Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
October 2017
Dex and Kenneth’s Rustic Royal Lombok Wedding with a Pool After Party
Dex and Kenneth’s Lombok wedding was an intimate celebration in a private villa filled with hanging flowers and bohemian rugs, and ended with a crazy after-party in the pool!
Chia De Xin (Dex), 28, Freelance Actor, and Kenneth Fam Weiyang, 29, Senior Sales Engineer exchanged their vows in a church wedding in Singapore, then celebrated their wedding on 22 July 2017 with only family and close friends in a gorgeous and romantic Lombok wedding filled with hanging flowers and bohemian rugs. In a private villa at Kebun Villas & Resorts, the couple made a wish on a floating lotus, created a unity monogram, drank all night and ended the night with a blow-out after party in their private pool!
How did the two of you meet?
Dex: I first saw Kenneth on Friendster around end 2005, thought he looked pretty cute, and decided to add him. He only accepted my friend request months later, although I don’t remember this. We then chatted on MSN Messenger for months until I left for Perth for further studies. Friendster died and MSN Messenger died, so we basically lost contact until Kenneth found me on Facebook through a mutual friend. Kenneth liked and commented on a few of my Facebook posts here and there, but we never really started a proper conversation until October 2014, when Kenneth uploaded a profile picture of himself with his mini birthday cake. I remember wishing him a happy birthday, and suddenly we’re talking non-stop day and night. I think our relationship is a perfect example of fate.
Kenneth: We started to talk every day since then, and started to go out together. I asked her out during her birthday, and that is when I asked her to be my girlfriend. It was after midnight when I asked her, therefore our dating anniversary is one day after her birthday.
What drew you to each other?
Dex: Kenneth wooed me for about a month or so, but I rejected him three times I think. He says he doesn’t remember but I know I kept telling him I wasn’t ready. Even my mum kept trying to persuade me into giving Kenneth a chance. What finally sealed the deal was him coming back from his trip to Taiwan with gifts not only for me but also for my two black poodles. I think it takes a lot for a guy to care about what matters to a girl while wooing her.
With that, what I really love most about Kenneth is really his patient and understanding nature. He literally goes the extra mile to put himself in my shoes and understand the situation from my point of view. His patience really makes him a cut above the rest.
Kenneth: We are very different. My primary language is Mandarin, while Dex speaks English. She stays in the east, and I stay in the west. We do not have many hobbies in common, except for drinking. There’s a saying, “A couple who drinks together, stays together.” It’s those differences that make us complement each other, and drew us closer together. She is very straightforward and able to give advice when I require it. She has her own set of PR skills which I really admire. She understands me without me having to say much. And most importantly, she is constantly trying to improve herself to improve our relationship.
What was the proposal like?
Kenneth: Prior to the proposal, I had got her parents’ approval and blessing. I proposed to her at our usual drinking place in East Coast Park, Atmosphere Bistro, where we go every Friday. The most important thing in the proposal was, of course, the ring. I had custom-made a ruby ring for her, which I think I did a great job with! The ring is really beautiful, and it was designed to sit flush with the wedding band when worn together. The next important thing is to buy a beautiful bouquet of her favourite flowers. Of course, I had worked with the boss and manager of Atmosphere for this surprise. However, after much planning, the surprise was busted…
Dex: I saw it coming! We had started planning our wedding since March 2016, before he even proposed. We had even bought our wedding bands already. So by around August, I was a bit anxious. One month later, out of nowhere, Kenneth suddenly offered to pick me from work. This is something I didn’t expect him to do because I only ask him to pick me up when I happen to be carrying a lot of things with me. I still tried to remain calm and act as if I knew nothing, but after I got in his car, he asked me to help him play Pokemon Go, which was still popular then, and when I did, I suddenly saw the staff of Atmosphere message him. I knew it then and there!
Kenneth: To cut the long story short, she saw it coming, and she purposely dressed up on that night. We reached the venue with our dogs at around 8pm, and I was, of course, very nervous. I met her family and friends at the car park at 9pm, when I picked up the flowers and the ring from the car boot. Once everyone had gathered at the back of the building, I cued the Atmosphere team to play my selected music, and slowly walked to the back of her seat. I had already arranged for someone from the bistro to get De Xin to keep her eyes closed. I slowly went up to her, and held her hand, and asked her to open her eyes, and gave a long speech before. Surprisingly, the bistro was very crowded on that day, and a lot of people cheered for us when I proposed.
Dex: I still cried. His effort really melted my heart and he even called so many of my close friends and loved ones to come witness that moment.
What inspired you to hold a destination wedding?
Dex: From the very beginning, even before getting together with Kenneth, I wasn’t very keen on a typical hotel banquet. I didn’t like the idea of spending so much money on so many tables and inviting so many people, most of whom I’m not particularly close with or rarely even talk to. I also knew it was impossible to do a small banquet as it would seem rude not to invite people you’re supposed to invite. So when Kenneth and I began talking about the possibility of marrying each other, I asked if he would be okay if we did our banquet overseas so we could invite those we were really close to and at the same time actually have fun at our banquet. Thankfully, Kenneth is always very understanding and was very open to the idea.
