Singaporebrides | Fashion
November 2014
Maple Love Story
Jing Xian and Wei Rong first encountered each other when their characters met in an online game. Sparks flew as they battled monsters together, and soon, they spent more time getting to know each other than achieving the next level. To commemorate their unique story, Jing Xian and Wei Rong took a series of themed engagement photos in a fun pre-wedding shoot.
Chua Jing Xian, 26, Software Engineer & Goh Wei Rong, 26, Engineer
The Gown: The Louvre Bridal
The Suit: The Louvre Bridal
The Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist: The Louvre Bridal
The Photographer: Coffee from Coffee and Tea Dreamzcoffee
You met in an online game, didn’t you?
Jing Xian: We met on a ‘map’ in Maple Story. He was a ‘warrior’ and I was a ‘priest’. The ‘map’ was pretty popular back then and many players trained there to level their characters. The class of our characters complemented each other, giving us every reason to pair up wherever we went.
Wei Rong: Whenever both of us were online, we would send each other private messages to look for a ‘map’ to share. As our levels got higher, leveling was harder, and training became more monotonous and boring.
And was that when you started being more than gaming buddies?
Jing Xian: Chatting soon became more interesting than fighting off monsters. As time went by, the topics of our conversation were no longer restricted to the boundaries of the game. We talked about our lives, our families and friends, our day at school, basically everything that was happening around us. We exchanged our contact numbers, e-mails, and we started chatting on the ‘MSN’ instant messenger. Eventually, we got to know each other’s personalities and backgrounds really well.
When did you finally see each other face to face?
Wei Rong: It was through our guild outing that we finally got to see each other in real life, and that was when we actually started going out for movie dates.
What was the proposal like?
Jing Xian: It was a surprise, though I already saw it coming. We were supposed to be on our way to the jewelry shop in search of our wedding bands. We had booked our ROM venue in view of the completion of our new flat in six months’ time. As we were passing through a long atrium in Raffles City Shopping Centre, he gestured for me to look up. That’s when I saw his friends, standing close to the glass parapet, holding up strings of bright red balloon alphabets that spelt – “Jing Xian Will You Marry Me.” I knew the moment was coming.
And were you prepared with that important answer?
Jing Xian: He got the proposal ring, roses, and a bouquet of balloons from his brother, who had been hiding around the corner and standing by. He placed the bouquet of balloons beside me, handed me the roses and kneeled down in front of me.
When he finished his proposal and asked me to marry him, I was too dumbfounded to give any response. I literally stood there and stared at him for a good 30 seconds. It was when he repeated the question that I finally got my head together. I gave him a few quick nods and stuck my hand out for the ring. He later told me that I really gave him a shock when I failed to respond within the first few seconds, and that his only clue that I wasn’t going to reject him was the smile on my face.
You had an unusual theme for your engagement shoot. How did you decide on it?
Jing Xian: The theme for our photoshoot was based on the idea of “fun.” We didn’t like the idea of simply posing in-front-of the camera. We wanted the photoshoot to be fun so that our friends and families could share the joy with us. And since the story of our first encounter is so special, we decided that we could try to create a photo-story that depicts our love-journey.
How did you style your themed shoot?
Wei Rong: We sourced for ideas and chanced upon the customised standees used by MapleSEA during their anniversary celebrations a few years back. We contacted them and requested to rent the props for our wedding shoot, and to our surprise, they were willing to lend it to us for free. We couldn’t thank them enough for their generosity.
The main bulk of our photoshoot took place at Seng Kang Riverside Park as we needed a large area for the monster standees, some greenery and a blue sky.
The shoot certainly looked like a lot of fun for you two. What was your favourite moment or memory of it?
Wei Rong: Our favourite moment was definitely the part where we were able to dress up as our characters in Maple Story, and how we tried to re-enact our first encounter. Even during the process of planning, we enjoyed the time we spent reminiscing about all the fun we had and all the friends that we’ve made. Many of us were once so crazy about that online game. We believe that there are definitely many others like us who would be able to relate to the silly things that we’ve done in the game when we were younger.
Are you incorporating this Maple Story theme into your wedding as well?
Jing Xian: Our plans for the actual wedding day are to have an even wider variety of Maple Story themed décor and props which our guests can interact, play and take photos with. We haven’t actually taken any physical actions on working out the details yet, but as the time gets closer, we will definitely sit down and start drafting the details together. Ultimately, we hope that our wedding day will turn out to be a fun and memorable event for everyone!
Tentatively, we have planned for our wedding to be held on 5th December 2015, which marks our ninth and a half anniversary.
Credits: Images by Coffee and Tea Dreamzcoffee
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