Wedding | Sikai & Kevin
Tell us a little about yourselves!
We are both surgeons in training – urology, to be exact! We met during our residency training in Southern California. We started as good friends for around 3 years before we decided we liked each other a little more than just friends. Here we are another 3 years later – married, graduated from residency, and pursuing an additional year of fellowship training.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
We are pretty minimalist. We wanted to choose a location that was beautiful for its natural scenery and did not call for much additional décor. Originally, our original vision was to bring our immediate families on a big vacation to a nice resort by the sea and spend the wedding eating good food and enjoying nature.
Sea Ranch is an unincorporated community in Sonoma County known for its distinctive architecture, beautiful coastline, and commitment to intentional design. We stumbled across some pictures of The Sea Ranch Lodge online and immediately fell in love with the stunning landscape, the intentionality behind the design. When we visited in person, we knew immediately this was the place for us.
How many guests did you have?
We had 39 adults and 3 children, for a total of 42 guests.
What was your budget?
20-25k.
We took care of large parts of our wedding on our own – for example, “florals” consisted of Sikai’s sister, Siyou, driving us around, buying flowers from Bi-Rite (a local grocery in San Francisco) and Trader Joe’s two days before the wedding and assembling the arrangements ourselves. Our cake was purchased from Sikai’s favorite local Chinese bakery in Oakland that Sikai’s mom helped to custom order the week before. Sikai’s dad then carefully transported all 3 cake tiers in their respective boxes on a 2.5-hr long drive the day before the wedding. Sikai did her own hair and makeup. Our siblings (Siyou, John, Brian, and Jack), along with the staff at The Sea Ranch Lodge, set up all the ceremony chairs. Siyou (who is also a plastic surgery resident and very used to running a busy clinical service) naturally fell into the role of the main Day-Of Coordinator. We set up a polaroid camera with a photobook station. We chose to forgo a DJ; Kevin purchased the bluetooth-powered speaker a few months prior, and this worked very well for speeches and music throughout the night. We made our own Spotify playlists.
Somehow, it magically all came together and felt personal and intimate.
Tell us about your outfits.
As our ceremony location was outdoors, Sikai didn’t want a dress with a large train or shoes that would make it difficult to walk on grass. Instead, a dress that was simple, elegant, and timeless. She has always loved silk, the way it moves and ripples like water, making it perfect for a wedding by the sea. Sikai booked a dress try-on session at Loho Bride on a whim and ended up choosing the very first dress she tried on – the Harper Gown by the LA designer, Katherine Tash. Because the dress was simple, Sikai looked for a veil that was a little more elaborate: the Perla veil from Ofrenda Studio with elements of lace and small beaded pearls interwoven on the veil to complement the overall organic theme. Sikai ended up wearing Clarks heels purchased on a whim the week before the wedding.
Kevin got his dark navy suit from Indochino and paired it with a black bowtie. His shoes were from Beckett Simonon. He wore a vintage Tag Heuer watch won on an eBay auction from a vintage watch seller in Japan (he is very proud of this). Sikai made his boutonniere out of a burgundy calla lilies from her bridal bouquet.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
We wanted the entire thing to feel intimate and intentional - resembling an elevated version of a nice dinner party with our closest family and friends. Our seating arrangement (one long table) allowed people to chat more easily with their neighbors. We also got to sit down and chat with our guests, so that the dinner and reception felt like a warm gathering of family and friends. We had the luxury of doing that since our wedding was small.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
Both our families are immigrants from Asia – Sikai’s family is from Shanghai, China, Kevin’s family is from Taipei, Taiwan. While we didn’t have a separate Chinese tea ceremony, we wanted to incorporate a little bit of our backgrounds into our wedding. Sikai’s parents helped spend the week leading up to the wedding putting together Chinese wedding favors for our guests. Our dinner was family-style. In addition to coffee and tea, we also offered traditional Chinese pastries – red bean buns, taro buns, egg tarts.
Any tips for couples getting married?
Start early and decide together on a few things that are most important to you as individuals and as a couple. You will most likely have to make compromises for a variety of reasons! But, in the end, the most important thing is having each other and the privilege of gathering your closest people to celebrate together.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
Kristin Lin was our photographer and she is absolutely amazing – she is a gem. She went above and beyond to ensure our vision was captured all while maintaining her own artistry and style, and she is simply just a lovely and kind human being.
Photographer: Kristin Lin @kristinlinphotography | Ceremony & Reception Location: The Sea Ranch Lodge @thesearanchlodge | Hire: BBJ La Tavola @bbjlatavola | Catering & Beverages: The Sea Ranch Lodge @thesearanchlodge | Cake: Napoleon Super Bakery | Stationery: Etsy | Entertainment: Mackie @mackiegear | Dress: Katherine Tash @katherinetash from LohoBride @loho_bride | Suit: Indochino @indochino | Veil: Ofrenda Studio @ofrendastudio | Engagement Ring: Independent jeweller based in Hong Kong @fancycolor_diamonds | Wedding Rings: Frank Darling @frankdarling | Shoes: Clarks @clarksshoes; Beckett Simonon @beckettsimonon | Jewellery: Quince @onequince
