You know the saying, “You mess with the bull, you get the horns!”. That, apparently, is Elizabeth’s life’s mantra. I wouldn’t want to get on her blacklist! But as a lawyer of 11 years, I would definitely want her on my team. Realistic and sometimes cynical, she said she can’t help but sometimes be a smart-ass! Elizabeth was born and raised in Indiana, USA. To give her credit, she has a really soft side to her tough exterior… she is an old-fashioned romantic…an extroverted person who loves to make people feel comfortable and at ease. She loves to travel, eat and is totally into sports… more than most guys!
Which are all of Desmond’s favourite activities! Traveling, eating and sports! (Tennis, specifically!). The only other thing in his list is that he adores shopping, but mostly for other people! He is an introvert with extroverted tendencies (not too sure how that works!), is kind, caring, thoughtful and a romantic at heart. Born and bred in Penang, Malaysia, Desmond moved to California when he was 19 for college and medical school.
It was there in the States that they met one night through a mutual friend. It was trivia night, and he came with some colleagues from the hospital. His first impression was that she was easy going and fun to talk to, though he thought that she was a smarty-pants through out the whole night!
Her favorite memory about that evening was when the question “What does the ‘A’ in DNA stand for?” came up and how all the doctors at the table looked at each other and said “acid?”. It made her concerned that the lawyer knew it was “acid” but the doctors were not so sure! Elizabeth is bad with names, so she had ‘labels’ for everyone to help her remember better – there was a ‘guy leaving early’, ‘guy with no sleeves’, ‘Yoba’, and Desmond was apparently the ‘hottie doctor’.
Despite the smarty-pants label, Elizabeth made an impression on Desmond, and so to enlarge his social circle, he asked for her number before leaving (which made her think that he was trying to pick her up!). But I guess she gave him a chance because they started hanging out more often, and the interest kept on growing…and the rest, is history.
Desmond & Elizabeth: Wedding Video Highlights from Stories on Vimeo.
Credits:
Videographers: Nick, Delvin & Ivan
Location: G Hotel, Penang
Photographer: Alex Tan
Wedding Gown: M.H. Pomander’s Bridal, Indianapolis, USA (Designer: Lea-Ann Belter)
Groom’s Attire: Blaine’s Mens Apparel, Ohio, USA (Designer: Canali)
Shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo (Groom) & Nina (Bride)
Make up & hair: Stella Inn International (Leslie Hong)
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.
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.
