Planning & Design: Michelle Phu Events / @michellephuevents
Floral: I Am Styling / @iamstyling_usa
Hair & Makeup: Beaute At Heart / @beauteatheart
Calligrapher: Rebel Ink Calligraphy / @rebelinkcalligraphy
Cake: Sip & Whisk / @sipandwhisk
Videography: So1Media / @so1media
Bridal Gown Salon: A & Be Bridal Shop / @aandbe_dallas
Bridal Gown Designer: Emery gown by Alyssa Kristin Bridal / @akristinbridal
Bridal Accessories: Jackson Veil and Nora earrings by Untamed Petals / @untamedpetals
Venue: The Mason Dallas / @themasondallas

Being Asian American, I wanted to set up a styled shoot that paid respect to my own culture, but with a modern twist. We aimed for a contemporary look with our florals and design and kept it close to the traditional Vietnamese color palette with red as the dominant color. We knew we needed a dress that was not only sexy, but also classy and Dany Tabet’s Artemis Dress was the perfect fit! In contrast to our modern and contemporary florals, one of Dallas’ newest wedding venues, The Mason, served as a stunning backdrop with its sophisticated glamour and Old World elegance. Here are some of our favorite shots!

Planning & Design: Michelle Phu Events
Floral: I Am Styling
Hair & Makeup: Beaute At Heart
Calligrapher: Rebel Ink Calligraphy
Cake: Sip & Whisk
Videography: So1Media
Bridal Gown Salon: A & Be Bridal Shop
Bridal Gown Designer: Dany Tabet
Bridal Accessories: Aura tiara and Tatum earrings by  Untamed Petals
Venue: The Mason Dallas

Hair & Makeup by Kaylie Le

Floral & Decor: Kim Trang
Videography: Thyngo Productions
Ceremony: Dallas Arboretum Sunken Garden
Reception: Zander's House
DJ & Photobooth: RLF Society Events
Hair & Makeup for the bride: Gina Nguyen (Self)
Hair & Makeup for the bridesmaids: Monica Guajardo

Planner, Floral, & Decor: Love & Sparrows Events
Videography: Inspired Effects
Ceremony: Mary Immaculate Catholic Church
Reception venue: Chapel at Ana Villa
DJ: RLF Society Events
Makeup: AKP Artistry
Catering: Andy's Catering​

HMUA for the Bride: Diem Ha
MUA for the Bridesmaids: Erika
Floral & Decor: Pretty Sweet Wedding & Event Decor
Cake: La Belle Vie
DJ & Photobooth: All Access DJ
Videography: Petit Four Films Dallas - A Wedding Film & Drone Company
Ceremonies: Mother of Perpetual Help Parish & Compassion Buddhist Temple
Reception: The Atrium 

We did a day-trip to Kyoto, because my friends activated their 7-day rail pass too early. D'oh! So make sure you activate your rail pass for the days you plan to use the bullet train, because that's what you're basically buying it for. If you do not have a Japan Rail Pass then the fare will be 13,080 yen one way. Roughly $117. We bought the 7-day rail pass at https://www.japan-rail-pass.com/, which allows you to take the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) to Kyoto. Along with that, you can buy a PASMO card (for the rail system) and it'll be mailed to you in about 3 days. You can also buy a wifi-hotspot on the website and pick it up at the airport when you arrive. You return it by placing it in a prepaid mailing envelope that's provided and dropping it off in a mailing box at the airport. You also tell the kiosk person, what day you want to start your rail pass activation for. Don't activate it too early if you plan on going to Kyoto at a later day! The JR pass also allows you to take the green line which you'll probably use a lot to get around Tokyo. 

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine

Immediately after stepping off the train from Inari station, we could see Fushimi Inari Shrine.

