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I became a wedding planner in 2009. One of my very good friends was getting married at the time, so the bride, myself, and one other friend decided to help plan her wedding.
I have always loved art, so I assisted with the design of her wedding. That included hand-printing her invitations and designing the artwork for her wedding. It made me realize that art translates well into weddings. It felt good to be able to help a friend, too; I felt a sense of gratitude because I was able to do something for her using my skills.
My friends and I have different strengths. One of my friends is very business minded, so she handled the financial side of the wedding, whereas my other friend is sociable and has a knack for planning events, so she handled things like vendor vetting and the guest experience.
The bride loved her wedding. After it was finished, we jokingly told one another that we should be full-time wedding planners running our own business.
During that time, the bride's husband worked for a company that helped people own a limited liability company (LLC) and he helped us set up ours.
It felt very surreal and exciting because, for the girls and me, the world was our oyster. We could do whatever we wanted and actually make wedding planning our business instead of our side hustle.
After much thought, we decided to call the business Live Love Create as we all identified with the term, so, we combined all of our strengths together to create something beautiful. We each had our own specific roles in the weddings that we planned. My duty was to bring to life what the client wanted for their wedding by designing and executing a concept.
For example, if a client told me that they wanted a black and white wedding, my role would be to break that down to the finite details; like the napkin colors, the ceremony arch and the wedding invitations.
I would then put together a 20-page design portfolio of the different elements of the wedding and hand it over to the other wedding planners, who would take care of the logistics and speak to suppliers.
Planning weddings on my own
In 2013, one of our friends left our business as she moved from L.A. to Texas, and towards the end of 2018, my other business partner got married and also moved away.
So, I decided to dissolve the company as I thought that I could not be a wedding planner on my own. But in 2019, I became pregnant and quit my previous, full-time job as an events director.
I was enjoying being pregnant and I began to think, how can I translate all of the things that I had done in the past, so that I can create my own business and be present as a mom? The only thing that made perfect sense was for me to start a wedding planning business again.
Because of the pandemic, events were banned. So, I sat at home and I had a lot of time to think. Going through motherhood and being a mom to a newborn at that time was difficult; I began to lose a sense of my identity.
I felt like the only way to gain my confidence back, was to build something good. So, during the pandemic, I legally decided to become the sole owner of Live Love Create and continue the wedding planning business.
Luckily, friends of previous clients wanted to get married and reached out to me. So, in early 2020, I planned two weddings on my own before the pandemic. I fell in love with wedding planning all over again.
Planning two weddings on my own was not easy. I had to take care of all the vetting, booking, logistics, the design elements and then deliver on the wedding day. However, it was the most fulfilling feeling, knowing that I could do it on my own and even do better than I had expected.
Getting in touch with my culture
In 2021, there was an influx of inquiries for different types of weddings, one of which was for a Korean tea ceremony. This is an Eastern ceremony that the Asian community has when people get married. But because we live in the United States, as Asians, we are not always privy to those traditions because we haven't necessarily grown up seeing them.
I began to see a disconnect between Asia and America when it comes to traditional weddings, and I thought, "Why can't we celebrate both?"
At that time, another friend of mine was getting married and she didn't want to have a wedding at all, as her mom had passed away. She didn't want a celebration, but I felt that she could do something that honored her late mom and paid homage to her Korean culture. So, I suggested a Korean tea ceremony-themed photo shoot to commemorate her big day.
She was dressed in a Korean hanbok, which is a traditional dress. We then designed a beautiful set for her to pay homage to her mother. I was very happy that I was able to put that together for her; when she saw the photos, she loved them and said that her mom would have cherished it.
Accidentally becoming an actress
Shortly after, I began working with a marketing manager to publicize my wedding planning business and Korean tea ceremonies.
Her husband worked as a writer and producer in the entertainment industry and because he was trying to normalize and bring Asian American and Pacific Islander stories to the U.S., he had an idea to do it by writing a film.
He wrote a script for a movie based around an Asian wedding planner, and decided to call it The Wedding Hustler. After telling him that I used to be on a reality TV show, he encouraged me to audition for the role of the leading character.
At first, I felt wary to try. But after much thought, I decided to go for it. Whilst filming an audition tape, in early 2022, I felt at ease and just acted as myself. I thought if I got the part, great, but if not, at least I tried. After sending the audition tape, I was picked for the role as the wedding planner.
I was shocked and delighted. I then worked with a personal acting coach for a few months and began studying with her three to four times a week. We worked on reading scripts, memorizing lines, and delivering emotions on camera authentically.
From May to June of 2021, I traveled from Los Angeles to San Diego from Monday to Friday to film on set. On the weekends, I came back to Los Angeles to execute the weddings that I was already planning. Working two jobs was very intense but rewarding.
Adjusting to my character
My role in the movie differed considerably from my day-to-day role as a wedding planner. In real life, I would do anything to make sure that a client is happy, but in the movie, my character isn't as accommodating. She is more stern and focused on making a living out of planning weddings.
For example, in the movie, my character comically buys a wedding cake from a supermarket to save money. Of course, that is something I would never do. Whilst acting, I had to separate myself from the character and realize that although there are similarities, we are also different. My favorite part of the movie was being able to act as a different character and challenge myself by playing a role that I wouldn't usually play, and being able to deliver the character's traits to the best of my ability.
When it comes to wedding planning in real life, my favorite aspect is seeing a couple being present in the moment that we spent months creating. When they walk down the aisle toward each other, I always cry.
Christine Chang is a wedding planner and an actress. She is the founder of Live Love Create and plays a leading role in a new romantic comedy, The Wedding Hustler. You can find out more about the film here.
All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
As told to Newsweek associate editor, Carine Harb.
Do you have a unique experience or personal story to share? Email the My Turn team at myturn@newsweek.com
