A Glamorous Art Deco Celebration Inspired by Vintage Travel at Gatsby Mansion

Tatiana and Max’s wedding was less an event and more a fully realized world — an immersive, deeply personal experience shaped by nearly a decade of shared travel and a reverence for detail. Hosted at the striking Gatsby Mansion, the setting became a canvas for layered storytelling, where a transformed pickleball court disappeared beneath cascading drapery, candlelight, and Persian rugs, reimagined into something richly atmospheric and cinematic. Designed and planned by THE WED member Wedding Erah, the celebration moved with intention, each space unfolding into the next like chapters in a well-traveled life. The decor balanced grandeur with intimacy: an ofrenda altar blooming with marigolds and citrus, and a reception that glowed with warmth and texture. The atmosphere carried a quiet electricity, with saxophone notes drifting through cocktail hour as guests moved through a world that felt immersive and intimate.

Our Love Story

^{The Day We Met}

We met on the first day of university in San Francisco, and something clicked instantly, though neither of us knew quite what to do with it yet. For most of college, we kept our distance, living parallel lives that crossed just enough to keep the curiosity alive. It took until our final year—and one well-timed nudge from a mutual friend—for that click to finally become something we could not ignore. From that first date, we have been inseparable.

^{The Proposal}

At the time, we were living on a small island in southern Thailand, the kind of place where life moves at the pace of the tide. For our anniversary, Max arranged a surprise escape to a private resort on a neighboring island, just a short boat ride from our doorstep. He had arranged a private dinner on a tiny, deserted island with nothing on it but jungle and beach, where we exchanged our anniversary letters by the water. As I reached the final lines of his letter, the words said, “Look up.” When I did, he was on one knee. I said yes, and then we watched the sun melt into the sea together. As we boarded the small boat back, the jungle canopy above the island suddenly erupted. Thousands of flying fox bats poured into the twilight sky, swirling above us as if escorting us away from the island. It felt like Flight of the Valkyrieswas playing all around us—it was epic and beautiful.

^{The Engagement Ring}

When I said I wanted a toi et moi ring, Max took that as an invitation to dive deep into symbolism, and every single element of the ring has meaning. He chose a flawless Asscher-cut diamond to represent me and spent months searching for the right natural black diamond to represent him—the yin to my yang, perfectly balanced. He found Gary Roe, a wizard-like jeweler tucked away in Maine, who understood his vision completely and made it real. At the bottom of the ring, two Ouroboros snake heads intertwine—our favorite symbol—representing unity, eternity, and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The snakes flow into water, which becomes the setting itself, a nod to how Max and I have learned to move like water, trusting the tides God places us in. The whole ring is a love story in metal and stone.

Our Wedding

^{The Vision}

After nine years and forty-plus countries together, travel is not just something we do—it is the very foundation of our love story. So when it came to our wedding, we wanted to bring the world to our people. Drawing from the wonder and glamour of the 1920s and 1930s, and the spirit of the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago—the first city we ever said “I love you” in—we set out to build something immersive, romantic, and deeply intentional. Every detail, from the table settings to the food to every experience we curated for our guests, carried a motif or symbol that nodded to somewhere we had been or something that had shaped our story. We did not want a wedding that simply looked beautiful—we wanted every corner of it to mean something.

^{The Location}

Choosing a venue was easy compared to choosing a country. As a couple who has lived outside the United States for nearly a decade and traveled to over forty countries together, we first had to decide where in the world we were even getting married. When we landed on America, it was simple: we wanted our people around us, and we wanted to give them a World’s Fair experience all their own. What we needed was a venue eccentric and grand enough to hold that vision. As it turned out, my father—an extravagant and eccentric entrepreneur himself—had just the place. The Gatsby Mansion was a brand-new rental property at the time, with zero weddings under its belt, but the potential was undeniable. The columns, the lake, the forest, the casino room, the helicopter pad—it was a little absurd and absolutely perfect.

^{The Ceremony}

The aisle itself was something I designed from scratch: a hand-illustrated map titled “Tatiana and Max’s Map of Adventures From Around the Globe and Beyond,” dotted with landmarks from our life together—First Kiss Cove, Sea of Matrimony, Lake Luvin, and more. It set the tone for everything that followed. Max walked down the aisle first, with his mother by his side—the same woman who would go on to officiate our ceremony. The wedding party followed, and then came my entrance. Getting to the aisle was its own little adventure. With no rehearsal and very little warning, a close family friend drove my father, my best friend, and me down in my brother’s Lexus for a dramatic approach.

