Real Weddings

Physician couple show off their dance moves at winter Dallas wedding

There’s a big of debate about whether Sara Park asked for now-husband Hieu Luu’s phone number, or if he asked for hers when they met in New Orleans through mutual friends about five years ago.

“I think he asked for my number, but he says I asked for his,” Sara explains. “I was trying to get him to meet me at a music festival the next day, so maybe it really was me who asked.”

Nuances aside, it took a few months for the stars to align for the busy medical student (Sara) and medical resident working nights (Hieu). And a few months after the pair got together, Sara graduated and moved to Tucson for her residency.

“I wasn’t a believer in long-distance relationships,” Sara says. “But of course, Hieu convinced me — and we made it work with him in New Orleans and me in Tucson.”

About three years later, while Sara’s mom was visiting her from Korea, Hieu took the ladies out to a steak dinner and popped the question with a ring the couple had picked out together.

Sara and Hieu toyed with the idea of having their wedding in the city where they met, but decided on Dallas, where Hieu’s parents live, after seeing the scenery at Texas Discovery Gardens. The couple loved the butterfly garden and floor-to-ceiling windows.

The fickle Texas weather held out beautifully for their January 30, 2016, vows. Sara selected gold and mint and for a fresh take on winter elegance.

But more than colors or views, the couple wanted their guests to have fun. They forewent many traditional wedding aspects of Hieu’s Vietnamese culture and Sara’s Korean culture to keep the ceremony short and sweet — and to leave plenty of time for dancing. The couple did manage three different outfits throughout the reception: a traditional white gown and suit, a modern take on traditional Korean wedding attire, and Vietnamese Ao Dai outfits.

About 120 guests dined on an assortment of Asian-inspired courses of lobster, spicy eggplant, crab, quail, bean soup, and fried rice from Kirin Court. Annie’s Culinary Creations made the gold and white cake, chocolate-covered strawberries, and macarons.

While guests raved about the food, as well as the music (provided by Glenn Roush from LeForce Entertainment), Sara and Hieu have more intimate and romantic memories too.

“We’re not the most verbal couple, but we wrote our own vows,” Sara says. “When he gave me his vows, it showed how much heart he put into it.”

“When I first saw my wife walking down the aisle, she looked so beautiful,” Hieu says. “That was my favorite part of the whole wedding.”

Ceremony and Reception: Texas Discovery Gardens
Planner: Carmen Dorsey with Bridal Bliss
Floral:Dr Delphinium
Linens and Rentals:Sugar City (through Texas Discovery Gardens)
Photography:CLV Studio
Video:Green Light Media Services
Invitations and Menus:Wedding Paper Divas
Bride’s Dress and Alterations:David’s Bridal
Bride’s Veil and Jewelry: Amazon
Bride’s Belt:BlueSkyHorizon
Bride’s Shoes:Badgley Mischka
Bride’s Hair and Makeup:Beauteatheart
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: David’s Bridal
Groom’s Suit:Men’s Wearhouse
Groomsmen’s Suit:Men’s Wearhouse
DJ:Glenn Roush at LeForce Entertainment
Catering:Kirin Court
Cake and Desserts:Annie’s Culinary Creations

Sara chose mint green for the bridesmaid dresses.

Photo by CLV Studio

Sara chose mint green for the bridesmaid dresses.

weddings

Tops in Texas

Dallas makes top 10 list of cities with most millionaires in America

Photo courtesy of Dallas Cowboys

undefined

Dallas is rolling in millionaires and a new list offers the proof: A study of the Top 10 Wealthiest Cities in USA by residency and citizenship consultant Henley & Partners puts Dallas at No. 6 — home to 72,400 millionaires as of December 2024.

As if that's not enough, Dallas also has 135 centi-millionaires — meaning they're worth $100 million or more — and 16 billionaires.

According to the study, the number of millionaires in Dallas grew 85 percent from 2014 to 2024.

The study pointed out that Dallas “has seen very strong wealth growth over the past two decades, driven in part by the relocation of several major corporate headquarters to the city. Prominent companies based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area include AT&T, CBRE, Caterpillar, American Airlines, Charles Schwab, and Texas Instruments.”

Houston was the richest city in Texas, coming in at no. 5 and beating Dallas by one place. Austin just squeezed in at 10th place but is rushing to catch up: It had the greatest increase in number of richy-rich in the past decade.

Here’s the rundown for Houston and Austin:

Houston — 81,800 millionaires, 210 centi-millionaires, and 16 billionaires. Millionaire growth rate from 2014 to 2024: 75 percent.
Austin — 32,000 millionaires, 90 centi-millionaires, and 10 billionaires. Millionaire growth rate from 2014 to 2024: 90 percent.

In its comments about Houston, the study pointed out that “America’s energy capital, Houston, is a global leader in engineering and aeronautics. It is also home to 24 Fortune 500 companies — the third-highest number among U.S. cities, after New York and Chicago."

Regarding Austin, the study said: “With its booming tech sector, Austin has been dubbed ‘Silicon Hills.’ Several major tech companies have moved their headquarters to the city over the past decade, most notably Tesla. Texas’s low state taxes add to Austin’s appeal. While wealth growth in the city has slowed over the past couple of years, it remains very impressive when viewed over the past decade as a whole.”

New York City topped the overall list, boasting 384,500 millionaires, 818 centi-millionaires and 66 billionaires. But Texas is the only state with three millionaire hubs in the top 10.

On a separate Henley & Partners list, Houston took the No. 5 spot for the most centi-millionaires in the U.S. Dallas ranked seventh and Austin ranked 12th.

study reports