The food here was pretty amazing. The torii gates. There were plenty of spots that weren't too busy at times where you could just wait a bit, hop to the middle, and snap a few shots. The view at the rest area in the middle on the way up.  After a longgggg trek up, we got to the top, but nothing was there really besides more of what we've seen along the way. No point in going to the very top unless you have 3 or so hours to kill and want to just say you got to the top.  Back to the front.  Definitely had to get more food. So good!     You can hire a rickshaw.  The view on our walk to Iwatayama Monkey Park.

Iwatayama Monkey Park You have to hike a bit to get up to the monkey park. The park people feed the monkeys at a certain time and they all crowd together. You can be near them, but try not to look them in the eyes.  You can go inside the building and feed the monkeys through the cage.  Make sure you get the amazingly delicious matcha green tea ice cream in Kyoto!

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove 

You can walk to the Bamboo Grove from the monkey park. A taxi driver thought we were silly when we asked if we could take a taxi there, because we thought it was far away. It's a giant pathway surrounded by bamboo trees. Go in the early early morning if you don't want people in your pictures. You can't stand inside the bamboo forest either. Take pictures with the locals. They're friendly.

Gion 

Gion is Kyoto's most famous geisha district.

On the perpendicular main street, there are shops and restaurants.  We went a little before nightfall and it was pretty crowded.

Pictured is a Geisha moving swiftly down the street to get to work. They won't stop for pictures. Apparently you can catch a show at Yasaka Hall Gion Corner for about ¥3,150. You can also dress up as a Geiko or Maiko and do a photoshoot in one of the studios in Kyoto. Try some tea at the nearby teahouses and matcha pancake. 

This is the view entering Harajuku on a weekend once you get off the rail. Super crowded! 

Cotton candy.

The fashion in Harajuku wasn't what we expected, because there were so many tourists on a Saturday and as I read in an article recently, Harajuku fashion is dead with the popularity of stores like Uniqlo. I heard it's best to go on a Sunday. There were some kawaii little kids with interesting fashion though when we were in line for the Monster Cafe.  

So it's best to make a reservation for the Monster Cafe as well or you'll be waiting in line for a bit. 

Two of the workers.  They put on a little mini-show too.  The food was pretty basic and not so tasty. It seems that at most of these themed cafes in Japan, the food just isn't very good.  Nearby and within walking distance is the Meiji Shrine.  After visiting the Meiji Shrine, we went back towards Harajuku and hit up the Line store.  Tons of photo ops in this store.  They had some items exclusive to Japan too.  The rest of the shopping in Harajuku was very dissappointing. It was mostly old 90s American clothing or something to that degree.  There were a few stores that were good for women though.

Tsukiji Fish Market We didn't wake up early for a tour and just went to eat. Bring cash!  Grilled crab legs.  Sea urchin on a scallop I believe. It was good. It can get pretty crowded.  Pop in to one of the restaurants for delicious sashimi.  One thing I regret was not trying the white strawberries. Everyone said they were good. 

Kamakura Temple Great Buddha of Kamakura. The temple closes at 5pm so make sure you can get there in time from Tokyo. My friend, Jimmy, popping the question. 

Sanrio Puroland If you love Sanrio, you need to go here. There were children as well as adults without children. The interior. They had cafes with kawaii food.  They had shows in the lower level. You can stand in lines and take pictures with the characters. There was a Gudetama section with a ton of photo ops.

There were a few children's rides.  Friends like to match in Japan for some reason.  Hello Kitty is all over this part of town, even in the security office and on the platform signs.

Astroboy Mural at Takadanobaba Station 

If you're a fan of Astroboy, then go to Takadanobaba Station and check out their Astroboy mural. There isn't much else to do around this area though and I couldn't find any place that sells Astroboy merchandise.

These are from a bakery on the way to Ueno Park from Ueno Station.  The cuteness just caught my eye. There are a few small temples on the park grounds. Here are some small torii gates.  We went during mid-March and barely any of the Cherry Blossoms were in bloom so it's best to go late March or April to see the park in its full glory. Imagine this walkway lined with cherry blossoms.

