Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
February 2015
Garden Villa Wedding on Lombok Island
Penny University’s founder, Mouss, married his love Ledyna on the idyllic island of Lombok in a garden wedding that felt like a merry party of family and friends. Their intimate ceremony took place in a large garden villa in Kebun Villas, softly decorated with fairy lights, a chalkboard sign, and rustic details.
Ledyna, Public Relations & Mouss Kamal, Owner of Penny University
1 November 2014
The Gown: Rico A-Mona
The Bride’s Shoes: Custom-made through one of Ledyna’s friends in Jakarta, Via Velani
The Jewellery: Tiffany & Co.
The Suit: One from RAOUL, a gift from one of Mouss’s customers, and the second from Saccor Brothers
The Groom’s Shoes: Custom made in Bond Street, London where Mouss used to be based
The Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Custom-made through Via Velani
The Groomsmen’s Suits: Saccor Brothers
The Flower Girls’ dresses: Custom made through Via Velani
The Wedding Venue: Kebun Villas, Lombok
The Makeup Artist and Hairstylist: Shandy, Jakarta
The Florist: Mawar Saron Lombok
The Wedding Planner and Event Stylist: Bianca Fung, Kebun Villas
The Photographer: Marisse Caine, Penny University
The Invitations and Paper Goods: Done on our own at Cinderella, Bangkok
The Wedding Favours: A friend of ours did towels in the shape of cupcakes
The Mie Bakso Cart: A popular one picked out from the streets!
The Wedding Movie Posters: Taruna Studio
How did the two of you meet?
Mouss: We met through a mutual friend in Jakarta. I often go to Jakarta for visits to cafes and to check out the coffee scene. I was at a café in Jakarta on one of those visits, and I met Ledyna with a friend of mine at that café, who introduced us. I got her number and we just kept in touch from there. I asked her out a few times, but she wasn’t interested! She told me later that she thought I was one of those people who dated around!
So how long did it take for Ledyna to agree to go out with you?
Mouss: We finally met on my third visit to Jakarta when we went out for drinks with a few friends. She also brought a few of her friends along and it was only then that we started seeing each other regularly.
What was the proposal like?
Mouss: I proposed to her on Saturday, but two days before that, Thursday, I actually flew to Jakarta without her knowing, to meet up with her mom there. I told her mom not to tell her that we were meeting, or that I was in Jakarta at all. So her mom played along, telling her that she was going out for groceries. I told her mom that I wanted to get her blessing, and we chatted about plans for the future. I then flew back to Singapore and made my preparations before going back to Jakarta on Saturday.
I went to Keraton, because it was one of our favourite place to go to when we were dating. We used to go there a lot because it was very romantic with a nice view. We booked a place at The Altitude, an Italian restaurant, then we headed back to the hotel room, where I had already given the staff a heads up about the proposal. While we were out, they did up a table with candles and desserts and laid out the whole room with rose petals. She thought something was fishy because we went out for a nice romantic formal dinner. When we came back from the dinner, she noticed the petals lining the floor and she asked about it, but I pretended they had been there all along and she thought she was going crazy! So we had desserts overlooking the skyline of Jakarta, with the nice view, and that’s when I proposed to her.
What made you decide on a destination wedding?
Mouss: We knew that we wanted to get married in Lombok, not Jakarta, because it’s busy. We went to Lombok for a holiday, and then set up some viewings with the resorts there, Kebun Villas being one of them. We didn’t want a beach wedding, because it could get stuffy. We wanted a garden wedding but with the beach feeling. Kebun Villas fit the bill perfectly, with a tropical island feeling. Kebun Villas was perfect as it had a villa within a villa, and everything was in a garden setting yet it was ten minutes from the beach.
We had about 60 guests, 30 on each side. Most of her guests from Indonesia have never been to Lombok.
What was your wedding theme, and how did you prepare for the wedding?
Mouss: Kebun Villas hadn’t done a wedding before, so it was quite easy to get the dates we wanted. It didn’t take long to plan everything; they had time to really plan. We were clear about what we wanted: the décor, the seating, the lighting and everything. We did a moodboard and gave it to them, and Bianca, the General Manager, created it.
The theme was garden wedding, something very laid back and casual. It was held in the late afternoon so people could enjoy the sunset. The colour theme was Tiffany blue and green. I wanted it to be very much like those typical English weddings, where people could mingle and chat and laugh. We had Tiffany blue flowers, everything was quite soft, and we had big lanterns hanging from the trees, and candles on the floor. We had a boarding pass-themed wedding card, where the guests could write their well wishes on the stub, tear it off, and hang it on the wishing tree. It felt like a midsummer garden wedding. The key thing was to keep everything causal and laidback, so we didn’t have a very defined wedding programme. We had a time for the walk in and the speeches, but everything else was not planned. We had a photobooth, and people were just dancing spontaneously. It felt like we just threw a party for a bunch of close friends and family, and it just so happened that it was our wedding as well!
Can you share with us the most memorable moment of your wedding?
Mouss: For me it was during the time when we said thanks to everyone for coming, and the bit where did our slow dance. I just decided to give a quick speech to her as well. I didn’t really plan for the speech; I just wanted to say how we met, and my feelings as well. And I could see, as I was giving the speech, my mom, at the end of the pool, that she was clapping and crying. And I could see that Ledyna was tearing as well, because of what I said about how I feel and all that, and at that point, we just decided to do the slow dance. It felt great, and as the music was playing, and we were dancing, we were just lost in that moment. Everything really clicked. And our daughter was there cheering us on!
What has life been like for you as newlyweds?
Mouss: Of course, it’s different; it feels more complete. For us it’s like another step towards what we always wanted to do together, like being together and having a family. During the wedding itself, it was so busy, that everything happens really fast, but the real thing is actually after the wedding, living together like a married couple doing things together.
Credits: Images courtesy of Penny University, except for the first two and last three images, courtesy of Kebun Villas, nominee for the 2015 World Luxury Hotel Awards in Service Excellence, Luxury Private Pool Villa, Luxury Boutique Hotel and Luxury Villa Resort.
Want to see your love story featured on SingaporeBrides too? Submit your wedding here!
All content from this article, including images, cannot be reproduced without credits or written permission from SingaporeBrides.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram for the latest article and promotion updates!