My dress was so voluminous I could not even sit properly, so as we pulled up in front of the aisle, my best friend jumped out, fixed every layer of my skirt, gave me a look of approval and pure love, and jumped back in as they drove away. Then came the long pause. My father took my hand, and we slowly made our way up the aisle. The ceremony itself was unlike anything I could have planned. Weeks before the wedding, Max’s mother had asked us each a series of questions, separately and privately. During the ceremony, she read our answers aloud for the very first time in front of everyone we love. In doing so, she told our love story back to us. It was our Big Fish moment—like looking out and seeing every single person who had ever been part of the story that brought us to that altar, all in the same place.

^{The Cocktail Hour}

The cocktail hour was where the World’s Fair energy really started to come alive. We kicked things off with his-and-hers signature cocktails: Max’s Maxpresso Martini, a riff on the espresso martini that quickly became the crowd favorite, and my Hot Tati, a purple take on the hot toddy made naturally purple with butterfly pea flower, a bloom native to Thailand. A saxophonist wove through the crowd, setting the mood in the most effortless way. Getting a saxophone player was one of my non-negotiables, and the moment he started playing, I knew it was the right call. For the full 1920s bohemian moment, we brought in Ruby Joule, an incredible burlesque performer who sat in a giant champagne glass serving absinthe—a nod to the decadence of Paris and the spirit of the era. The charcuterie spread pulled from the flavors of France, Italy, and Germany. Guests mingled, played casino games, sipped cocktails, and let the saxophonist pull them into the evening. It was exactly the kind of warm, electric energy we had hoped for.

^{The Reception}

Farhan had taken a pickleball court and turned it into something none of us could have imagined: floor-to-ceiling draping, chandeliers, and candlelight filling every corner. The Gatsby Mansion already carries such grandeur, and Farhan leaned all the way into it. We were completely speechless. As guests entered the reception, they walked through a fabric tunnel draped in soft light. At the front of the space stood our ofrenda altar, tended to by Stems of ATX and adorned with the only flowers in the entire venue: marigolds and oranges. The marigolds nodded to Max’s Mexican heritage, and the oranges to my Chinese heritage. It held photographs and mementos of the loved ones who could not be there with us, including Max’s father and the majority of our grandparents. They were with us in every way that mattered. The floor was entirely covered in Persian rugs—Farhan’s idea, and one of the best calls of the night. It made the whole space feel bohemian, romantic, and deeply cozy in a way a traditional dance floor never could. Palm trees were woven throughout the room, a nod to our new family name. We are now the Palmers.

The palm tree has always felt like our symbol: a quiet emblem of resilience and hope. Troy Curtis Live Entertainment set the tone for the entire evening and absolutely delivered. For the food, we kept it close to home: barbecue from Stiles Switch BBQ and Mexican food from La Pera Austin. Food is deeply important to us and to our family, so we were grateful that my brother and Anna were able to do the tastings on our behalf while we were still in Asia. They are passionate and opinionated food lovers, and their approval meant everything. It was so good, we were eating the leftovers the next day. And then there was the cake. Max and I are not cake people, but Farhan insisted. We gave him one directive: if we are having a cake, it needs to look like a Dutch Masters still-life painting—figs, grapes, pomegranates, no fondant. Flower and Flour ATX delivered something so jaw-dropping it stopped us in our tracks. Sixteen feet long, lush and abundant, it was the most extraordinary thing either of us had ever seen at a wedding.

^{The Special Touches}

Max’s very first gift to me was a pair of handmade black steel roses. He spent weeks secretly cutting and bending metal, his hands covered in cuts, making elaborate excuses for why they looked so torn up. Those roses became one of our most cherished symbols. So instead of flowers, I carried two steel roses intertwined in an Ouroboros form, made by Laura Jean Artistry, while Max wore the same motif as a brooch. The rose carried through the entire wedding party—silver for our siblings, gold for our parents—each piece carefully chosen, many vintage-sourced from Etsy, all rooted in that very first gift. The passport-style invitations from Cartalia Studio set the tone before guests even arrived—a preview of the travel-infused world they were about to step into. For the seating charts, I hand-illustrated four vintage travel poster–style maps, each tied to a chapter of our story: Germany, Thailand, China, and Italy. Each country held smaller tables named after cities within it, turning the room into a map of our life together. And then there were the luggage tags. Our family seal was pressed onto a custom tag at every place setting, made with a quiet hope: that someday, somewhere in an airport, we would spot one and instantly recognize someone who had been there with us. A small reminder that no matter where we end up, we are connected.

