Richard and Melissa’s story is one filled with God moments, revealing His goodness in their lives. Before 2015, Richard & Melissa’s lives were worlds apart; to be exact 767 km apart! Richard was working in Indonesia managing a plantation company in South Sumatra. While Melissa’s world revolved around the newsroom as a journalist and news anchor in Malaysia. The likelihood of their paths crossing was almost zero.
However, 1st January 2015 was a turning point for both Richard & Melissa. Their mutual friend Charles Mohan was led to arrange a coffee session for them. He had a hunch that they would grow beyond acquaintances and eventually their interactions would develop into something special.
At the point when both of them met, Richard was ready to date again after coming to terms with the death of his late wife who battled with cancer. While Ryan, his three year old bounced back to his usual cheerful self. God’s timing is perfect and led them to meet in a season when both of their hearts were ready. For Melissa, she had ‘almost’ given up on meeting potential partners, somehow never finding the person who was the right ‘fit’. But in her heart, she longed to meet someone whom she could spend the rest of her life with.
Little did they know, Charles had gone to church that morning and asked his priest to pray for his two friends whom he was bringing together to meet that afternoon.
And yes, Charles was absolutely right! The supposedly ‘just a short coffee session’ at Dome Café, Bangsar Shopping Centre turned out to be a 9 hour long conversation that only ended because the mall was closing. The time spent was interesting & heartfelt—and of course; leaving a tug on their heartstrings.
Richard & Melissa got to know each other over the next few days before he left for Indonesia, and Melissa for a mission trip. The time spent together was short but God was speaking to the core of their hearts. The Lord had also sent individuals at the right place & time to speak to them about being open to explore this potential relationship.
The rest, as they say is history, or rather His-tory! Throughout their growing relationship, the Lord’s blessings, favor and intervention in their relationship has been obvious and deliberate.
Both their prayers were answered. God met them at their place of need and helped them discover each other. It was the perfect fit.
View their wedding ceremony photos in the slideshow below, taken at Tirtha Uluwatu and Tirtha Luhur, Bali. Congratulations, Richard and Melissa!
City Harvest is getting increasingly popular as a wedding ceremony location, and I can understand why, with the rustic brick walls and overall industrial look. It was the perfect setting for Min-Yi and Shu Ern’s wedding. Min-Yi looked dashing on his wedding day, with a beret and matching suspenders to complete the look. It was actually my first time at City Harvest and I enjoyed photographing this wedding so much. I love how Shu Ern’s family was just so emotional. I love the little details at the ceremony, including the key words, “Dream, Believe, Smile & Family” that were hung by their friends. And I was ecstatic to discover this random location that made for great photos.
Min-Yi and Shu Ern were secondary school mates but they were not friends at that time. Half a decade after leaving school, their paths crossed again on 26th December 2011.
Part 2 of Andrew and Katrina’s celebration continues, after their 
You have to watch the wedding video highlights below of their wedding day. It’s a pretty long highlight – 10 minutes, but there was just so much going on that we had to extend the highlight! Their first dance at The Majestic was sooo much fun too. Check it out here.
Here’s what Katrina had to say about the wedding planning process:
