Pink and Blue Outdoor Wedding at the Elkridge Furnace Inn of Elkridge, Maryland

Shi Chen, 24, and Joe Huang, 26, met as coworkers when Shi first moved to Beijing, China to teach English, and Joe was introducing her to the culture and language of the area. A month after they started to date, Shi's teaching contract ended and had to move back to Baltimore, Maryland, but the story of Shi and Joe does not end there. After doing long-distance for about a year, Shi moved back to Beijing where Joe proposed on a frozen lake where they would always ice skate on. They had their wedding back in Maryland at the Elkridge Furnace Inn, where not only could Shi's family members easily attend the wedding, but also create the vintage, romantic setting the couple wanted. Shi and Joe's wedding theme was inspired by the Galatians 5:1 Bible verse, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free," complimented with the images of airborne love birds. During the ceremony, the couple recited their individual vows to one another and had a separate tea ceremony to honor their parents. At the reception, the couple had a Southwest Mexican and Chinese styled buffet to combine both geographic locations that reflected Shi and Joe. "We infused elements of both Western and Chinese culture into our day because that's us as a couple," says Shi.