Noah and Phuong Dupree
TELL US ABOUT YOUR LOVE STORY!
How did you meet?
Noah and I met through our work. I tried never to mix my personal life with business. Since we both worked on the same leadership team at the real estate office, I found myself turning him down multiple times. I felt so bad! When what began as a group outing ended up being just the two of us, I decided to go anyway. We spent hours in the line waiting for the light show we were attending, and the conversation continuously flowed. We got ice cream at the end of the night, and I felt my resolve of not dating a coworker slowly fading away.
How did you know he was “The One”?
It’s hard to determine an exact moment when I realized he was The One. There were so many instances where he would take care of me that made me realize how much he really cared like when we’re walking on the street, he would move me to the inside of the street away from the cars, or when he brings me a cup of coffee in the mornings as I am doing my makeup and getting ready. It was just the little things!
How did he propose?
Prior to him proposing, he had planned a whole scheme to get me out of the house so that he could ask my parents for their blessing. Since they can’t speak English very well, he planned with my sister, Trang, so that she could translate for him. He had my friend, Jannel, take me out to brunch. He checked my location to make sure I had left the house before arriving. Although once he got there, he forgot we had a Ring camera and panicked trying to hide from it – which is kind of hard to do considering he’s 6’4”! It was so sweet to me that he made sure to ask my parents for their blessing, and after he proposed, he told me how my dad was so emotional. My dad had to step away for a minute as he was crying so hard. I was the first girl in the family to get married, and it was just such an emotional event for my dad. It just made it so much sweeter that Noah wanted to make sure he included them, and made sure Trang was able to convey his thoughts to my parents.
Once he got their blessing, he had planned a trip to a winery in Fredericksburg to take pictures for a Christmas card. We went to Signor Vineyards. Under an archway at the Vineyard, the photographer Noah had hired had us pose back to back, and then had me turn around and that was when Noah proposed! He was so nervous on the way there, he made himself sick! I was so surprised and completely speechless! At one point, Noah asked “Is that a yes? Please say yes!” It was super sweet and we were able to spend the weekend in Fredericksburg trying all sorts of wineries and getting couple massages. We bought a wine bottle at each vineyard we visited to be able to open and celebrate milestones later on. We took a bottle with us to Jamaica for the honeymoon and opened another to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.
Describe your wedding planning process
Who helped with the planning?
Mostly my husband and I planned it. We had a month-of coordinator that jumped in towards the end to help finalize everything.
Did you hire a planner or day-of coordinator?
Yes, we had a friend that was working with All in the Details who we had hired to help with the month-of/day-of the wedding!
Did you DIY any aspect of your wedding?
We DIYed our save the dates, seating chart, table decor, and welcome signs.
Did you have a specific theme?
We incorporated a Vietnamese Tea Ceremony before the actual ceremony. For the Tea Ceremony, we only invited close family guests. It was decorated in red, and we used the second floor of Park 31 for the tea ceremony. All the decor and fruits were hand picked and delivered from Houston by my aunts and Mom.
Where did you save the most?
We did the majority of the decor ourselves and ordered things off of Etsy or Amazon. The cake was also a big save. We acquired quotes for $700.00 on the cake and only spent about $175.00 with the fake cake and sheet cake from HEB.
Where did you splurge?
We splurged with our videographer. We found Justin Porter from TikTok and my husband just fell in love with his personality and work. My husband originally only wanted a photographer, but after meeting with Justin he for sure wanted a videographer for the wedding. Their team was amazing, and it really was a huge production. They even had the groom and groomsmen start at Andrettis the morning-of to film them hanging out before heading to get ready at the wedding venue.
See our video for yourself: Phuong + Noah
Why did you choose your venue?
My husband and I wanted a venue in the Hill Country area with beautiful views and not far from San Antonio as we were having lots of guests driving in from Houston or Baton Rouge. We had toured Park31, and as soon as we walked through the bar area, we just looked at each other like this is the one. The vibe inside and the big tree at the ceremony site was exactly what we wanted. Julie, the venue manager that we worked with, was the absolute best! Everyone there was so helpful if we needed anything at all. It has continuously been a great relationship for us as Reunion Coffee, our coffee bar, is a vendor at their monthly After Hours.
Did you incorporate any special traditions or sentimental details in your ceremony or reception?
We incorporated the Vietnamese Tea Ceremony like I mentioned before! We also had custom chopsticks with our names and wedding date carved on them as the wedding favors for our guests. We served a Vietnamese fusion dinner in which our guests were able to use the chopsticks.
What was your most stressful decision?
The guest list was the most stressful decision. Since my husband and I worked at the same real estate office, we had lots of people we wanted to invite, and yet, we both had to agree to only invite the leadership team that worked directly with us. We started out with a guest count of 200 until we got the catering quote back and then cut it down to 100 people, and then went back up to 150.
What turned out to be your best decision surrounding the big day?
