Mark Yao and Aleah Sia’s Wedding Transforms A Ballroom Into An Enchanted Garden

The flowers may have framed the day, but they were only the beginning. Mark Yao and Aleah Sia’s wedding celebrated a relationship that had taken root years before, blossoming into a marriage built to endure.

Guests arrived at an enchanted garden of cascading greenery and flowers in full bloom. It was a romantic setting that felt lifted from a storybook, echoed by the bride’s classic princess silhouette.Yet the beauty of the wedding had begun even before the flowers arrived, taking shape over years of remembered conversations, shared dreams, and small gestures that eventually became the foundation of Mark Yao and Aleah Sia’s marriage.

READ ALSO: Here’s How To Pick A Color Palette For Your Wedding

A Relationship Taking Root: The Beginnings Of Mark Yao and Aleah Sia

Although both attended the same high school in Manila, they never actually crossed paths. By the time Aleah transferred in, Mark had already left for Harvard University. Years later, it was their grandmothers—longtime friends—who introduced them virtually while Aleah was pursuing her master’s degree in Vancouver and Mark was back in the Philippines.

After chatting online, they met when Aleah returned to Manila. “I remember really liking the way he talked. Even through a screen, I could tell he was down-to-earth, intelligent, and genuinely easy to talk to,” Aleah recalls. “We just kept talking, and the rest is history.” Over the next three years, their relationship deepened. Little did Aleah know at the time, but Mark had kept a running list on his phone: destinations Aleah dreamed of visiting, birthday gift ideas, and little things she casually mentioned in passing. When she eventually discovered it, she realized he hadn’t simply been listening—he had been paying attention.

“I was genuinely touched because it showed that he not only listened but also made a real effort to make me happy,” she says. “That’s when I knew he truly loved me for who I am, and I couldn’t imagine building a future with anyone else.”

That same thoughtfulness shaped his proposal beneath Tokyo’s cherry blossoms, a place the couple would often return to throughout their relationship. The blossoms, Mark says, bloom for only a few fleeting days. The promise they made beneath them would last a lifetime.

How A Ballroom Turned Into An Enchanted Garden

By the time wedding planning began, Aleah knew exactly how she wanted the day to feel. Inspired by Taylor Swift’s Folklore era and the romance of Bridgerton, the couple transformed Shangri-La The Fort into an enchanted garden. Working closely with floral stylist Blancaflor, they brought that vision to life through an abundance of flora, including one of Aleah’s favorites: cascading green amaranthus, paired with white calla lilies, green cymbidium orchids, peach and burgundy anthuriums, and blush paper roses, all arranged using fresh blooms. For the occasion, the bride wore an Ezra Santos gown that reimagined the classic princess ballgown silhouette with three sculptural layers, hand-beaded lace, Swarovski crystals, and a sheer embellished underlay that caught the light with every movement. 

During cocktail hour, guests were served the couple’s favorite Coco milk tea and Uji-san matcha before returning to the ballroom. Later, Aleah and Mark joined their bridesmaids and groomsmen for a dance medley to some of their favorite songs, offering one last glimpse into a relationship that had always found joy in sharing life’s little moments together.

For all the beauty of the flowers, the ballroom, and the celebration that followed, Aleah says the Christian ceremony remained the heart of the day. “Our pastor shared a message about the importance of enjoyment and respect in a marriage, and it was something that really resonated with both of us,” she says. “It also gave all our family and friends the chance to witness our vows and hear the values we wanted our marriage to be built on.”

The cherry blossoms in Tokyo bloomed for only a few fleeting days. The wedding flowers, too, would eventually be cleared away. Both were marked moments of extraordinary beauty, but neither was ever meant to last forever. They were simply there to mark the beginning of a marriage built through years of listening, remembering, and choosing one another.

See more snapshots of the wedding of Mark Yao and Aleah Sia below.

Photography by Metrophoto, courtesy of Mark and Aleah Yao