Photography by Allan Le Studio | Glam by Sandy Le
Hashtags Rule
A few months ago on Instagram, I came across a beautiful, modern Vietnamese bride by way of her talented make-up artist & hair stylist, Sandy Le. I immediately reposted the same photo and soon after was connected to bride, Mindy. We had a major love fest going through comments. I loved Mindy’s glam look and her modern áo dài. She loved all the tips and advice she found here at Matron of Style.
Mindy read and studied Matron of Style’s printable’s and procession photos in preparation of her Lễ Hỏi . Shut. The. Front. Door. I was floored—wide eyed like the emoji. As a new blogger, I imagined I’d write for bride-to-be-’s just like her. But did I think I would meet one so soon who actually used the advice and found it helpful?! Dude, no! But Mindy sure did! And not only that, we shared the same sentiment of why we need to continue our Vietnamese traditions: To not lose our culture and heritage to modern times. #truth
Mindy Explains it All
We’ve always known we’ve wanted to have a dam hoi, even before we became engaged. We have been to several for our friends and family but have had many of our friends forego them all together. This has always made me sad as I feel that our Vietnamese culture is bearing on becoming just too modern. I think my fiancé put it best when he said, “I didn’t need to have a Đám Hỏi, but I knew I wanted our kids to and how could our kids honor the tradition if we didn’t.” I guess we’re cheesy like that. [. . .]
We never fully paid attention to the small details until it was our turn, and we wanted to make sure both sides of our family felt that we honored the traditions to the best of our ability. This is where Matron of Style came in. You were always top of links when it came to Google searches of “Vietnamese dam hoi,” *Insert my jaw dropping* and upon exploring your site further, found many links that helped us plan appropriately.
Mindy tells MOS more…
[. . .] We also poured over every photo that you had, looking at all the decor details, counting the number of gifts, was the pig pre-cut or cut day of, order or events at ceremony, etc etc etc etc and your blog was so helpful!
This link was one of the most helpful:
In fact, those lists were mildly edited with our own Đám Hỏi info and emailed to everyone partaking in the ceremony!!
And since this is Matron of Style, I have to mention my áo dài. This was the easy part, I always knew how I wanted it to look and so just had to find the right material to have it made. A very sweet [private tailor] made it.
MOS hearts Mindy & Hoang
Mindy, I cannot thank you enough for contributing to Matron of Style’s first ever testimonial! I am so thrilled I was a helpful resource in planning your Lễ Hỏi! I loved how you personalized your check lists and shared it with your family. That’s exactly why they’re there! Your kind words truly motivate me to keep writing and posting. Those cray nights perfecting the website and formatting the planning guides was all worth it because of a bride-to-be like you! Can’t wait for your big day!
Hair & Make-up: Sandy Le | Email: sandylemakeup@gmail.com | Instagram
Mindy’s Ao Dai: Sourced in Downtown LA, cut & sewn by private tailor