Our best decision for sure was having a videographer! It is such a nice memory to be able to go back and watch the wedding video and enjoy everyone’s comments and see just how happy everyone was to celebrate us! Hearing the filmed messages from our parents is something we’ll cherish forever.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
Looking back I would have taken off from work a few days before the wedding date to make sure we got everything done in time. We both worked up to the day-of and always worked on wedding stuff once we got home. It was a bit rushed as we had to clean vases, steam linens, Cricut the seating chart, and just little miscellaneous things before the wedding date. We were both pulling all nighters finishing things the few days before the wedding. I wish now I had taken more time to complete those items earlier so I could enjoy the few days before the wedding feeling calm knowing everything was all done.
Tell Us About...
Your dress:
When people say, “When you try on your perfect gown, you really know it’s the one.” Well, it’s completely true! My sisters, mom, and I had gone to so many shops in San Antonio and just didn’t find anything that was perfect for me. I happened to make an appointment with Brides by Elizabeth on a Friday and decided to just go with my older sister, Trang. We saw a dress on a mannequin and it was just stunning. When I tried it on, we realized it was the one, but my mom wasn’t there to see it. Theresa, who was helping us at the bridal shop, informed us that the dress was from a trunk show, and they needed to ship it back to the designer the following Monday. Trang and I were in a rush as we needed my mom to see the dress before I said yes! Theresa was absolutely amazing and although she was due to fly out Saturday morning, she said she would open the shop at 7:00AM for my mom to come by and see me in the dress. It all worked out perfectly! When I came to the first fitting, the shop attendants surprised me with a framed sketch design of the dress that the designer had sent along with the dress. Then the dress didn’t even need any additional alterations aside from getting hemmed. It was the best memory and experience. It was double the budget I had intended for the dress but so worth it!
The food:
We had Mexican/Vietnamese fusion food, and it was delicious! It was a great way for us to incorporate Vietnamese culture and share it with our guests!
The cake:
The cake wasn’t too big of a priority for us as we were going to have small desserts and a churro bar from our caterer. However, we still wanted cake for the cake cutting portion and pictures. The majority of estimates for cakes ranged around $700.00 and above. We ended up ordering a three-tiered fake cake from Etsy and there was a small insert to add a real cake piece that we could cut into for pictures. The fake cake looked beautiful on display and got wheeled to the kitchen once we completed the cake cutting portion. The actual cake that was served was a sheet cake from HEB and no one knew the difference! It was such a great way for us to save money on desserts.
Recap your big day for us
What made you laugh?
After just finishing the ceremony, I tripped on a step and fell in front of all of our guests. Definitely memorable! Our videographer was amazing and edited that part out!
What made you cry?
Seeing my siblings cry made ME cry. We typically don’t share big emotions like that together, and while the filming crew would ask them questions, hearing their responses and well wishes, just made me so emotional.
I also cried during the first look with my husband. I am so glad we decided to do that and have a moment to ourselves before the ceremony.
What were the most memorable moments?
The bridesmaids dresses were all still super long on them, and we were afraid they would trip walking. My mom brought her fabric shears and sat on the ground cutting all the dresses for all the girls that morning!
Another memorable moment was seeing the tea ceremony decor and how beautiful all the colors were as well as being able to wear a traditional ao dai!
Did anything unexpected happen?
When my husband arrived at the wedding venue, he THANKFULLY did a walk-through to make sure everything was all set up while I was still getting ready. We had mason jars hanging on shepherd hooks lining the walkway of the ceremony site. The mason jars were supposed to be filled with flowers, but it got miscommunicated with the florist and the jars were completely empty. So when my husband saw that, he just handed his credit card to our wedding coordinating team and asked them to run and find flowers to fill the jars and not to let me know. I had no clue of the whole situation until we were in our send off car and he told me about it. So thankful for my husband and the coordinating team on handling this making sure it was nothing I had to stress over on the day-of!
What’s the best advice you can give a bride and groom planning their wedding?
The best advice I have is to really do what you want the most. Everyone will have comments and advice on how your wedding should be, but at the end of the day, it’s your wedding, and it should be how you and your partner want it to be. Don’t be scared to implement no children/babies, no phones, or not inviting certain guests because your parents want you to. We had gotten push back on those things and yet now, they agree after seeing how it all worked out.
What did you look forward to most as Mr. and Mrs.?
We looked forward to starting our lives together! I moved in with my husband after we got married, and it was very interesting to integrate our lives together. Now we are building our coffee cart business, Reunion Coffee, and it’s been such a joy to work together with the wonderful vendors we had at our wedding!
Local Vendors:
Wedding Venue: Park 31
Reception: Venue Park 31
Planner: All in The Details
Photographer: EvrAftr
Videographer: Justin Porter
Caterer: Spice of Life
Cake/Dessert: Spice of Life
Invitations: The Girl General
Bridal Shop: Brides by Elizabeth
Hair Stylist: Prim and Powder
Bartending/Beverage Service: Bartenders4You
Music/Entertainment: Cutting Edge Entertainment
Wedding Music:
Bride’s Entrance: Can’t Help Falling in Love by Kina Grannis
First Dance: In Case You Didn’t Know by Brett Young