Kenneth: A banquet in Singapore is too common and boring, and would make the entire wedding feel like we were doing it for the sake of doing, which we did not want. Therefore, we thought of having a simple church wedding, and a destination wedding in Lombok the following week, where we only invite those who mean a lot to us.
How did you plan your wedding?
Kenneth: We had our planner Bianca, who is also the owner of our wedding venue, Kebun Villas & Resorts, Lombok, plan the entire event. We told her that we wanted something intimate, to get the guests involved as much as possible, and that those who were able to drink should be constantly served with liquor. The planning was easy because we left almost everything to our wedding planner, and she did a very good job, from the design, coordination, to the execution of our wedding!
Dex: Bianca even picked the wedding theme for me: Royal Rustic. She happened to be in Singapore when I emailed Kebun Villas & Resort to ask about their wedding package, and we met on the very same day. I had no idea what I wanted. I only knew what I did not want—a Tiffany blue theme—and that I wanted a lot of alcohol because Kenneth and I are heavy drinkers.
Bianca very patiently helped me narrow down the theme based on my favourite colour, what kind of lighting I liked, etc. Surprisingly, it was way easier planning for the destination wedding as compared to my Singapore wedding. Bianca and I kept in contact via Whatsapp and I regularly dropped her images I chanced upon that caught my eye. Eventually, Kenneth and I decided on adding some nostalgic elements to our wedding, playing songs from the 90s and before.
Bianca literally did all the work on her end in Lombok, finding the hairstylist, make up artist, florist, photographer, videographer, sound system, projector, and the list literally goes on. Kebun Villas & Resort already had an extensive menu to begin with so it was also very easy for me to pick what I wanted to be served. In the end, we had a very international menu. Even our cake flavour was picked from Gula Gila’s range of cupcake flavours! To add on to the nostalgic feel, Bianca also suggested having ice popsicles, haw flakes, and rabbit sweets for dessert and for the after party.
I finally understood why people think Bianca and I are likeminded. Based on just a few photos I sent Bianca, the set up was exactly what I had in mind if not more.
Kenneth: I guess the only worry that I had was that many of my relatives or friends wouldn’t be able to fly over to celebrate this wedding with us. I hoped that we could have at least 40 of those family and friends celebrate this with us. Initially, I thought that many of them would reject me. But in the end, we really got a lot of support from our relatives and friends! They really forked out quite a sum just to attend our wedding, which I appreciate a lot.
What was your wedding like?
Dex: Fun. With a lot of whiskey and beer. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I think I enjoyed it so much it felt like it went by in a flash. The church wedding and tea ceremony we had in Singapore felt kind of stressful, and this banquet was exactly what I needed to really celebrate our wedding.
We did the typical march-in, cutting of cake, popping of champagne, and yum seng, because some traditions are quite meaningful. It was also infused with a few Western activities like speeches from our fathers and bridal parties and also a surprise game for Kenneth and I. Bianca also added in unique elements like floating lotuses, a unity monogram, and life-sized games of tic tac toe, Jenga, and Connect 4.
I specially requested for an after party because I’ve attended many weddings where after the banquet was over, many friends leave the ballroom feeling like the night was still young and they could have had more fun. So, after we were done with the surprise game, everyone, including Kenneth and I, changed into our swim wear and jumped into the pool which was right smack in the middle of the whole venue. We even played old clubbing songs!
Kenneth: Everything was good, the weather, the crowd, the music, the ambience, and the after-party. It was definitely the best moment. We had a lot of fun, lots of drinking, and everyone jumped into the pool for our after party.
What was the most memorable moment of your wedding?
Kenneth: Definitely the speech that we made. I never thought that I would tear when giving the thank-you speech to my parents. Following that, the after party. We had a lot of fun inside the pool.
Dex: The drinking competition between Kenneth and I! It was really impromptu. During the surprise game, one of the questions was who would finish a bottle of beer faster. I thought I would, but apparently not!
The Size of the Wedding: 45
The Cost of the Wedding: SGD20,000
The Venue: Kebun Villas & Resort, Lombok
The Gowns: Bridal Place, Malacca
The Bride’s Shoes: Aldo
The Suit: Tailor-made by Ai Lee Tailor
The Groom’s Shoes: Pedro
The Engagement Ring: Diamond Gallery
The Wedding Bands: Diamond Gallery
The Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Dressily Me
The Groomsmen’s Suits: Uniqlo
The Flower Girls’ Dresses: Ezbuy
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Bride herself for makeup, Jiajia from New Charly Salon for hair
The Caterer: Kebun Villas & Resort, Lombok
The Wedding Cake: Gula Gila and Cake House Patisserie
The Florists: Mawar Saron Florist & Decoration
The Event Stylist: Bianca Fung, Kebun Villas & Resort
The Wedding Planner: Bianca Fung, Kebun Villas & Resort
The Pre-Wedding Photographer: Yossi from Timeless Photography
The Wedding Photographer: Yossi from Timeless Photography
The Videographer: Adit from Timeless Photography
The Invitations and Paper Goods: Designed by bride online, printed by HappyThought.Co
The Wedding Favours: SG Wedding Favors
Credits: Images by Timeless Photography
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