Chinese & Western Foodie Wedding With An Affogato Dessert Station

January 27, 2022 Lindsey Chronert

April & Avery seamlessly merged their Western & Chinese traditions with a Chinese Tea Ceremony & Western vows, mixed boho vibes with an industrial-chic space, and filled their day with delectable delights. Food & guest experience was the top priority for April & Avery when they put their San Diego wedding on the books.

The Planning

April knew that guest experience and food was their #1 priority, followed by incorporating both western and Chinese wedding traditions from both the bride and groom. As part of the guest experience, they wanted to spend as much time with each person as possible so they kept the guest count down to just 60, which was their immediate family and closest friends and spread the fun over the course of 4 days with various activities to get out and enjoy San Diego including a San Diego city and urban wine tour and brunch right on the beach.

They accomplished their goals with an emphasis around food, personal hospitality, all with the backdrop of modern, urban boho vibes and the beautiful sunny weather of San Diego. Their curated vendor team helped execute the vision of a perfect local destination wedding.

Two Ceremonies

Avery and April celebrated their nuptials with two ceremonies, starting with a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. During a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, the bride and groom serve tea to their parents, in-laws, grandparents and other family members. The act symbolizes the union of two families.

Aubrey Huffman from Details Darling had the seemingly impossible task of stylistically and aesthetically incorporating our modern boho vibes while still honoring Avery’s Chinese culture.

This meant Aubrey needed to create designs for two ceremonies and two cocktail hours without stark contrasts. Aubrey’s wizardry started off the Chinese tea ceremony with the mixing of traditional red and gold styles, complemented by a modern touch of boho flair while flowing to the Western ceremony showcasing a romantic, modern boho yet urban vibe.

Favorite Moments

"We host many parties among our friends and family and have been known to bombard them with food and drinks from start to finish…..this was no different on all 4 days. We can never end the night without some sort of nightcap, so we brought in the digestifs. The tasting experience included a sommelier who explained the different Spanish vermouths, sherries, and sambuca to round out the evening’s dining experience.

Our favorite moment(s) was being able to enjoy all of the food and drinks and spend time with each one of our guests. We wanted the cocktail hours and dinner reception to feel like date night with our friends where we would take a picture of every dish and take selfies with everyone.” - April

The Food

“While we knew we wanted a destination wedding, ultimately the location of the wedding was determined by the food. After visiting and researching both restaurants and catering companies, we partnered with MIHO in San Diego, California. We loved their farm to table approach and their background in street food. It was important to us that the food was locally sourced, sustainable, with responsibly farmed ingredients.” - April

MIHO created a foodie’s dream night with two (!) cocktail hours sandwiched between the two ceremonies, the Chinese Tea Ceremony and our Western Ceremony. The first, featured dim sum and champagne while the second was an hors d’oeuvres driven 90-minute cocktail “hour”. We served our famous raw bar, which consists of fresh shucked oysters, local tuna poke & wild mexican shrimp escabeche served with all the fixings. And for the traditionalists, artisan cheese and charcuterie spread, served with an assortment of fresh baked local bread, honeycomb, house made jams, house pickled vegetables, fresh crudités, house hummus, marinated olives and seasoned nuts. At the bar, we featured sangria and a Spanish gin and tonic, Spanish beers and wines.

For dinner, guests were treated to a 10-course Spanish Tapas menu. And what a delight it was for guests to enjoy this incredible food-centered experience. Here’s a glimpse of just a few small plates off the menu:

Crispy pee wee papas bravas with smoked paprika aioli
Grilled spanish octopus skewered with a roasted marble potato and sorrel salsa verde
Beef tartare with roasted pear, mustard seeds, pickled shallot, fennel frond, cured egg yolk and potato gaufrette
Spanish tortilla with yukon potato, black truffle and green onion
Wild Baja blue shrimp, saffron pomodoro, crispy chickpeas, chile oil, micro basil
Bone-in lamb chop with salsa roja, fennel fronds and chive oil
Paella with free range chicken, chorizo, head on shrimps, local mussels & clams, tomato, peas, green bean, squash, onion, saffron aioli
Zarzuela de Mariscos with shrimp, mussels, scallops, jamon serrano, in a rich broth with smoked paprika and ground almonds

Their inspiration came from paying homage to the traditional Chinese 10-course banquet menu that is traditionally served at weddings, the dinner of their first 3 dates (tapas!), and their love for food, traveling, and libations. It was nonstop good food and drinks! The reception concluded with pour-over coffee and affogato stations, fresh churros and pavlova. and after-dinner vermouth and digestif tasting experience.

Advice to Other Couples

“As a bridal hair and makeup artist myself, I’ve been blessed to witness hundreds of beautiful weddings. Our biggest fear was the dreaded “your wedding day will go by so fast”. Having seen brides avoid this issue where they enjoyed every minute of their wedding, I noticed a pattern and figured out the secret.

My biggest advice to couples is to outsource all the wedding day jobs to professional vendors if possible so that you and every family member and friend can enjoy the wedding. We spent the time finding all the vendors we liked and this made for one of the best days of our lives. To this day we still reminisce every moment from me and my bridesmaids getting our hair and makeup done in the morning to talking about every dish we ate that night.” - April