The very next day after our 1950s styled vintage wedding. Yes, in the morning. At 9am.

The traditional Vietnamese wedding  ceremony was held at my husband’s family home, and was simple, beautiful and very emotional. My amazing father-in-law may be a former South Vietnamese soldier who survived 5 years in a Viet Cong prison camp (which he escaped!), but he wept as he welcomed me to the family. Needless to say, Thao and I started crying like babies!

The ceremony consisted of traditional Vietnamese rituals. The bride and groom offer members of the family wine in exchange for gifts and well wishes. The most sentimental gift came from my mother-in-law, who presented me with diamond earrings we picked out together in Vietnam four years earlier.

This is Vietnamese tradition, and it was amazing to be part of it. The whole day was organised by Thao’s family, and they did an amazing job. The dress I wore was chosen by my mother-in-law, and custom made in Vietnam. The design was inspired by her own wedding dress, which means so much me.

After the ceremony we feasted on suckling pig and rice noodles (as is tradition).

The Sunday reception was held at City West Receptions.

The decor was simple and understated in style, pretty much the opposite of my incredible wedding cake which was definitely the biggest surprise of the night!

I’m not sure how many brides have an actual functioning water fountain on their cake, but I did and I loved how absolutely crazy it was! Apparently this cake was quite tame by Vietnamese standards, according to my husband (who’s been to his fair share of Vietnamese weddings).

At the end of it all we were absolutely exhausted, but blissfully happy, and amazed how we managed to pull it all off. With love and help from our family and friends, of course.

Ms Gingham says: Oh what an amazingly emotional ceremony. Vanessa what a lucky bride you are! Two weddings in 2 days!