A year-and-a-half after matching on Hinge, product designer Ryan Han proposed to his girlfriend, wedding florist Ahna Han, in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. “He had said he wanted to go at dawn to watch the sunrise and take photos of the architecture. In hindsight it couldn’t have been more obvious, but at the time I didn’t think much of it,” Ahna shares. They were alone in the square but asked a “stranger,” who happened to also be a photographer, to take their picture with their phone.
Of course, the photographer offered to snap a few shots on her camera, which she’d send to them later. Ahna agreed, assuming the stranger wanted to keep busy while waiting for her clients. “I heard her camera click twice before a brief pause. In my peripheral vision, I saw him turn and get on one knee. The first thing I thought was, ‘Oh my god, we are her clients,’” Ahna laughs.
Once engaged, the pair started planning an intimate ceremony in the city with no more than 40 guests. However, that idea began to take on a new shape. “As a wedding florist, having a scenic outdoor ceremony was incredibly important to me and our choices felt limited in the city,” the bride shares. “I knew I wanted to design my own flowers with my team, so upstate was closer and felt easier to execute.”
The pair booked a Sunday brunch at Inness and casually asked a waiter where their wedding ceremonies were held. Upon seeing the site, they were sold and finalized the contract the next day. “What really drew us in was the japandi style architecture and how hospitable it was,” Ahna says.
One thing to note is that the couple booked a Monday ceremony. “Most of my close friends in attendance are wedding professionals or weekend warriors, so in an effort to not land on a day where they’d potentially have to forfeit an opportunity to work, I chose a very untraditional day,” the bride explains. Over The Moon Top Planner Sneh Diwan of Diwan by Design stepped in to bring Ahna’s vision to life, and Hannah Jan Photo was behind the lens all day.
Ahna’s dream wedding shoes led her search for her wedding dress. The Jimmy Choo kitten heels with crystal mesh and a satin bow didn’t go with the Monique Lhuillier lace style that she’d originally thought of for herself, so she looked to Danielle Frankel for another option. At the designer’s atelier, she fell in love with the Bruna dress with its off-the-shoulder silhouette, which complemented a hand-strung Baroque pearl choker that her best friend made for her.
For her veil, Ahna, who used to be a fashion designer, bought Italian tulle and crafted her own 14-foot-long headpiece with a close friend. On the morning of, the bride got ready with Kindred Beauty Co. And as the finishing touch, the bride put on her “something borrowed,” a pair of diamond studs from Sneh.
On September 18, 2023, the ceremony was moved inside due to rain. “I was disappointed on the day-of, but in hindsight, I would not have changed the details of the way our ceremony turned out,” Ahna reflects. “We lined the aisle with an ivory event carpeting that contrasted the fully lined flower aisle. The altar, which was in front of an open barn door, featured a growing installation of flowers and foliage that framed the doorway in a way that felt as if we were bringing the outdoors in.”
When the time came, Ryan walked down the aisle with his sister and his and Ahna’s golden doodle, Bori. Then, “Kiss Me” by Six Pence None The Richer played, as the bride took her promenade to Ryan. In honor of the groom’s late mother, the couple lit a candle at the beginning of the service.
“Our officiant, a close friend to both of us, started by thanking the Giants—Ryans favorite baseball team—for taking the day off to honor our wedding,” Ahna shares. “[It was] a cute and quirky statement that helped take the edge off.” The groom shed tears through the entire ceremony, while Bori dozed off. “We’re shy people, so we recited the vows our officiant had written and have made a promise to recite handwritten ones at our one year anniversary.”
The Inness restaurant lounge was transformed into a formal space for the reception. “We both come from a very religious upbringing, so Ryan’s father prayed before our meal was served,” Ahna shares. Guests dined on delicious local farm-to-table fare.
Although it was the bride’s childhood dream to memorize the “More Than A Woman” choreography from Saturday Night Fever, she and Ryan didn’t have time to practice, so they winged it on the dance floor with Morgan Hill Sound. “A few seconds into our dance, we heard our dog crying and barking. We decided to scoop him up and spent the remainder of our first dance clutching him in our arms as he licked our faces,” the bride gushes. “We dance at home together like that!”
At the end of the night, everyone stockpiled into a bus headed for the newlyweds’ room. “We spent the rest of the evening drinking, eating snacks, and commiserating until 3 a.m.,” Ahna says. “It felt like a big slumber party!”
