Mark & Saychay
Our Dream Team
Youachu Thor
Father of the Bride
We shared our exciting news with Saychay’s parents during Christmas dinner. Dad breathed a sigh of relief that his last daughter would finally be married! He strongly insisted that the wedding be held at their home. But, we shared that we had already made plans to hold the wedding in our home. So, he reluctantly agreed to come to Chicago for our pandemic wedding. To pull off a surprise pandemic wedding, you need a wedding fixer! And who better to hold this role than Saychay’s Dad, who has solved more problems than MacGyver himself. He built things and glued things and moved things and hung things and did EVERYTHING that Dads do! All kidding aside (not really kidding, he is THE Hmong MacGyver), we are thankful that Dad was here to “give away” his baby girl. We love you so much, Dad.
Bounmee Thor
Mother of the Bride
When Mom learned the news on Christmas day, she was thrilled to have a reason to par-tay! She was excited to come see our home in Chicago and insisted on making the main course for our wedding dinner. As Queen Bee, she was in charge of cracking skulls should anyone fail to live up to their duties! Thankfully, none of us tested her. From the moment she arrived, she whipped out her Martha Stewart skills and kept us afloat by jumping in to help wherever help was needed. Styling pipe and drape? No problem! Hemming and creating a bustle for Saychay's fancy wedding dress? Done with a wave of her magic wand! Ensuring we had hearty meals everyday? Done in her sleep! She provided the loving support that we needed leading up to the wedding. We are so thankful that Mom was here to take care of us.
Olympia Vang
Daughter
In October 2020, Olympia was the first to learn of our intentions to wed in January. We wanted to make sure that she was onboard with this decision and had always intended for Olympia to be present in person. However, when the national COVID numbers worsened as the holidays approached, we made the difficult decision to have Olympia join virtually from her home in San Francisco. Olympia and Mark committed to welcome and support each other in their new official roles during the family vows and Olympia shared a beautiful reading with us during the ceremony. Over the years, we have shared a home, travels, adventures, and a lot of time together. We look forward to continuing our journey as a modern-day family and we feel so blessed to have Olympia as our daughter.
Win Thor
Brother of the Bride
Saychay’s youngest brother, Win, only learned of the surprise announcement one and a half weeks before the event. A week later, Saychay looped Win in on the surprise and asked him to be on standby to translate the welcome prayer from their Dad and to offer up the first toast from the Thor family. Win first met Mark during our nephew’s wedding in Sun Prairie, WI. He kindly guided Mark through the rituals that are part of the Hmong wedding ceremony. Since then, they’ve had more opportunities to spend time together having moved to the California Bay Area just before Mark and Saychay did. Thank you, Win, for your love and support through the years and for ensuring that our English-speaking friends received a summary of Dad’s prayer / blessing for us.
Lee Vue
Photographer + Zoom Master
Lee is one of our dearest friends. She is always up for anything and has participated in many of our adventures. In October, we asked her to come for a small gathering at our home in January. Without questions, she simply said yes and that she would come for the whole week. We didn't loop her in on the surprise until after Thanksgiving. And without hesitation, she jumped in with full enthusiasm to help us make our pandemic wedding dream come true. Through it all, Lee was the amazing force that kept us sane by keeping all of the tech details together and nailing the wedding decor. Additionally, she is an AMAZING photographer (@lumielumie on Instagram) and we cannot thank her enough for capturing our special moments. Lee, thank you for EVERYTHING. We could not have done this without you!
Melissa Vang
Video Producer
We are so thankful that Melissa got roped into helping out on our special day. Just 2.5 weeks before our wedding, we realized that we needed a camera person. As we were making mental notes about this, Lee shared that her friend, who would also be in Chicago, is a filmmaker and that she would be willing to help. We couldn’t believe our lucky stars! Melissa was the person behind the scenes who made sure that our virtual guests could see and hear us properly. Without her equipment and skills, the virtual guest experience would have been quite lackluster. She generously jumped in to help out even though she didn’t know us prior to her visit. We love meeting new amazing friends through our existing amazing friends! Thank you, Melissa, for sharing your artistry and positive energy with us!
Vivian Chow
Officiant
Vivian joined our Dream Team as our incredible officiant. About three weeks before the wedding, Saychay and Vivian were catching up in Chicago while Vivian was visiting her siblings. Originally, the thought was for Vivian to be present in person. However, as we considered the COVID safety restrictions, we all agreed that it was best to have Vivian join by video as well. We could not have asked for a better officiant! Vivian went well above and beyond our expectations and completely tailored the ceremony to reflect us and our relationship. She even helped us select the reading. All of her guidance and personal touches made the ceremony so much more intimate and meaningful. Thank you, Vivian, for weaving the words of the wedding ceremony into a beautiful tapestry for us!
Simon + Sabrina
Ceremony Vocalists
Our dear friends, Simon Peter Groebner and Sabrina Crews, wowed the crowd when they performed “The Prayer'' by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion during our wedding. Just days beforehand, we made a small request. "Would you be willing to sing this song for us? Yes...in Italian...and, the wedding is in twelve days.” Most people would have thrown in the towel before getting started, but these two emerged from the challenge unfazed. Not only did they completely blow everyone away, but they also caught the ear of Mark's Italian friend, who was impressed enough to send them a personal note of praise. Thank you, Simon and Sabrina, for wholeheartedly taking on the lofty task of performing this song for us in a language that neither of you speak.