Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
October 2016
Romona and Lincoln’s Marathon Wedding in Paya Lebar Methodist Church
Romona and Lincoln raced to the altar in a fun marathon-themed wedding that includes a racetrack wedding aisle, a marathon arch, and wedding invitations inspired by race bibs!
Romona Loh, 31, Senior Manager at Ogilvy Public Relations and Lincoln Mah, 33, Marketing and Content Strategist at Cognito, celebrated their 12-year marathon of a love story with one of the most unique weddings we’ve seen. Avid runners who love doing sports together, Romona and Lincoln created a marathon-themed wedding in honour of the life-long journey of marriage, and invited all their family and friends to participate in their race to the altar on 23 July 2016.
How did the two of you meet?
Romona: Our story began at NUS in 2004 some 12 years ago, when Lincoln was a school athlete and I was Miss NUS. Back then we met through mutual friends and only knew each other as friendly acquaintances with nothing much in common (or so we thought). Fast-forward 12 years later, I met Lincoln at my new workplace. He remembered me but I had no clear memory of him unfortunately! It was definitely divine coincidence that brought us together. Both of us already knew what were the non-negotiable values and principles we were looking for in a partner and by God’s grace and faithfulness, things moved fairly quickly into place. The rest, as they say, is history!
Lincoln: We first met at the National University of Singapore (NUS) more than 12 years ago. We subsequently met again because Romona worked at my previous company where I still had many friends. She has such a unique name that I instantly recognised her; however, she barely remembered me. A friend mentioned that she was single at the time, but it would be another four months before I asked her out as I was often travelling for work during that period. So when I asked her out on our first date, it came as a surprise to her, but I figured things were going down a positive path when we had our second date (on the pretext of a dinner she had with a common friend) the very next day.
What was the proposal like?
Romona: Fairly romantic given that Lincoln proposed at a vantage point at the iconic Bled Castle (the oldest castle in Slovenia) overlooking Lake Bled, one of the most gorgeous lakes I’d ever seen in my life. Little did I know that on the morning of the proposal day itself, I had foiled Lincoln’s grand plan to propose to me on a gondola ride to Lake Bled. So he had to create an alternative plan fairly quickly for that afternoon. My only regret is not having a photographer capture that very special moment. But Lincoln made up for it by having us visit an old printing press at Bled Castle, and getting a master calligrapher to engrave our special engagement moment by hand with historical blocks and lead letters, using a reconstructed Gutenberg printing machine. This was old-school romance to the max!
Lincoln: I had signed up for an Ironman Race a year before the proposal. When it was time to make the trip, I thought it would be a great opportunity to propose to Romona as I wanted a place that was unique with a great view. Finally, I settled on the town of Lake Bled in Slovenia knowing that Romona had a big love for water bodies (the town had a lake as the centerpiece of the city) as well as castles. I was ecstatic when she said, “YES!”
How did end up with a marathon theme for your wedding?
Lincoln: We decided that the theme of our wedding would be “The Race Of Our Lives”. The concept of a marathon race appealed to us as avid runners and individuals who have a keen interest in sports and who believe strongly in pushing and bettering ourselves every day. Instead of the usual formalities, we also wanted to pioneer a wedding that was unique and meant something deeply to us, while making the ceremony interactive for our guests (rather than just having them as mere onlookers). After much research, we discovered that no one had created a race-themed wedding on such a large scale before, and that sealed the deal for us!
Romona: We started off with the concept of a race as we felt the metaphor of a race very aptly described marriage and its values, such as having the grit and guts to stay the course, given that marriage is a lifelong journey. We coined our wedding hashtag #TeamLincRoe because we believe that it’s only through the joint teamwork among God, husband, and wife that would see a marriage through all of life’s milestones. From there, we ideated and brainstormed on a whole slew of creative executions, which we worked very closely with our décor team from Yours Fetefully to bring to life.
What were some of the details you created?
Romona: We designed our wedding invitations as mock race bibs to pique guests’ excitement and anticipation in the lead-up to our wedding day. We had a customised inflatable marathon arch created with our #TeamLincRoe logo set up before the registration area, and created a series of personalised marathon posters with our favourite inspirational running quotes to set the overall tone and mood for our race-themed wedding. We also designed the registration area as a marathon sign-up booth, and had our guests write their well-wishes on race-tag stickers and stick them on a marathon race board. A series of sports shoe footprint stickers stuck on the floor that guided guests from the church ca rpark to the church sanctuary. We had specially-designed marathon trophy toppers on top of our ang pao boxes, and lined our pews with red thunder clappers to encourage a lively atmosphere for our guests. We used a pair of baby sports shoes to hold our rings, and had customized race ‘husband and wife’ race figures for the bridal chairs. We also created personalised trophies and medals for our families and wedding helpers as everyone was a champion at our race. Last but not least, the décor highlight for every guest was the personalised aisle conceptualised as a race track to bring to life the theme of the wedding!
