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.
While walking along the Darling Harbour, a lady ‘statue’ in disguise randomly picked Daniel and Alison among their friends to come closer to her. In her hand, were some flowers, which she gave them to hold, and placed a flower crown on Alison’s head. In a simple gesture, she indicated for them to hold hands, which they sheepishly did. Then, there was the incident at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Daniel proved he was good at ‘aiming’ when he won a shooting game there and asked Alison to pick a grand prize that she liked. Together, they chose a giant unicorn which she brought back to Melbourne and subsequently to KL where it’s found it’s resting place in Alison’s bedroom till today. (it made an appearance in her wedding photos too!)
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.
Congratulations, both of you! Be prepared for a whole series of images, taken by Grace, Nigel & Jamie.
This is the cute but delicate ring pillow made of Lego!
Their Love Story (as written by Derek)
It was there that I first had a crush on her, even with her nerdy glasses and Chinese school haircut. Her parents had a rule at the time that she could not have a boyfriend until she turned 18; which was fine by me since I only had to wait 6 years (*note the sarcasm). But in hindsight that was a blessing in disguise since I would have been too scared to ask her out properly anyway (in my defence, I was really young and awkward around girls!) and it allowed us to get to know each other as friends first. So over the next few years, we grew closer as friends, but we both knew there was a mutual attraction that we weren’t allowed to act upon so there was never anything “official”.
Or if you have a little page boy or a pet dog that needs dressing up for the wedding, a bow tie can add so much character too! I mean, look at this family portrait. It is waaaay too cute for words! I wish I could bring this kid home after photographing him!
So when I heard that these friends of mine, Kian Leong and Su Foong are helping disadvantaged women and girls at risk in Chiang Mai, Thailand raise their dignity, hope and worth by giving them a means to earn a decent living through sewing, I immediately thought of ways to help them. 
If you prefer to tie your own bow tie (I heard it’s the more authentic way!), you can order those self tie bows like the navy print one on the right below.
Tjin made a promise to Dawn that he would visit as often as he can. This resulted in a long list of flights every 2-3 months over three years – becoming Jetstar’s unofficial number one customer. Some trips were long trips to Hanoi, Bali, Seoul or KL. Some trips to Singapore were only 3 nights over the weekend. Many exciting hellos, and equally as many heartbreaking goodbyes. Dawn would also visit Melbourne at least once a year. Story of their lives for 3 years.
Watch the Fusion slideshow of their wedding here.
