but for guests with heels or just anyone in general, we offered golf carts for anyone that wanted a ride. Robin and I sure took advantage of it.

During cocktail hour, we featured a Bruschetta Bar for our guests to enjoy. There were also "Butlered Hors d’oeuvres" that circulated throughout the lounge serving Coconut Crusted Prawns, Brie and Raspberry Crostini, and Pesto Chicken Bites. The open bar also opened for our guests to enjoy during cocktail hour and remained open throughout the evening. We also featured our signature "His and Her" drinks, which for Robin was an Old Fashioned and mine was the Blushing Bride.

Guests also enjoyed our candy bar and used creative props to take photos in our photo booth provided by Impressions Photobooth.

At 7:00 pm, we invited everyone into the Yerba Buena Ballroom. On their way in, each guest signed our Photo Guestbook from Artificial Uprising.

The Yerba Buena Ballroom was set up perfectly. We had about twenty tables set up throughout the ballroom. We had personalized Macarons with each guest's name written on it inside a small bell jar as place-cards for our guests.

Our wedding party made a grand entrance into the ballroom to "Can't Stop the Feeling," by Justin Timberlake.

Before dinner, Robin's best man, Ryan, and my maid of honor, Ngoc, gave a sweet, thoughtful, yet funny speech and concluded with a joyful toast. We are so thankful to have these two amazing people in our lives.

For dinner, we did a buffet-style dinner that we catered directly through the Silver Creek Valley Country Club. We served Farmer's Market Salad, Fresh House Baked Rolls with Butter, Whipped Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables, Prime Rib, Herb Roasted Salmon, and Chicken Cacciatore. Everything tasted absolutely amazing.

When everyone was still enjoying their dinner, Robin and I snuck out to take some beautiful sunset photos. Oh, and we both changed our outfits for our wedding reception. Robin's suit was made to measure by Hugo Boss, and I wore a beautiful wedding gown by Wtoo Watters.

After taking some sunset photos, we sneaked back in and went around to each table to greet all our wonderful guests that came to our wedding. Most of our guests are from the Bay Area, but we had guests that came from Los Angeles, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and even as far as Australia.

Our beautiful wedding cake was from Bijan Bakery, where each tier featured one of the two flavors: Strawberry Shortcake and Guava. Our cake was absolutely delicious!

Robin and I had our first dance to Ed Sheeran's Perfect.

For our father-daughter dance, my father and I danced to My Little Girl by Tim McGraw and for the mother-son dance, Robin and his mother danced to A Song for Mama by Boyz II Men.

Right after, we also asked all the married couples to come out and join us on the dance floor. Robin's parents have been married for 45 years. Their love for one another is truly inspirational!

Also, we thought it would be fun to include a Money Dance so that we can dance with our friends and family. However, we completely forgot about the pins so everyone was stuffing money anywhere they could.

We did a bouquet toss to California Girls by Katy Perry. All the beautiful ladies lined up for the Bouquet Toss and my beautiful and soon-to-be cousin in law, Cianelyn, caught the bouquet. She's actually getting married soon. So excited for her!

Time for the Garter Toss! Robin was really excited to remove the garter from my legs. A few days prior to our wedding day, Michelle, one of my bridesmaids, gave me the idea to prank Robin. Michelle took care of setting the prank up for me and I made sure that DJ Turner from Elite Entertainment was in on the scoop. Thank you, Brian, for participating in our shenanigans.

Now here's the real thing! Robin danced for me to the song Tonight by John Legend. He was able to get the garter that belonged to me this time around.

\All the gentlemen lined up for the Garter Toss. Then again, my maid of honor and her sister decided to join in on the fun. Strangely enough, my maid of honor ended up catching the garter.

The dance floor remained opened for all our guests to have fun and dance the night away.

The full bar remained opened for those that needed some booze before they think they can dance.

The last song of the night was Glee's version of Here's to Us. Something about that song got everyone to join hands and formed a circle, which was the perfect way to end the night.

Our guest gathered outside to send us off with a sparkler exit. It was truly a magical way to end the night.

We wanted to share this short video of our first dance with some highlights throughout our wedding day. Our videographer, Red Sole Studios, came all the way from Texas to help us capture all these special moments.

We wanted to thank everyone that made it to our wedding. It meant so much to have the people we love there celebrating our special day with us and we wished we could have spent more time with everyone. We are so blessed to have such a supportive group of family and friends in our lives. August 18, 2018, will always be a special day that we will hold close to our hearts.