Sensō-ji Temple  This is a pretty cool temple to visit, while in Tokyo. A lot of people come in their traditional kimonos.  They'll even take a picture with you.  After getting through the front gate, the path to the temple is lined with booths with great souvenirs and gifts you can pick up. If you look up Sensō-ji Templ on yelp, it says it closes at 5pm, but that pertains to just the temple itself. The shopping area closes later into the night. Around the temple grounds, there are food stands with grilled things, but I preferred the snacks that was nearer the gift shops. Pictured on the right are monakas, which are wafers with sweet bean jam filling. This is a sweet dessert made with Kibi (millet) powder and sweet rice, coated with Kinako (soybean flour). Delicious. Enjoy it with a cup of cold matcha tea.   Bathe yourself in the incense smoke. This is where you are expected to purify your hands and mouth before approaching the temple for worship. If you see this statue, there is a matcha store nearby with some delicious treats. On the way to Tokyo Skytree, we found a casual eatery with Kobe, Tajima, and Wagyu beef in Sensoji. Delicious! 

Tokyo Skytree

Tokyo Skytree is a bit east of Sensoji temple, but close enough to walk to. We went at night, but it would probably be pretty amazing if we caught the sunset from the top deck. You have to buy a ticket to go up. The great thing about Tokyo is that there's always some random character to take a photo with like this Doraemon nearby. The bottom floor of Skytree had some great giftshops if you're looking for Domo-Kun merchandise and some of the more popular animes in the U.S. like Dragonball.  The view from skytree. Outside of skytree, there are also a few shops including this Studio Ghibli shop. So if you weren't able to get tickets to the Ghibli museum and wanted merchandise, then going here or the store in the Sunshine City Convention center.  

Imperial Palace

Southwest of Sensō-ji is the Imperial Palace. You can't actually enter or really see the actual palace. Believe me, I tried to walk around the whole Garden for a good view, but couldn't find one. You can walk through the pretty garden grounds though.

Odaiba City A gian't steampunk looking clock thing. Not sure what is it. 

Pictured on the left is a mini statue of liberty. On the right is the giant Gundam statue. As you can see, they were dismantling it to make way for the Unicorn Gundam debuting Fall 2017.

The Gundam gift shop has some cool merchandise and you can get this cool Gundam green tea latte. 

We couldn't help but go inside the Diver City Tokyo mall for some Sanrio merchandise. 

Eat Gudetama's butt!

Tokyo Tower

On the way back up north, we came across the Tokyo Tower, the 2nd taller structure in Japan, and decided to go to it.

Inside tokyo tower is a mini-amusement park dedicated to One Piece.  There is floor dedicated to One Piece related mini-games.  Fun replicas of the Thousand Sunny's interior. 

This was one of the highlights of my trip. Included with the entry fee is a live action show of One Piece. It was suuuuuper cool! What we didn't know if that before the show, you can stand in line and take a picture with the whole cast. We missed our chance, because we were too busy playing games. :( 

We stayed in Shibuya, which is pretty much the shopping district, and stayed near Shibuya station. 

Pictured is Shibuya crossing, which is the busiest intersection in the world. It may look intimidating, but it's easy to cross. People weave in and out around you pretty swiftly. It is preferred that you not walk while looking at your phone in Shibuya so there are rarely any collisions. Also pictured is 109 Men's, a large multi-level clothing store for men, but I didn't really find anything interesting there. For some reason, they have a lot of American influence merchandise so I don't think there's a point in going there. I heard the women's one is larger and trendier though.

Next to Shibuya crossing, there's a stage nearby where something interesting might be happening. There's also Maricar in Tokyo where you can dress up as Mariokart characters and drive a go-kart around Tokyo. Make sure to get your international license in the States first though. 

Sometimes you can see interesting fashion at the crossing. 

