Wedding | Noëmi & Wayne

Tell us a little about yourselves! 

Noëmie is a French-Taiwanese food writer who grew up in Paris, France. Wayne is a chef from Hong Kong. We live in Brooklyn, New York and met six years ago at an Irish pub called The Dead Rabbit, all thanks to Noëmie’s mother. (She did not plan on setting us up!)

Why did you decide to get married where you did? 

Noëmie was born and raised in Paris, France, and her parents still live there. Going in, we knew that we’d have friends and family flying in from all over — Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, England, and throughout the US and France. Paris felt like a central enough location, and it was a wonderful excuse to gather all our loved ones in Noëmie’s hometown. Plus, what’s more romantic than a wedding in Paris?

How many guests did you have? 

120.

What was your budget? 

We kept the budget just under 45,000€.

Tell us about your outfits. 

Noëmie wore a two-piece corset and skirt ensemble from Saint, a bridal shop from New Zealand, and wore it all night long. For shoes, she wore the same Roger Vivier black heels she’d gotten married in during our City Hall wedding in New York (and very quickly changed into boots from Labucq after the ceremony, which miraculously looked great with the ensemble — and were much more comfortable). 

Wayne found a great tuxedo from a French brand called Casablanca that had pearl buttons. He wore a polka dot shirt, no tie, dress boots, and pearl earrings to match the tux. He looked extremely cool.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

The most important thing for us was for all of our guests to have a great time. It meant the world to us that so many of them flew from so far away, and we wanted to show them a good time, especially for those who’d never been to Paris before. 

After our ceremony, we took everyone on a cruise along the Seine. It was nighttime and our captain timed the ride perfectly, so that by the time we were right in front of the Eiffel Tower, it started to sparkle. It was perfectly cheesy and quite magical. 

Afterwards, we brought everyone to dinner at a beautiful French bistro that’s been around since 1876, and is steps away from where Noëmie grew up (and where her parents still live). There, we feasted on French bistro classics: escargots, saucisson, steak au poivre, mousse au chocolat… It was wonderful to share the city itself in those ways with our guests.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate? 

Noëmie’s mom, Jean, has a cookie shop in Paris in the 2ème arrondissement called Cookie Love. We knew from the start that her cookies had to show up at the wedding: her shop played a central role in how we met! So, two days before the wedding, Jean, Noëmie, and Wayne baked 220 cookies together, to give to our guests as party favors. The flavors were Noëmie’s favorites: the Sseb (a dark chocolate cookie with Thai chile) and the black sesame (Jean’s signature cookie, with black sesame from Taiwan.)

And though it wasn’t crucial, we were very pleased with our unusual wedding cake: we opted to offer our guests 'galette des rois', a traditional almond cream cake eaten in France during January, right when our wedding happened. Each cake hides a ceramic token (a “fève”), and whoever gets it in their cake slice is crowned king or queen. 

We had Pâtisserie Rayonnance, a bakery owned by a close friend, make 15 galettes des rois for our wedding (right after her bakery won a prize for one of the best galettes des rois in Paris!), and had another dear friend custom make those ceramic tokens for us to hide in the galettes — they were in the shape of our tuxedo cat, Lola, and they were the most adorable fèves ever. 

And of course, we had to have Wayne’s favorite high-low combo: fried chicken topped with caviar, which we served as snacks after the ceremony. (Wayne successfully smuggled 2kg of caviar from New York to Paris in his suitcase for this.)

Any tips for couples getting married? 

Go with the flow! We planned our wedding in five months and I think really benefited from having to make decisions quickly and not overthink every single detail. And if something doesn’t go right, don’t fret — it’s highly likely that none of your guests will even notice.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about? 

Noëmie’s parents really killed it: Every single wedding vendor was through a personal connection, making it all the more meaningful and special. We already mentioned the cakes and the cookies, but the wines and Champagne were handpicked by Noëmie’s father, Philippe, who works in the wine industry. The beautiful florals were from a flower shop that’s right around the corner from Jean’s cookie shop. Our DJ was a good friend. The restaurant we had our dinner and afterparty at was one Noëmie’s family visited frequently over many years. 

And a huge shoutout has to go to our photographer, Cecilia, of Días de Vino y Rosas, who took on our wedding with so much joy, energy, and grace. She was incredible and a superhero, shooting by herself from morning to well past midnight. We are in love with our photos.

Photographer: Cecilia Alvarez-Hevia Arias of Días de Vino y Rosas @cecilia_ddvyr @diasdevinoyrosas | Flora: Auque & Vong @auque_vong | Ceremony Location: L’Escale Bleue @pariscanal | Reception Location: Gallopin @gallopinparis | HMUA: Yi-Han Jen @yihanjen | Catering & Beverages: Wines Overland | Cake: Pâtisserie Rayonnance @patisserie_yuk i_lumi | Entertainment: Jordy Robinson DJ @jordycooks| Dress: Saint Bridal @saintbridal |  Suit: Casablanca Paris @casablancabrand | Veil: LikeVeil | Shoes: Roger Vivier @rogervivier | Jewellery: Fitzgerald Jewelry @fitzgeraldjewelry | Party Favours: 

Cookie Love @jeanhwangcarrant