In a crowd of nearly 40,000 music festival attendees in New York City, Neil Mao struck up a conversation with Joy Wang, who was fatefully standing in front of him. Fast-forward three years later, and Neil proposed to Joy on White Horse Snow Mountain in Yunnan Province, China. “I hiked for around four hours to reach the spot where Neil wanted to do the proposal,” Joy explains. There, solely surrounded by nature with just their two hiking guides, she said yes. 

Once engaged, Joy worked with Georgia Louise Weddings to choose the perfect venue in her dream locale of Lake Como. Villa Balbiano was the ideal fit for their intimate, elegant autumn nuptials. And Andrew Bayda captured every special moment.

“Grace Kelly’s wedding gown has always been in my mind since childhood—an elegant long-sleeve gown full of lace,” Joy shares. Taking that as inspiration, the bride selected a similar-looking dress from Elie Saab’s Fall 2023 Collection for the ceremony and paired it with Graff rings and bracelets. Reina Kim completed her look with natural, simple beauty. 

For the reception, Joy changed into a white silk dress by Nicole + Felicia with ribbon detailing on the shoulders. To better reflect light during the first dance, the bride switched into a beaded look by Rachel Lai. 

October 9, 2023, guests gathered amongst pastel florals by White Pepper Studio for the service. “With the fully decorated venue as I dreamed of and the blessings of friends and family, I felt like I was the luckiest girl,” Joy says of the ceremony,

In the back garden of the villa, the newlyweds dined at their sweethearts table and looked out at two imperial, long tables on either side of them. Then, they shared a first dance to “The Princess Diaries Waltz” by John Cardon Debney. 

The night concluded with the cake cutting in the front garden, followed by a fireworks spectacular. Joy and Neil then partied until through the night with their loved ones inside the villa.