Caleb and Rei decided from the beginning to plan their own wedding, because they had very specific things in mind for how the various aspects of their wedding would reflect who they are. They only hired a coordinator for the day of the wedding to ensure that the different details of the wedding are executed according to their plan.
From the beginning, their choice of the date has special meaning. March 9th is pronounced San-Kyu in Japanese, and has the double meaning of sounding like “thank you” in English and literally in Japanese. This couple wanted gratitude to be the mark on their union, and to express their gratitude to their loved ones in all that they say and do.
Using what everyone at church calls the two of them, #reicay (which rhymes with vacay) is the hashtag used for this wedding, as seen on this sweets cart that one of their church members used to serve the delicious nougats that she made using various tea during the waiting period between the church ceremony and the reception.
As big manga fans, Caleb and Rei decided to share their love story via a manga, which Caleb drew with the help of AI the week before the wedding. Each book is unique in that the back inner cover has a letter that they wrote to each guest who attended the wedding thanking them for the part that they played in blessing their lives. This booklet, which also has the wedding program and a schedule of the day, can then be taken home as a wedding favor that the guest can keep.
While most people entered the church by signing a guest book, Caleb and Rei chose to use this magnet board, where each guest gets to sign his/her name on a heart-shaped magnet. This clever tabletop display magnet board can later be converted to a wall hanging in their new home to commemorate the special day – so cute and clever, just like Reicay!
A special feature of the set-up is the way Caleb & Rei designed the centerpieces for each table. The seats are carefully assigned to help each guest feel most comfortable, as well as honored. Just by looking at the table assignments and the centerpiece they have chosen, you’ll get a pretty good idea of the kinds of people that Caleb and Rei associate with:
The first table is for the honored guests, or the elders of both families, as signaled by this pair of old bespectacled couple. But I think that none of us "elderly people" have white hair, and with the exception of David, are bespectacled. So while it's nice to have Table #1, I'm still not sure how I feel being categorized as "elderly" when I still feel that I should sit at the kids' table!
Caleb's family members get table #2, because there are a lot of relatives from the Lin side of the family, from aunties and uncles to cousins and their partners. Caleb & Rei chose the figurine of Mulan to represent the aunties who are really the heroes of his family. I do agree that my sister Evelyn and David's sister are both pretty amazing people to represent our family well!
Rei's close friends, ranging from women she's grown up with to coworkers and friends that she's worked out with at the gym, are represented by this Wonder Woman figurine. Yes, not only are they smart and strong, but they are beautiful and working hard to make this world a better place!
Friends of both Caleb and Rei get these two tables, which are represented by Dora-A-mon and the reading club.
Our friends, whose number far exceeded the number of seats made available to us, include those that have watched our kids grow up over the years, and to them, feel like a group of wise people -- represented by Yoda! What an honor!
Caleb & Rei attend a Japanese speaking church, so they have a number of friends who speak only Japanese and little English. They sit at this table represented by Godzilla, as iconic of Japanese manga characters as any!
Mutual friends from work get this table, represented by these two serious looking figurines.
Rei's friends sit at this table represented by Captain America, while her former coworkers from Netflix are represented by the Squid Games figurines.
Caleb & Rei's small group from church serve some of the most delicious food I know of. This is represented by the soy sauce bottle figurine. It's really hard to not gain weight when you belong to such a foodie small group! Caleb leads worship at Mission Valley, and the worship team members sit at the table representing by these singing monks, or singing "masters". These figurines were really sought after by those who sat at these tables and were greatly amused by them.
Mutual friends of Caleb & Rei from LA and their former church, Fearless LA, got to sit at the benching Charmander table, while his coworkers and former coworkers got to sit at the lego office table.
The rest of the friends of Caleb and Rei sat at the Dragonball Z and Deadpool unicorn table. I was not told of the significance of these figurines and will ask them about it some day.
Guests of the wedding commented on the thought and meaning behind every detail of the wedding, and I give credit to this thoughtful couple that are so highly involved in planning every aspect of their wedding themselves. Good job, #reicay!
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