My Best Wedding Ever Was My Own Wedding

The best wedding of my life was my own. Is that true for all brides? Maybe. Where else in the world could there be a wedding as special as your own?

Having never experienced an American wedding before, I had one in America. I only knew a little about American-style weddings: they're long, they have a small number of guests, and the reception is fun, etc. Because I didn't know much, my husband planned everything from start to finish. <b>He really enjoyed the process.</b> When I'd ask, "What are you doing?", he'd excitedly reply, "I'm picking out the forks and spoons for the wedding!" My meticulous husband chose and arranged everything to his liking. Luckily, our tastes matched. We both loved classic yet extravagant things. That's why I loved the wedding he planned so much.

One of the things we put the most effort into was the FIRST DANCE. In America, after the ceremony, there's a reception, and before the reception opens, the bride and groom share their first dance as a married couple with the guests. Isaac and I took waltz lessons for a month to prepare. We chose our favorite song, MOON RIVER, and the dance studio created a dance routine to go with it. The time we spent practicing every day, looking into each other's eyes and dancing together, was the happiest moment of our wedding preparations.

The most fun part was definitely the PARTY time. We hired a DJ and asked him to mix our favorite songs from our lives. For some reason, when I imagined my wedding, I always pictured everyone dancing to ABBA's DANCING QUEEN, so I requested that song. When DANCING QUEEN actually started playing and everyone danced like crazy, it was so happy. It felt like all my wedding dreams came true.

The most important aspect of our wedding was the venue itself. LARZ ANDERSON HOUSE in Washington, D.C., is a historic mansion that was breathtakingly beautiful. Everyone agreed that they'd never seen such a spectacular wedding venue. (It's actually a museum—we rented the museum.) Isaac and I booked the venue based on photos alone, but we were even more surprised when we saw it in person. We didn't even need many flowers; the magnificence of the place would overwhelm them. It was like a palace wedding.

We paid a lot of attention to the food. By "a lot of attention," I mean we chose the most expensive and best catering available. We were very satisfied. The food was even better than it was during the tasting. It was an excellent choice.

What I realized while planning the wedding was that service is proportional to the money spent. After the wedding, Isaac and I reviewed it, and we agreed that the level of service people provided was directly related to how much we paid. If we plan another celebration, I think we'll just spend a lot without holding back.

We made one mistake at the wedding: I forgot my bouquet and walked down the aisle without it. It was my first time getting married, so I didn't even know that you were supposed to carry a bouquet. A coordinator brought me one midway through, and I realized, "Oh, I didn't have a bouquet!" At the time, those kinds of mistakes felt stressful, but afterward, they became funny anecdotes. My mom said, "That's so typical of Yeongju." I always forgot something when I went to school—my shoe bag or backpack.

After the ceremony, we had an hour of wine and conversation, and I really loved that time. A cocktail hour, something you don't have at Korean weddings. During that time, people who had become friends continued to bond during the reception, and even became friends who would later attend an after-party. A 5-hour ceremony, a 3-4 hour after-party… spending 8 hours together meant we were bound to make friends. I was deeply touched and loved seeing my friends and Isaac's friends becoming one big group of friends. This might just be my personal preference, but I really love it when my people become friends with each other. I felt so happy seeing my friends, who became friends at my wedding, have another dinner together in New York.

I've written down whatever came to mind, but to summarize: it was the best wedding imaginable. I loved the wedding, and every moment was happy. It was a true celebration that blessed the peak of my life and a new beginning. My wedding photos capture all of that. Not fake expressions but genuine ones. Not the kind of expression you make to look pretty, but living expressions of joy.

The wedding video is out, but the photos aren't yet. The photos below are what the photographer sent immediately after, with only color correction. I love how the video came out—it's like a movie—and I'm looking forward to the photos.

During the wedding, my husband said to me, "I prepared all of this for you, Yeongju." I thought he had done all this hard work for the guests, but it was all for me. Another touching moment.

Thank you, husband. It was the most wonderful wedding of my life. You're the best!