This Wedding Took Place at Two of the Chicest Spaces in Paris

Angela Wang and Allister Chan grew up three minutes away from each other in Vancouver, Canada, but it would take a move across the continent for their paths to cross. Fate finally brought the two together at a mutual friend’s birthday party in Manhattan after each had moved to New York for college. As a relationship blossomed, travel became a key part of their love story. “Our third date was a trip back to Vancouver over my birthday weekend,” Angela remembers. Three months into dating, they took another international trip, this time to Paris. “That trip really propelled our relationship forward.” 

So, when Allister proposed in 2021, the couple immediately knew they wanted a destination affair in the City of Light. “Paris is filled with such incredible memories, and we wanted to share everything we loved about this city with our family and friends,” Angela says. “We wanted a celebration that showcased the best of Paris, and decided on hosting three primary events for the wedding weekend. Fun fact: All three days of events have venue ties to Emily in Paris filming locations, a show that I am a huge fan of.” They kicked things off with a welcome party—on a boat on the Seine, no less—and a chic restaurant rehearsal dinner before the big day.  

For the wedding itself, their venue search started with châteaus on the outskirts of the city, but they decided to stay centrally located so their guests had more time to explore. “During our first trip to Paris together in 2019, we visited Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Paris," Angela shares. “We fell in love with the history, elegance, and timelessness of the hotel. It is also home to one of the most beautiful gardens in central Paris, and so it was the perfect marriage of outdoor garden and city chic vibes.” They locked it in for their ceremony. “Deciding where to do the reception was a little trickier,” the bride admits. “We had a sizable guest list and needed a space that could comfortably accommodate our entire party. Luckily, right next to the Ritz we found a beautiful venue called Hotel d’Evreux, which not only had a beautiful cocktail hour space that overlooked the Place Vendôme, but it also had a large reception hall with glass ceilings allowing for tons of natural light.”

They pegged an event planner next, and got to straight to work organizing the big day—from 3,000 miles away. “As stressful as it was planning a wedding overseas during a pandemic, we had so much fun with it,” Angela shares. “It was our first major project together as a couple, and it really taught us a lot about how we prefer to communicate and what matters to each of us. One of the many things I love about Allister is how thoughtful he is; we worked well together in that I was able to drive more of the aesthetic and design for the weekend, and he was thinking through every part of the guest experience.” 

And what an experience it was. Read all about their welcome events here, then keep scrolling to see how the wedding day came together on Sunday, July 17, 2022, planned by Coralie Prats and Béryl Beylot-Layens at Loli Events and photographed by Oliver Fly.

The couple worked with Jo Studio Design to design a from-scratch invitation suite that would set the tone for their 138 guests. “We incorporated sketches of various landmarks around the Ritz Paris, and beautiful floral watercolors in coordination with our wedding color scheme,” Angela says. “The invitations were printed on letterpress with gold foil accents, and included a vellum wrap, velvet dusty blue ribbon, and a wax seal with our custom monogram.” 

Angela spent the morning with her bridesmaids in ostrich feather pajamas by Inna Elsie as she got her hair and makeup done. “For the wedding day, it was all about skin texture,” she says. “My makeup artist used Armani luminous silk foundation and I love how the foundation made my skin glow, but without too much shine. I was so impressed by how well the foundation lasted on me—my skin still looked great at 4 a.m.!”

“I knew early on I wanted something classic that I would look back on and love decades from now,” Angela says of the hunt for her dream dress. “I also knew I wanted to go big! It’s not every day you get to wear a wedding dress.” She fell in love with a ballgown by Ines Di Santo—a Canadian designer, a nod to Angela's own roots—with floral appliqués that complemented the French garden vibes. "The gown I chose, Gaia, had an incredibly long train. I didn’t want to wear my veil all day, and so I loved how the train was able to make a statement on its own.”

She had a little help from a friend. “The only person who I brought with me to any appointment was actually Allister!” Angela says. “He is my best friend and has great taste. Although it’s atypical, I wanted him to love the dress as much as I did.” 

Bridesmaids selected their favorite Jenny Yoo style in champagne and gold hues. “I wanted to have a somewhat cohesive look given the formality of our wedding, which was black tie, but also wanted them to love what they wore,” Angela says. 

“Having spent freshman year of college in Florence, Italy, Allister grew to have an appreciation for Italian fashion,” Angela says. “While we ultimately decided to do the wedding in Paris, he wanted to pay homage to that experience and selected Italian designers for his wedding day outfit.” His bespoke Orazio Luciano tuxedo was handmade in Napoli, Italy.

