Orange County Wedding: Christine & Dennis

For Christine Hong’s wedding to Dennis Chang, nothing less than the stunning Resort at Pelican Hill would do. The Newport Coast property also fit the bride’s hybrid theme.

It was fate when Christine Hong, 31, and Dennis Chang, 33, met at a church in 2011 in Cleveland, Ohio. The two doctors started dating the next year, spending Thanksgiving 2012 together—and it was love at first holiday. After a year apart, Dennis surprised Christine in NYC, where she had moved for work. He got the key to Gramercy Park and proposed in front of the Christmas tree in December 2013. The following year, they married in front of 150 family members and friends. –KELLIE MILLER

New York, New York
Christine found her “Treasure” gown in the Monique Lhuillier flagship store on NYC’s Upper East Side. It was made with silver Chantilly lace, which she wore with a cathedral-length lace veil, blusher, and a Jennifer Behr hair comb.

Iconic Setting

“I have always liked the look of English gardens,” says Christine, “and I used to dream of a wedding in the south of France, so I fused the two together with the theme, ‘English Garden inside the South of France.’”
The focal point of the ceremony was Pelican Hill’s famous rotunda. White Lilac, Inc. created a beautiful chandelier made of mixed foliage with flowers wrapped around Manzanita branches. The rotunda was draped with fabric and tiebacks made of bay leaves and lavender, explains Christine. It was flanked with topiaries—a last-minute addition. Chandeliers at the reception were decorated similarly to the one at the ceremony.

Detailed Décor
The centerpieces matched the bouquet, arranged with garden roses, lisianthus, and touches of vine and astilbe—but included more greenery and lavender. Silver animal magnets held the place cards beside white hemstitched napkins topped with an olive sprig and menu.

Tying the Knot
Christine individually tied nearly 100 bunches of lavender for inside the invitations to make opening the envelope a pleasant-scented surprise.

Food Heaven
The guests were treated to an amuse-bouche of a Maine lobster gateau. The courses consisted of sweet corn bisque with Dungeness crab, jicama salad, local sea bass, and beef tenderloin. They enjoyed various desserts, including a three-layered wedding cake—two of red velvet and one chocolate—with strawberries and cream; a gelato station; and a liège waffle station.