Biker store and Bape Store.  Merchandise from Bape and Bershka. One of the few stores that have more Japanese inspired clothing. If you want some great gifts/houseware that are more Japanese related, then go to Shibuya Loft. (Not Pictured) If your credit card doesn't have a transaction fee for international purchases, then use it for buying merchandise. Save your yen for food since most restaurants prefer cash. Robots, movies, and Howard the Duck (What's the fascination with Howard the Duck here?) at random electronics stores and Tower Records. 

Awesome dining experience with mega friendly chefs at Han No Daidokoro eating Kobe Beef.

Late night sushi bar with cheap, but great sushi. I even tried raw horse for the first time. (Bottom left of the sushi picture)

A casual eatery in Shibuya. Decent.  There were a few places with skewers between the gambling area near Shibuya station that were pretty good.

Ichiran ramen was really flavorful. You pay at a machine first, sit down at one of the booths, choose how rich you want your broth to be, and how firm you want the noodles.. It's simple and not too customizable, but still delicious. If you want to sit next to your friend, the dividers are actually removable so you can talk to each other easier.

At a friend's bar called Narf.  Random Justin Bieber.  Shibuya Crossing at night. 

SHINJUKU We went to the Robot Restaurant where it has a photo op out front. 

Make sure you don't sit in the back row, because if you sit directly in front of the screens. It gets uncomfortably hot. The rows are extra small too so hopefully you're skinny.

The show is fun, random, and interesting enough to experience at least once.  This is Golden Gai alley. The bars are very small and some maybe even fit only 5 people so don't expect to go drinking here if you're in a large group. Shinjuku also has a lot of hostess bars which I heard were fun. Stay away from the Nigerians on the street that try to hustle you into going to strip clubs and pay a ton of money. Capcom Cafe. I would skip this place. The themed food didn't look that great and also didn't taste so great.  Lackluster food. Tokyo has a lot of crane games and toy machines.  Sword Art Online. 

Tons of picture booths.

Shirohige's Cream Puff Factory

Original Mizayaki drawings.

In the downstairs area, there are Totoro creampuffs and cookies. If you want to eat at the normal dining area (Pasta and such), you must make a reservation. 

On the way back to the rail-station, we came across this delicious ramen place.

Sunshine City Convention Center 

Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo  A lot of pokemon merchandise exclusive to Japan.  The mall had a Studo Ghibli store with tons of awesome merchandise.  The mall also has a ton of stores with more current fashion, but they are mostly geared towards women. There were very very few stores for men.

J-World Tokyo is also in this mall. It's like a mini-anime inspired theme park. 

Dragon Ball Z Bumper cars where you run into those rectangles on the wall and tag them for points. 

Nimbus and Raditz's armor. 

The One Piece area.  You can play Chopper's game and do a scavenger hunt.

The Naruto area.

There's an option to choose a character to lead you through the Naruto adventure game and then take a picture with them afterwards. It was pretty fun even though I don't really know Japanese and what they were saying with me. Sakura still tried to speak what little English she could to me. 

More crane games and arcades in Ikebukuro. These crane games had giant food items. My friends were on a journey to find DDR in Tokyo and they finally found it here.

Akihabara also known as Electric Town

Arcades everywhere. The arcades and stores usually close around 9 though, even on the weekend so don't expect everything here to open late.

More crane games. If you're tired of spending all your money on crane games, you can actually go down the street away from the rail-station and buy the same figurines for much cheaper than you can find in the states.

Some of the stores had fun things you can buy as gifts. 

Lots of stores with anime figurines/toys that you can pretty much spend all your day going through. 

Make sure you get some delicious Kobe beef on a stick on the side of the street in Electric town for about $12! 

An Owl cafe in electric town. Yes, you can pet some of them. 

Food at the Maidreaming maid cafe was cute, but I don't think the maid cafe was worth it though. There are no other pictures indoors because they don't allow it. You can pay for them to do a singing performing, but you have to wait for a looong boring while for them to sing. Check the maidreaming website to see which girls are working at whichever location.

Hair & Makeup by https://www.facebook.com/beauteatheart

Makeup by Mary B Makeup