Even though Allister had already seen his bride in her gown at fittings, their first look—at the Louvre!—was no less special. “Seeing each other in that environment, with hair and makeup done, was a completely different feeling,” Angela remembers. And it was all captured beautifully by Oliver Fly and his wife Camille, a vendor pick they did not take lightly. “We had interviewed a few people, but Oliver just had a really kind and calming presence that I knew we would appreciate on our wedding day,” Angela says. “We also got the chance to shoot with him before the wedding weekend at our engagement session. It was so helpful in terms of getting more comfortable in front of the camera, and something I’d urge other couples to consider if they can!”

“Because the Ritz garden is such a beautiful space on its own, it was important that our ceremony florals complement the space as much as possible instead of overpowering it,” Angela says. “We liked the idea of bringing in two trees to flank either side of us; the problem was that the type of cherry blossom tree we wanted wasn’t in season mid-July. Our florist, Floraison, was incredible and literally built two trees and attached leaves, branches, and florals to resemble the tree canopy.” Romantic floral arrangements were neutral with pops of blush and blue, and featured garden roses, fluffy lisianthus, agapanthus, and delphinium.

"We wrote our own vows, and listening to Allister’s, it was hard not to cry!” Angela remembers. “We had shared just about everything with each other as it related to planning—after all, he saw me in my dress before the big day—but vows were the one thing we wanted to keep completely private until that exact moment, and we are so glad we did.” Then, they recessed down the aisle to Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King, an homage to the movie they saw on their first date.

Their reception space was completely different than the ceremony space—so it required a completely different look, of course. “For the evening, I preferred a dress that was more formfitting, and found that in a mermaid Berta Privee number at their Soho store,” Angela says. “I loved how intricate the beading was, and how the off-white color contrasted with my earlier ceremony dress.” Allister, too, changed into a second bespoke tuxedo, this time with a white jacket. “He didn’t want to be left out of the outfit change!”

“We thought it would be fun to bring in an element of The Moulin Rouge to our evening, and engaged Sublimes Paris who completely knocked it out of the park,” Angela says. “They performed three numbers—my favorite of which was the classic Can-can—and we had them welcome our guests to cocktail hour.”

Overlooking the Place Vendôme from an ornate 18th century ballroom, guests sipped signature cocktails custom designed for the couple by Le Bar Paris. There were “his,” “hers,” and “ours” options; the latter, dubbed The Two Lovers, featured summery citrus flavors with sake, passionfruit juice, and red pepper. 

Inside the reception space, long tables featured runner arrangements of scabiosa and jasmine vines. “The arrangements added to the natural and organic feel of the floral design, and made it seem as if the flowers had been freshly picked from a garden,” Angela says. “Round tables were adorned with tree centerpieces that created a lush and inviting indoor garden feel. The use of natural elements created a cohesive and elegant aesthetic that perfectly complemented the neutral color scheme.” Watercolored menus adorned scallop-trimmed chargers at each place setting, and glassware had a chic gilded trim. 

One of Angela’s most favorite memories from the big day? “I will forever remember the moment when the showgirls opened up their feathers and we walked in to U2’s ‘Beautiful Day,’ with all of our friends and family cheering us on.” They launched right into their first dance, a medley of Michael Bublé’s “Everything” and Coldplay’s “Sky Full of Stars.” “Neither Allister nor I are dancers, but it was such a great bonding experience learning the choreography to two of our favorite songs,” Angela shares. “We ended our first dance to ‘Sky Full of Stars’ to keep the energy up, and we had everyone join us on the dance floor for an impromptu dance party before appetizers were served. It really set the tone for the fun night of partying that followed.”

“One of the benefits to having our reception in Hotel d’Evreux was that the space is owned by Potel & Chabot, a renowned Parisian caterer since 1820,” Angela says. “I’m someone who also eats with my eyes, so it was important that the food presentation be as good as the flavor.” The showpiece was a sea bream flower and avocado appetizer. “Each dish was covered in a LED-lit glass dome, and the waitstaff perfectly coordinated lifting up the glass as it was served for each table.” 

Cabaret dancers flanked the couple once more as they cut into the cake, a three-foot-tall semi-floating work of art by Bouchra. The background track? Maroon Five’s “Sugar.”

“For cake cutting and the party, I changed into something a little easier to dance in,” Angela says. “I love a one-shouldered look, and opted for a slinky silk Galvan dress. Because the dress was fairly simple, I wanted to make a bit of a statement with my shoes. I wore a pair of Aquazzura Papillon sandals in blue for a pop of color. My ‘something blue’ finally presented itself at midnight—better late than never!”

Not quite ready to stop the celebrations, the couple opted for a “friendsmoon.” “We took the week off after the wedding, and instead of a honeymoon, went on a friendsmoon to Champagne and St-Tropez with guests who wanted to keep the party going,” Angela says. “Being able to travel with 20 of our closest friends and continue reminiscing the weekend definitely helped combat those post-wedding blues!”