1. Real Weddings

Neely & Dominic: An Intercultural Wedding in Denver, CO

Deemed an auspicious day by a Feng Shui master, Neely and Dominic's wedding bloomed with color, love, and joy. The Bride Neely Tang, 29, graduate stu

Deemed an auspicious day by a Feng Shui master, Neely and Dominic's wedding bloomed with color, love, and joy. The Bride Neely Tang, 29, graduate student The Groom Dominic Mambu, 30, high school history teacher The Date August 13 Neely Tang and Dominic Mambu first met as undergrads at Drew University in New Jersey. “I was immediately enamored with her because she was so beautiful,” Dominic remembers, “but what really struck me was her creative talent.” Years later, Dominic used his own creativity to come up with a surprise proposal: He slipped the ring box into a box of Thin Mints. When Dominic told Neely he had “something special for her,” she wasn’t exactly overjoyed to find out it was Girl Scout cookies. But once he finally coaxed her into opening them -- and got down on one knee -- everything came together.

A bridesmaid worked with the bride’s mother to create the flower arrangements, including centerpieces of peaches to symbolize longevity.
“There was no way I was going to let Neely spend all this time and effort on the wedding and allow us to pull up to Phipps Mansion in what she felt was acceptable -- Neely’s mom’s minivan,” Dominic says. Luckily, he managed to track down a 1947 black and yellow Rolls-Royce for their wedding day wheels.
Neely carried a bouquet of “40-something” Vendela roses with a collar of galax leaves, their stems wrapped in red ribbon that Dominic had picked out to match her shoes. One of Neely’s bridesmaids, Judy Moon, and the mother of the bride, Paula Tang, created all of the flowers.
Neely and Dominic cut a six-tiered vanilla cake with custard cream and raspberry filling, which was covered in whipped cream.
The Escort Cards
“Since Neely and I are fans of European formal fashion, I went for the British morning suit look,” says Dominic. The couple wound up deciding on a suit by Ralph Lauren, dressed up with a custom-made waistcoat and tie from England. “I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but Neely and I must’ve watched every bad British comedy within the last 10 years that featured a wedding in order to look for some ideas as to how the vest and tie should look!” he laughs.
“I wanted something different that would be appropriate for a modern bride (I kept my own name) but would also be classic in design,” Neely says. Her perfect dress: a strapless, ivory, silk mikado gown with a ruffled bodice and hem by Romona Keveza, which she wore with a matching ruffled wrap for the ceremony. She accessorized with her paternal grandmother’s pearl necklace (“something borrowed”), Dominic’s maternal grandmother’s elbow-length gloves (“something old’), and a pair of pearl and diamond earrings (“something new”). Neely also tied a blue ribbon to the underside of her gown -- can’t forget that “something blue!” At the reception, she changed into a red Carmen Marc Valvo gown to honor her Chinese roots.
At the reception, centerpieces of peaches arranged on cake stands were surrounded by small julep cup arrangements of Circus roses, hypericum berries, leaves, and bear grass.
The Boutonniere
“We chose Phipps after visiting just about every site in Denver that would accommodate about 100 guests and that would allow for both the ceremony and the reception,” Neely says.
The ceremony reflected the bride’s Chinese heritage and the groom’s adopted faith of Quakerism. The couple each walked down the aisle with their parents, and they incorporated a moment of silence (a Quaker tradition) after the first reading. Neely and Dominic also drank from two goblets filled with wine and honey that were tied together by a red ribbon, a Chinese tradition symbolizing the invisible thread that connects two individuals from birth.