We’re pretty obsessed with Adam and Thien’s fabulous Vietnamese-Jewish wedding in Dallas. This day has truly got it all: a heartfelt and meaningful fusion of two cultures, a fun theme (chemistry, in honor of the couple’s shared major that first brought them together in college), and absolutely loads of personality.
Adam and Thien crafted an interfaith ceremony blending elements from Jewish and Vietnamese culture – including a tea ceremony, a bamboo chuppah, and, of course, smashing the glass. Adam’s childhood rabbi officiated, and the couple wore Vietnamese áo dài’s for the ceremony before changing into complementary suits for the reception. The duo’s beautiful ketubah, designed by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elena Berlo of Once Upon A Paper, featured a trilingual interfaith text reflecting Adam and Thien’s values and commitment to each other – in English, Hebrew, and Vietnamese. Don’t miss it in Julia Sharapova’s wonderful photos.
The chemistry-themed reception looks like a total blast, between color changing cocktails in beakers and flasks, passed hors d’oeuvres served in test tubes and pipettes, a Periodic Table seating chart with each table assigned a chemical element, and even a chemistry themed cake!
How We Met
We were both Chemistry majors in college, and we discovered that we had chemistry together from Day One! Little did we know that our first movie date would be watching the ever-so-romantic “Lab Safety Orientation” as we prepared to work in research labs on campus. Two years later, we officially started dating, and our bond only grew stronger as we explored Boston on the weekends and took summer trips around New England. We got engaged in 2021 and had our wedding on November 11, 2023.
A Venue with History
We got married in Dallas, TX at the Hall of State in Fair Park. The Hall of State was built for the 1936 Centennial Exposition, and it is the only intact and unaltered pre-1950s World Fair site in the United States. Since then dignitaries from around the world have been honored at events hosted there. Additionally, the Hall of State houses the Dallas Historical Society, whose mission is to educate present and future generations through cultural heritage, and to preserve and instill appreciation for diverse history in Dallas. We loved the venue from the moment we saw it, from the art deco architecture to all the historical significance of the space.
A Vietnamese-Jewish Wedding
Our wedding was completely “Adam & Thien”! Our ceremony was a fusion of Vietnamese and Jewish culture, including rituals and symbols from both of our traditions. Our reception was chemistry themed: color changing cocktails in beakers and flasks, passed hors d’oeuvres served in test tubes and pipettes, a Periodic Table seating chart with each table assigned a chemical element, and a chemistry themed cake.
Our wedding coordinator, Tina Dannel from Serendipity Events by Tina, was absolutely incredible. She and her team were helpful throughout the entire process of planning our unique wedding. Every step of the way Tina was creative, supportive, and thoughtful. Since we planned our wedding in Texas while we were living in Connecticut, it was especially helpful to work with a wedding coordinator who lived near Dallas and was very well connected with local vendors. We highly recommend Tina to anyone getting married!
Invitation/Stationery
We designed our invitations through Minted. It was important to us that our invitations were in English and Vietnamese, and we were able to design our invitations exactly how we imagined in terms of style and choices of fonts that worked well with Vietnamese diacritics.
Outfits & Accessories
For our ceremony, we both wore áo dài’s, a Vietnamese garment worn on formal occasions. Traditional wedding áo dài’s are red and gold to symbolize good luck and prosperity. Thien’s family were very helpful with finding the perfect áo dài’s for us from Vietnam. After the ceremony, we changed into complementary suits. A special touch for Adam was wearing his great-grandfather’s cufflinks.
An Interfaith Ceremony
We carefully created our interfaith wedding ceremony by blending elements from Jewish and Vietnamese cultures that were important and meaningful to us. The morning of the wedding, we participated in a private tea ceremony at Thien’s family home. In a traditional Vietnamese Tea Ceremony, the couple honors each other’s ancestors and families, and parents give blessings to the newlyweds. We also incorporated a tea ceremony in our wedding ceremony. In a traditional Jewish wedding, the ceremony begins and ends with a Kiddush, a blessing for wine; in our ceremony, we began with tea and ended with wine during the Kiddush, using Adam’s grandfather’s Kiddush cup presented to him at his rabbinical ordination.
Some additional details included mâm quả, traditional trays of wedding gifts presented from one family to the other; our chuppah made of bamboo, a representation of strength, righteousness, and resilience in Vietnamese culture; and Adam’s grandmother’s tallit draped over the chuppah. Additionally, Vietnamese and Hebrew translations appeared throughout the ceremony, in the program, and on all signage at the event. Adam’s rabbi from his hometown of St. Louis officiated the wedding. Rabbi Randy Fleisher has known Adam since he was born and co-officiated Adam’s bar mitzvah. As a blessing to us, he played “Lechi Lach” by Debbie Friedman on his guitar, and all our friends and family sang along. At the end of the ceremony, we both smashed a glass.
Ketubah
Our ketubah was designed by Elena Berlo of Once Upon A Paper. We chose an interfaith text that reflected our values and commitment to each other. We especially love that our ketubah is trilingual with text in English, Hebrew, and Vietnamese. Thien’s brother helped with Vietnamese translations throughout our wedding, including at the ketubah service.
Our music choice
We had a string quartet at our ceremony, assembled by Adam’s aunt who is a professional violinist. They performed a beautiful rendition of “The Swan” as our processional, and our DJ, Michael Roos from True DJs of Dallas, played Natalie Cole’s “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” as our recessional. Michael did a great job keeping the energy up all night long, especially during the horah. He also helped us with the music for our first dance: we started with a slow dance to “Misty” performed by Samara Joy, and halfway through the music changed to Luther Vandross’s “Never Too Much”. We took off our jackets, revealed sequin vests, and performed a choreographed dance, surprising everyone!
Flowers
Wild Rose Events did a great job making the space look beautiful with a mix of purple blooms for the ceremony and reception. They helped us realize our vision for the tablescapes featuring flowers in laboratory glassware and centerpieces made of rice paper.
Photographer and videographer
Our photographer, Julia Sharapova, was such a pleasure to work with. She instantly made us feel comfortable when posing for pictures, and she captured not only the details of our wedding, but the tone and atmosphere of each event perfectly.
Food and cake
Our catering team from Blue Fire Catering went above and beyond with incorporating chemistry into the cocktail hour, and they offered many options for the Asian American cuisine we were looking for.
We had a blast working with Shayla Berkins from Dallas Affaires as we designed our wedding cake adorned with molecules and equations!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Even though planning a wedding can be stressful, remember that your wedding is a celebration. Have fun, and stay true to your values and vision. Don’t stress about the details too much – at the end of the day, the love of friends and family surrounding you is what matters most.
ADAM & THIEN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Julia Sharapova
Ketubah – Once Upon A Paper {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Hall of State in Fair Park
Planner – Serendipity Events by Tina
Flowers – Wild Rose Events
DJ – True DJs of Dallas
Catering – Blue Fire Catering
Cake – Dallas Affaires
Stationery/Invitation – Minted
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
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