Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
September 2016
Tansey and Phil’s Elegant-Chic Wedding in Malaysia
Tansey and Phil’s down-to-earth and funny personalities shone through in their lovely intimate wedding in Johor Bahru.
If you thought Sub-Editor Tansey’s pre-wedding session in Kuala Lumpur with her love, Phil, was simply stunning, then you’ll have to take a look at her beautifully poignant holy matrimony and boisterous banquet celebration in Johor Bahru on 2 July 2016. Tapping into her wonderful styling talents, Tansey personalised her wedding by sourcing for, crafting and styling the affair, together with the help of her family and friends.
How did you prepare for your wedding?
Tansey: Phil is from Malaysia, and I’ve spent a lot of time there too, so we decided to celebrate our marriage where so many of our family and friends are, and so many good memories besides.
In the months leading up to the wedding, we met with our pastor for premarital counseling sessions to prepare ourselves for the commitment we were about to make. Based on a questionnaire we filled out individually, Pastor James talked us through our approaches to issues like shared finances or conflict resolution, and helped us understand how to love each other better. Besides being really helpful, the sessions also gave us time to reflect on and pray about the step we were taking together.
Phil: We wanted to keep our wedding simple, so that we could focus on what’s important—getting married. It was also important to us to have everyone there to witness and celebrate our marriage, so we decided on a holy matrimony ceremony where we could pledge our commitment before God and man in church. To celebrate, we chose to have a big, rowdy Chinese wedding dinner where people could enjoy good food, drink as much as they wanted, and yam-seng really loudly. Good old traditional fun.
Tell us more about your beautiful wedding décor.
Tansey: For the wedding, I did a couple of crafts, like my veil, our invitation design, and our page boy’s flag, and styled our reception tables with terrariums ordered on Taobao. It was pretty much a simple, DIY wedding, but our family and friends made it an incredibly happy day. It was really heartwarming to see how excitedly my parents spruced up the house, and went around personally inviting relatives and friends. Our friends were so supportive and happy for us as well, coordinating with our church band, designing invitations, crafting car décor, emceeing, and even spending a whole day doing flowers and decorating our church.
During our frantic last week, my sister helped us design paper goods, schedule and coordinate the wedding day—no mean feat!—and also made us a childhood montage video that makes me tear every time I watch it. My bridesmaids came over to JB and arranged their own bouquets at 11pm the night before the wedding, and laughed about it. Friends, relatives, and the wonderful team at SingaporeBrides braved the jam over from Singapore, or drove all the way down from KL, to celebrate with us. Truly, the love and joy that we felt from everyone that day, made it amazing.
What was your wedding day like?
Tansey: It was wonderful. I think I’d never been happier nor my heart more full. Our awesome friends took over all the details and coordination to leave us free to enjoy our wedding, and we really did. I laughed so much, over almost everything really (perhaps it was the one hour of sleep the night before?), but also felt things quite deeply, like when I walked into the church with my dad, and saw so many friends and family gathered there being happy for us. Of course, the best part of my day was marrying the most incredible man on earth.
Can you share with us the most memorable moment of your wedding?
Phil: It was a pretty good day overall, thanks to all the support of our friends, who went above and beyond to help us out. Since I’m being interviewed, I guess I should say that my favourite moment was marrying Tansey.
Tansey: The moment I hold dearest has to be when Phil and I were holding hands in front of the altar, about to exchange our vows. I knew I would cry at my wedding, and sure enough, I needed those emergency tissues. But Phil has shed tears only once throughout the seven years I’ve known him, so when I saw him choking up right before we said our pledges, I was really moved.
The mood soon got much more lighthearted though, when everyone cheered us each time we said our “I do’s”!
A really funny moment was when the music stopped working as we were walking down the aisle as the new Mr and Mrs Yee. Our super quick emcee Boon Fei started singing the recessional for us instead, and everyone joined in to harmonise the best wedding march ever!
The Venue: Johor Bahru Wesley Methodist Church / Pekin Restaurant Johor Jaya
The Photographer: Samimage Photography
The Wedding Gown: Sourced from SingaporeBrides Forum / Evening gown from Spozami Wedding Mansion, Johor Bahru
The Wedding Shoes: Fabiano Ricco, Johor Bahru
The Groom’s Suit: Custom-made at Esteem Tailors, Kuala Lumpur
The Groom’s Shoes: Loakes
The Engagement Ring and Wedding Bands: Custom-made at Kwong Lee Soon Kee Jeweler, Johor Bahru
The Hair and Makeup: Shane Tong of Shane Concept Salon
The Florist: Bridal bouquet and boutonnieres by Sweetness by HM
The Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Bridesmaids’ own
The Groomsmen’s Suits: Groomsmen’s own / Suspenders from @wowgrace on Carousell
The Page Boys’ Suits: Page boys’ own / Suspenders and bow ties from @wowgrace on Carousell
The Caterer: Kulai Long Sheng Catering
The Photobooth: Mieka Instagraphy
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: Tansey, Jen, and Joy
The Solemniser: Pastor James Tan
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!