Lots of tears were shed at this wedding. Generous amounts of warm hugs given, kind words exchanged but most importantly of all, love was present. It was the kind of wedding that focuses on a long term event…the marriage, and not just that one day affair, which is the wedding.
A wedding that reminds you love triumphs over everything.
A wedding that reflects a 10 year commitment that will carry on till ‘death do us part’.
And so, that Indon boy met that Malaysian girl and made a commitment to each other in marriage. Read their wonderful story as written by Rondy below.
Fell in love with that good friend who was so beautiful on the inside
Our story was not one of those love at first sight story. I knew Elaine ever since my high school days. We both went to Garden International School; I joined in year 7, and she joined in year 5. However, I only knew of her existence during year 10, when both of us had some unstreamed classes together; they were Economics, Accounting and our Science subjects. That was actually equivalent to about 16 hours of classes each week! As for the rest of the classes that were ranked, Elaine was just too smart for me. She was undisputedly the smartest student in my year. She would be in all the top classes while I would be somewhere in the middle! So during school, my recollection of Elaine was that she was a nerd with specs and braces who liked to study and hated sports (this is so wrong now!) but at the same time, a very nice girl.
It was only until college that I got to know her better. As the norm in college life, you tend to first make friends with the people you knew back in school. We were no different. Together with other guys from GIS, we went out for lunch, played foosball and pool together, studied together and I even carpooled with Elaine on the way back as well.
We then became friends and I started to really like hanging out with Elaine. I found her to be an extremely pleasant and fun girl to be with. I remembered that I used to get ignored because my jokes didn’t make sense, or people just couldn’t understand me (probably due to my Indonesian accent). However I came to notice that Elaine was always there to respond to me! I also found her to have such a tender and kind heart, someone who loved to help friends, random strangers and animals. She used to feed hungry cats and stray dogs, felt pity towards peacocks that had their wings clipped, and homeless men on the street amongst many others. Do you know that up to this day Elaine has never killed a mosquito!? She just shoos them away! Unbelievable!
So then I started to really like hanging out with Elaine – I loved chatting on the phone with her, and was excited every time she came online on MSN messenger and every time I bumped into her at church on Sundays because I got to see her on a weekend. I loved sharing a laugh with her, playing games with her, but most of all, I loved her smile. She became a really good friend. I was attracted to her inner beauty and how her personality matched mine. One day, I found out that a few other college guys were also chasing after Elaine and I felt a tinge of jealousy! I knew that wasn’t normal and this was indeed a special girl to me. Perhaps she could be my dream girl, the one!
Over time, my feelings grew and so I asked Elaine who had become a good friend to be my college prom date. It was then that I asked her out to be my girlfriend for the first time. But, she rejected me. I guess the feeling wasn’t mutual then. That was a very sad and painful memory for me.
Fortunately for us, I decided not to give up and kept a close relationship while keeping my fingers crossed that she would somehow give me a chance. And so, 3 months after Elaine rejected me during the prom, she decided to give our relationship a chance. We moved to the next level and the rest, as they say, is history!
That moment was nearly 10 years ago now. Elaine and I had since gone through so much together. We grew with each other. I can’t even remember clearly my life before her anymore. She had always been a constant in my life for the past 10 years and will be there forevermore.
She was there when someone called me “sir” for the first time.
She was there when I first shaved my non-existent facial hair.
She was there when I went for my first ever interview with Genting Group.
She was there when I was captained by my football team in uni.
She was there when I graduated.
She was there when I was excited to have seen snow for the first time in China.
She was there when I got my first real paycheck, and my promotion.
She was there during a lot of other first time moments in my life.
She was also there when I was diagnosed with high cholestrol at 18 and helped to bring it down.
She was there when I was down cause I didn’t know what the future hold for me.
She was always there when I was sick, bought me hot lemon tea when I had real bad sore throat and was constantly with me in hospital when I dislocated my ankle.
She was there to comfort me when I was feeling angry and sad and disappointed at the world.
Needless to say more, Elaine had always been there through it all.
So, we had grown together, bringing the best out of each other, be it good times or bad times. We had the best times together, and became a better person individually. My mom realized that I became a more gentle and sensitive person because of her, and I believed she became a more relaxed and less kan-cheong person because of me.
10 years ago, I fell in love with a nerdy, skinny, smart, Godly, tender and kind-hearted girl. She was a friend, which became a good friend, and eventually my best friend. My best friend is now my soulmate. My wife. I am married to my childhood sweetheart, my dream girl. She was my first love and my last.
Credits:
Videographers: Delvin, Wee Liem, Felicia and Chi Yin
Wedding Ceremony: Glad Tidings, PJ
Dinner Reception: Grand Hyatt, KL
Wedding Gown: Pretty in White
Evening Gown: Wedding Isle Gallery
Groom’s Attire: Bespoked
Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Make up & Hair: Remy Ngan (Mimi Make Up Studio)
Decorations: Wishing Tree & Grand Hyatt
Stationery: Million Yellow Invitation, Jakarta, Others: Kexsh
Cake: Wondermilk
Flowers: Bridemaid’s posies (Kexsh), Dinner Guests Tables (Grand Hyatt), Others (Wishing Tree)
Photography: Dennis Yap
Dinner Entertainment: The Raw Note
Wedding Planner: Chic Occasions
It was a rainy evening, and Belinda had just dropped off her brother at the airport in Singapore. As part of her habit, she headed over to her favourite bar of 10 years… Wala Wala, with her best friend Samantha. The bar was crowded as usual, but by chance, Sunil and his friends had 2 seats at their table, and so, out of courtesy (and maybe because these girls were cute!), they offered those seats to them. Striking a conversation was natural, and by the end of the night, Sunil and Belinda had hit it off and even arranged a first date for the next day.
Sunil ALWAYS makes Belinda laugh, he always smells good and he can cook. They say, food is a way to a man’s stomach, but it also works for women! Sunil is always feeding Belinda, which she doesn’t complain about! What she loves most about him is that he is extremely filial, calls home everyday and truly cares for his family and friends. He’s always optimistic, genuine and independent. According to Belinda… “I know he will willingly go hungry just so I can be filled! (a metaphor of course)”. Ultimately, he always wants to make her happy.
It was the Easter weekend in Sydney. Daniel and Alison had already met in 2002 as family friends and then again in 2007 when Daniel visited Melbourne with his buddies and ‘coincidentally’ or perhaps, more ‘intentionally’ asked Alison to catch up. So now, it was Alison’s turn to travel to Sydney where Daniel was studying. Everything was still very platonic at this stage, but Daniel had developed some feelings for Alison by then. Somehow, a few things happened during this trip that made it so significant for them as a couple.
Though they were complete opposites in terms of personality (Daniel is the shy, quiet type – we had to work really hard to draw his cute dimples out during the wedding! And Alison’s the talkative, bubbly girl who doesn’t have any problems laughing or showing her expressions)… they worked well as a couple. Despite the distance between Melbourne and Sydney, they kept in touch and realised they had so much in common. After dating over 6 years, Daniel proposed to Alison on 17 December 2013 in Docklands, Melbourne…the place where he brought her on their first dinner date. Happiest day of their lives. And yes, Daniel is pretty good at his aim.