Business

Christine Chang adds Asian American flair to weddings

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Pasadena Weekly Executive Editor

As an Asian American, Christine Chang knows well the challenges of planning a wedding with an ethnic twist.

“Growing up in the States, we teeter between Asian and American culture,” said Chang, of South Park. “We don’t know where to put our tradition — even for your special day like a wedding.

“How do you honor both traditions? They already know their American culture. They live in it. With the Asian culture, we’re not familiar with it.”

She founded Live Love Create Events to help infuse Asian traditions into Western weddings. Her team is all Asian American.

“I have different team members with different backgrounds, and we help and service couples of color get married with unique cultures in mind,” she said.

“We are a full planning service. Our specialty is bringing in that Asian tradition into Western ceremonies, if needed. Western ceremonies are beautiful in itself. But we’re learning as much as we can to bring Asian cultures to life on a wedding day.”

Chang learned about her Korean heritage through friends and family, reading and visiting China and Korea.

“It’s a learning process, but we’re confident about what we know so far,” she said.

A popular way of adding family traditions to weddings is through the Paebaek Ceremony, a traditional tea ceremony held during the cocktail hour.

“The tea ceremony is not about the bride and groom,” she said. “It’s the entire family. When the family comes together, it’s about the bride and groom, ‘Here we are as a couple. Please accept us into his or her family.’

“The elders accept the tea, give words of wisdom and gifts, usually in gold or money.”

Free ceremonies

Founded in 2009, Live Love Create Events has been Chang’s full-time job since mid-2017. Previously an event director for multiple LA venues, Chang also married and had a child during that time, so the company had a slow start.

“I was ready to start working when the pandemic hit,” she said. “I think this, with conviction, it was a blessing in disguise. I got to see my son for the first year. I gave him my full attention, as I was out of a job.

“It’s coming around now. I feel really lucky that events are starting to pick up again.”

Chang had an office in Koreatown before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Forced to close due to wedding cancellations, Chang felt for those couples. She offered free weddings for those who had to reschedule.

“I was open to those who needed advice and had conversations with a lot of them who didn’t know where to start or restart their planning,” Chang said.

“I was taking any phone call to try to help as many people as I could. I’m still very open to it.”

For Chang, Live Love Create Events is very much a family affair. Her mother, Grace Chang, painted the background for the tea ceremony.

“My mom is a traditional Korean folk artist,” she said. “She helped me make the decorations on the table out of Korean paper clay. I didn’t know too much about the ceremony because I wasn’t born there. It was nice to learn from my mom.

“She’s technically retired, but she’s willing to show her art. She inspired me. I wouldn’t have been interested in any of this if I hadn’t seen her work and dedication to bringing the Korean arts culture to the States 30-plus years ago. This has been a great journey.”

Christine Chang livelovecreateevents.com instagram.com/christineschang