^{Our Favorite Moment}

For Max, it was the vows. We wrote them separately, in secret, and when we stood at the altar and began to read them aloud, the same moments kept surfacing—the same memories, the same feelings, the same words. It was the perfect confirmation that we were exactly where we were supposed to be: together. For me, it was the private walkthrough with Max, my father, and my stepmother, Anna—seeing the space Farhan had built for us before anyone else arrived. I have to say that Anna deserves more credit than words can capture. She was there through every step of the planning process, and none of this would have been possible without her. Standing in that room, overwhelmed in the best possible way, was everything. Fun fact: we had choreographed our first dance ourselves about a week before the wedding, so we snuck in one more practice right there—just the two of us in that candlelit room with the band playing.

Our Style

^{The Bridal Looks}

I wore three dresses, each co-designed with its own atelier, each one made for a different chapter of the day. For the ceremony, I wore a structured corset top with an impossibly voluminous Mikado skirt that gathered at the waist, like my body was simply emerging from a cake. It was made by Pretty Little Shop in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. For my Catholic sacramental ceremony and the dinner reception, I wore a 1930s-inspired ivory silk gown with a freshwater pearl–adorned bodice, made by Aunchalee Boutique in Bangkok, Thailand. This was the dress I put the most love into—and the one I loved so much I wore it twice.

For the dancing, I wore a 1920s flapper silhouette with a qipao-inspired collar, hand-embroidered from hem to collar in pearls, made to feel like I was dripping in them. It was made by Lililala Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. My shoes were from Chelsea Crew Shoes, a vintage-inspired footwear brand. My mother gifted me a pair of vintage pearl earrings. My stepmother lent me her diamond tennis necklace. And my mother-in-law gifted me a pearl necklace that had belonged to her own mother.

^{The Groom Looks}

Max wore a custom midnight-blue velvet tuxedo made by Kim Bespoke in Ho Chi Minh City, every detail considered and intentional. He chose blue velvet because it is the color he feels most himself in. The real party trick was the lining: a silk Kama Sutra print hidden inside the jacket—a nod to both his sense of humor and a little fertility luck for the newlyweds.

^{The Bridesmaids & Groomsmen}

My wedding party was made up of my five siblings—three brothers and two sisters—my biggest supporters in life and on the day. All I asked was that they wear black. My sisters chose their own black gowns; my maid of honor wore Sau Lee, and my brothers were sharp in black tuxedos, each finished with a silver metal rose brooch. Max’s sisters mirrored the same elegance in stunning black gowns, and his closest friends—who are essentially brothers—wore black tuxedos with silver rose brooches as well. Everyone styled themselves individually, which made the whole party feel personal rather than uniform.

Our Advice

^{For the Planning Process}

Hire a good wedding planner, full stop. When we decided to have a larger ceremony, that was our very first priority. We were planning an entire wedding in Texas from Asia, with no way to be on the ground ourselves, so we had to place complete trust in our planner and our family. That kind of trust only works when you have the right people. Build a team that understands your vision, believes in it as much as you do, and will move mountains to make it happen.

^{For On The Day}

Be present. Take in every moment and every person who crosses your path that day. There is something that happens when you sit at the sweetheart table and look out at every person you love in one room. You get to look back at your past and your present all at once and see so many of the faces that played a part in bringing you and your now husband or wife together. That is something that only happens once. Cherish it.

^{For Post-Wedding}

Even if your honeymoon is not immediate, carve out a mini-moon to decompress together. We tucked ourselves away in a remote cabin in Fredericksburg, Texas, sat in a hot tub under the stars, and let the weekend wash over us. We went through every letter and gift together, voice-recording our feelings in real time so we would not lose them, because the weekend moves fast and those first raw reactions are worth capturing. We also recorded our memories and conversations from the whole wedding weekend while they were still fresh. Take the time to decompress, to reflect, and to document how you felt right there in the moment. You will want those notes later when it comes time to write your thank-you cards.