What was your wedding day like?
Romona: Absolutely phenomenal and everything that we had imagined our wedding to be, if not more. Thanks to God, our wonderful Race Coordinator, Andy Chew, our magical Race design and décor team from Yours Fetefully, and all the support of our Race party and families, every single component of our wedding fell neatly into place with no mishaps. It was heartwarming and wonderful to see all the ideas and creative conceptualisation come to life with both the church and dinner ceremonies being executed to a ‘T’. We couldn’t have asked for a better start to our lifelong race together than this.
Lincoln: It almost seemed like a sprint with everything moving very fast. We’re thankful for the tremendous support in helping to see it through, from our designers, the band, our pastors, and the brothers and sisters who helped to make sure all the logistics went well. I remember 30 minutes before the ceremony began, I was in a mess trying to remember my vows with my best man trying to drill it into me. But somehow, when it was time to say my vows, I looked into my wife’s eyes and everything came back – I didn’t miss a beat, it came straight from the heart as a promise of our life together. Looking back, it seemed like it took a long time to put everything together and though it went by in the blink of an eye, it was really enjoyable. The excitement, the energy, the joy from our friends on our happy union was more than we could have ever asked for.
What was the most memorable moment of your wedding?
Romona: For me, it was when I was walking down the aisle hand-in-hand with my parents, following the bridal entourage of eight of our dearest bridesmaids and groomsmen paired with eight boys and girls. It was such a thrilling and exhilarating moment to witness all our loved ones – family, friends, and colleagues, greet us with thunderous applause and cheers against a backdrop of red thunder clappers. It was akin to the National Day Parade before the National Day Parade itself!
Lincoln: Walking down the running track with Romona after we had been pronounced husband and wife and crossing the finish line together. Another memorable moment was when Romona serenaded me with a surprise medley of songs. I was totally caught off-guard and it made a very touching item!
Can you tell us the size and cost of your wedding?
Romona: We had 600 guests at the church ceremony, and 500 guests for dinner. We spent a total of approximately $100,000.
The Gown: Custom-made wedding and evening gowns by Ted Wu // tea ceremony cheongsam by Zion Creation
The Bride’s Shoes: Kurt Geiger // Melissa Ultragirl + Cinderella // Salvatore Ferragamo
The Suit: Q Menswear
The Groom’s Shoes: Sapatero Shoe Maker in Philippines
The Engagement Ring: Private jeweller
The Wedding Bands: A’vantage Jewellery
The Bridesmaids’ Dresses: thedaintyard // Dressabelle
The Groomsmen’s Suits: From various places
The Flower Girls’ Dresses: Kiddy Palace
The Page Boys’ Suits: H&M
The Venues: Paya Lebar Methodist Church and Regent Singapore, A Four Seasons Hotel
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Jasmine Tiong The Make-up Pro
The Caterer: Mum’s Kitchen
The Wedding Cake: Regent Singapore, A Four Seasons Hotel
The Florists: hello flowers! for bridal car // DIY bridal bouquet, reception table flowers, and corsages by Karen Koh
The Event Stylist: Yours Fetefully
The Wedding Planner: Romona and Lincoln
The Photographer: Douglas Fun from Avenue 8 for actual day // John15 Photography for pre-wedding shoot // Event décor photography by Wedding Title
The Videographer: Zech Tan from Substance Films
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: Yours Fetefully for church invitations // Lil’art Cards & Bridal Favours for dinner invitations
The Band: The Worship Band from Trinity Methodist Church
The Solemniser: Reverend Alvin Chan Poh Huat
The Wedding Car: Mercedes Benz
The Audiovisuals: Jackson Tan from AVC Pte. Ltd.
The Printer: Henry Loh from Incisive Design N Print
The Race Aisle Track: Candid Sign Co.
The Inflatable Arch: Gaz Inflatables
The Balloons: Give Fun
Credits: Pre-wedding photography by John Lim Photography. Actual day photography by Douglas Fun from Avenue 8.
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