Photos: Dara Blakeley

A Marriage of Cultures
Mandy & Lael Boyd

From the very start with invitations printed on aluminum metal, we wanted to have a very original wedding.

With my family heritage being German and Lael's mother being Vietnamese we wanted to bring both cultures together in celebration of our union.

We brought German tradition into the celebration by doing a German wedding toast with the The Legend of the Nuernberg Bridal Cup. We brought the Vietnamese tradition to our celebration by changing into traditional Vietnamese wedding attire during our reception. (ordered custom made from Vietnam!)

We also tried to use our connections with our artists friends to make even the smallest of details original. Our guestbook and ringbearer pillow were hand-made by our wedding party. Our cake, by a family friend, Marie Lebron of Marie's Cakes.

I worked closely with our florist Cydney English of The English Garden to achieve the very different look of our flowers. Our Ceremony took place in St. Philip's Lutheran Church in Raleigh, NC and our Reception (having always wanted an outdoor wedding) at the home of my parents, Jeff and Geri Spady, in Raleigh.

Premiere Catering provided our food as well as Dalat's Resturant (for our Vietnamese Spring & Fried rolls). Special Events handled our tent and table rentals through Premiere Catering.

Our DJ, Wes, of Markham Entertainment provided music throughout the Reception. Dara Blakeley, our photographer made the memories tangible with her beautiful expert eye! And of course, our Wedding day would not be complete with out our English Bulldog, Boodha, dressed to impress with his bow tie!