The Science of Love – Ying and Jeff's Wedding
Chemistry
Ying and Jeff had chemistry right from the start. Literally. Jeff completed his degree in Chemistry from UBC at the same time that Ying finished her science degree from the University of Waterloo. Subsequently, both ended up in the same cohort while earning a Bachelor of Education at UBC. The rest, as Ying says, “is history” (or science)?
Prelude to a Proposal
This relationship was a long-term experiment, however, as Ying asserts, “we had been dating for six years. I was ready to get married, but Jeff wanted to get a few things sorted out, so I ended up waiting for what I thought was an incredibly long time! When I finally got the sense he was ready to propose, I didn’t make it too easy for him,” jokes Ying.
Pre-proposal Pat-Down
Ying suspected that Jeff was in pre-proposal mode when he told her that he was taking her to their favourite restaurant for dinner… with his brother. At the last minute, his brother got ‘sick’and would not be joining them. Ying disclosed, “I figured he had a ring on him, so I patted him down before we went into the car. I didn’t find anything, but when we were walking into the restaurant, I noticed a ‘box-bulge” in his pants pocket. As I suspected, when we sat down to dinner, he proposed and his brother popped out of nowhere to film the whole thing!”
The Foodie Factor
With the proposal successfully completed, it was now time to plan the wedding! Ying stated, “we were looking at a wedding venue, but weren’t really excited about the place. However, they had some business cards from various caterers there and we zoomed in on those. The person doing the venue tour asked us if we were looking for something affordable or something higher end with really good food. We both immediately said, ‘give us the foodie stuff!’”
Picture Perfect
Ying explains, “we are the foodie types, so Savoury City made sense. We did some background checking online and the answer to ‘who hires them?’ was ‘foodies,’ and that was enough for us! The pictures on their website were really exquisite. I mean, I’ve never seen a whole roast pig at a wedding before! They had all these elaborate charcuterie boards and hors-d’oeuvres as well!
The Science of Success
It’s apropos that Ying and Jeff decided to have their wedding at Science World! “We weren’t sure if it would be a good venue, but one of the things we liked about it was that you could choose any caterer you wanted. A lot of other venues we looked at demanded that we use their caterers, which we really didn’t like,” explains Ying.
The Science of Sagacity
When asked what sage advice Ying had for other brides-to-be, she didn’t hesitate: “I’d say, it’s your party. Do whatever YOU want. Don’t listen to demands from family/guests. In the end, you want your friends and loved ones see what you and your partner are all about–inject your personality and your tastes! You spend so much time on your big day; in the end, you don’t want to compromise. I’ve spoken to other brides and they’ve said that they really wished they hadn’t listened to Mom and just gone with their gut. There are so many little traditions about where the bride should stand or where the groom should be, and I say rules are meant to be broken!”
The Venue With A View
Science World proved to be the perfect place for Ying and Jeff’s big day. Its gorgeous outdoor patio is bathed in natural light, and capitalizes on the beautiful sunsets, which cast a warm glow–great for photos and your IG feed! Ying explains, “we had a very big tent on the patio and we strung up lanterns and nice little lights and fabric. The tent’s walls were all open so there were no walls. There was patio space on either side of the tent: one side featured artistic wooden lounge chairs that were built into the concrete floor. We added rugs, throws, and cushions to create an inviting living space. On the other side was a garden footpath that you could walk through and a big space to hold cocktail hour with a bar and hors d’oeuvres. The whole thing looks out over False Creek, Downtown and BC place (which lights up at night).”
The Fairytale Factor
When asked what she felt was the highlight of the wedding, Ying reminisces, “for me, it was stepping out onto the patio for the first time and seeing all the flowers and furniture. It was so amazing to see the whole thing done with all the florals and guests mingling! Honestly, it was like being hit by a fairytale!” Who knew that science could be so romantic!