A Glamorous and Romantic Wedding at the Plaza Hotel in New York City

As Lilian Choung and Anthony Zheng put it, the two met at Abercrombie & Fitch back in 2007, “when it was still cool to wear the brand.” Anthony had just finished his last final exam as a third year student at NYU and was stopping by the retail store to visit a friend who was working there. At the same time, Lilian was working a part¬-time job at the store and had caught a glimpse of the “tall handsome guy who had just walked in.” She did anything she could to try to catch his eye but gave up when she realized how deep into the conversation he was with his friend.

Eventually, she walked away and started to walk up the stairs onto the second floor of Abercrombie; but she soon felt an eerie sense that someone was watching her. She turned around, looked down, and locked eyes with Anthony who was at the bottom of the stairs. It was instant attraction and chemistry for the both of them, and they quickly began to spend every minute of their day together.

After nine years of dating, Anthony proposed as he and Lilian were on their way to the airport to go on their annual weekend trip to Paris. “We were running late, and Anthony seemed really flustered,” Lilian recalls. “I thought it was because we weren’t sure if we would miss our flight; but once we sat down on the LIRR, he quickly pulled out a ring from his pocket and proposed. I guess he couldn’t wait any longer. We ended up boarding the train as a couple and left as newly engaged.”

The couple enjoyed their “newly engaged” status for a few years before they realized they had to start thinking about their ceremony and reception. When it came time for the heavy work, they enlisted the help of Annie Shon Events who quickly understood the couples’ vision of a romantic and glamorous night that the pair would want to look back on. “Anthony and I have very different styles,” Lilian shares. “I would say that he’s a bit more traditional and I lean more towards boho ¬chic. Annie helped us find the perfect mix between the two styles, which shows in our centerpieces and our floral wall photobooth.”

When the big day arrived, it was a crisp, blue, sunny winter day. “We were overwhelmed with all the love and excitement that we felt from our friends and family,” says the groom. “A lot of them had seen us through our entire dating years, so they were just as ready as we were to see us finally tie the knot.”

“Everything was perfect,” the bride adds. “Usually, the older Asian male figures in my family are very reserved. It was truly the first time that I’d seen my dad and my uncle GET DOWN on the dance floor and let loose. It just felt so nice to see that our planning efforts had paid off.”

During the reception, the couple also planned a surprise lion dance in between the dinner courses. “I’d always enjoy seeing the lion dances in Chinatown, so we both thought that it would be a great shock and surprise factor for our guests,” explains the bride. “I knew that the drums would start playing during the first course, so I was looking out for our guests’ reactions and really loved seeing the initial scared/surprised look on everyone’s faces when the drums first rang.”

After their wedding, Anthony and Lilian made plans to leave New York City and start their newlywed lives in Hong Kong. “We’ve set aside our honeymoon plans for just a short bit because the dust is still settling from our big move,” says Anthony. “However, we plan on either going to Thailand or Italy – we still haven’t decided.”