Singaporebrides | Fine Dining
November 2017
Freida and Winson’s Beautiful Sky Garden Wedding at iFly Singapore
Freida and Winson exchanged tearful vows in a beautiful rooftop garden wedding at iFly Singapore, overlooking stunning views of the ocean.
Freida and Winson got engaged in Taiwan, where Winson surprised Freida in a Winnie the Pooh costume and a custom Winnie the Pooh ring! Over an emotional exchange of vows, the couple tied the knot on 28 May 2017 in a beautiful Sky Garden wedding at iFly Singapore.
How did you meet?
Winson: Well, it started over coffee. But unlike the typical “love over coffee” story, I don’t drink coffee, so there was no such scene where the both of us are staring into each other’s eyes.
We met when Freida came to Singapore for her university’s internship at the start of 2014. As fate would have it, Freida served as a restaurant’s operation intern at the company where I was working. However, the both of us were not in the same department; I was with the marketing department while Freida would spend most of her time at the café. There wasn’t much of an opportunity for us to interact in that sense.
One day, I went down to the café and asked Freida to brew me a cup of coffee. My intention was to post a cup of coffee on the café’s Instagram feed. She made me a cup of coffee, and I left after taking a photo of it. Still sort of romantic isn’t it? She made me a cup of coffee, haha!
Freida: After handing him the cup of coffee that I had brewed and completed with latte art, he asked me to have the latte art removed because he only wanted plain white froth. I was rather disappointed and a tad annoyed by him, thinking, “Okay, this guy is a bit irritating. What a waste of my effort.” How is that romantic? He didn’t make a really good first impression!
Winson: I guess we can say that’s the prelude of our bitter-to-sweet romance. In my defense, I was just trying to get the job done!
What drew you to each other?
Winson: So now we know that the first interaction didn’t go too well. History would have been very different if it wasn’t for my boss arranging for me to take Freida and another intern out for sightseeing. We can call that the “second opportunity.”
Freida texted me on the eve of Chinese New Year in 2014, and asked if I will be bringing them out during the festive season. Through just messaging each other, I was impressed by her command of the English language.
After the initial sightseeing trip, I followed her on Instagram and saw a post of hers that really caught my attention. It was a post about a couple’s public display of affection at a bus stop near Bugis, and how she felt disgusted about how un-cultured the kids were. It made me realise we have common opinions. That really is the one thing I love most about her. We share very similar wavelengths in our ideas and speech. In fact, we often find ourselves saying the exact same word or sentence at the same time. That was the primary push factor for me to acknowledge that I was attracted to her.
Freida: Yes, I think we can agree that our second chance was given by our boss, but I was also the one who took the first step to initiate the endless conversation between us, although my intention was to check if he would bring us around on the first day of Chinese New Year 2014!
What really drew me to him was his care towards me. He fought for me when I was experiencing work harassment from a colleague, even though we barely knew each other. Till now, he is doing the same for me! I still remember he came to my block the second night that Chinese New Year, just to give me aloe vera cream after I told him that I was bitten by some insects. I was so touched that he came all the way, but later I realised that his place is only a couple of blocks away from the place I was renting for my internship.
That’s another reason that made us think we were fated! This “Cancerian” man really knows how to take care of people. I also love our chemistry; we often say or type the same word or even a whole sentence at the same time, and it really made us feel that we were made for each other.
What was the proposal like?
Winson: The idea of us settling down was made known to both our parents in early 2016, and plans were well underway by the middle of 2016 for our big day in May 2017. All these took place despite the fact that I had yet to make any formal proposal. Freida isn’t someone who fancies diamond rings or elaborate proposals, but still, I thought it would be nice for her to have them. After all, she would only get proposed to once in this lifetime, and I didn’t want to deprive her of that moment. So, in July 2016, I started brainstorming about the proposal ring. I wrote to a few jewelers in Singapore and sent them draft designs before I finally settled on Michael Trio.
Freida is a HUGE fan of Winnie the Pooh. So, I guess there is no need to describe the ring design. Once the ring was done, I decided that since we were returning back to Taiwan for our pre-wedding photoshoot, and to celebrate Freida’s birthday on 25 November, I should just propose to her in front of her friends and family on her birthday. With the help of a colleague, I managed to purchase a life-size Winnie the Pooh costume.
For the proposal, I also engaged a guitarist and videographer, and liaised with the café by the Love River at Kaohsiung, Taiwan. On the day itself, I got her close friends to take her out, while I pretended to be sick and stayed in. While she was out, I made final adjustments to the presentation slides that I had prepared showing our journey together, and headed off to the café first to set up and rehearse with the guitarist.
The plan was for her friends to take her to the café, and the first surprise was for me to come in with someone else wearing the Winnie the Pooh costume while I come in with the birthday cake. After the cake surprise, it would be my turn to get into the costume. I would then re-appear as Pooh and sing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” After that, I went backstage, got changed, and came out to pop the question on bended knee. She said, “Yes!”
Were you surprised, Frieda?
Freida: He secretly gathered my parents, grandma, relatives, and friends to celebrate my birthday, and the most surprising part was that he did almost everything by himself–when he is actually not really good at communicating in Mandarin. He found the videographer, liaised with the café’s owner, discussed and practised with the guitarist; he even purchased a giant Winnie the Pooh mascot costume from Taobao! Although I’m not into diamond rings, he customised a Winnie the Pooh diamond ring for me, one that is really the only one on earth, and that’s very touching. He was actually sick after we went back to Taiwan, so he used that as an excuse by telling me to celebrate with my friends during the day, and when he felt better we would watch a movie together at night.
One of my friends suggested going to the café near the Love River in Kaohsiung, which is also near the place where my dad was a street artist. My friend insisted we go to the cafe to watch the live band performance. After we reached the café, the guitarist suddenly asked, “Is anyone celebrating their birthday today?” And of course, my friends all pointed at me. While the guitarist was singing the birthday song, two of my other friends who told me they wouldn’t be able to join actually turned up! They were actually already at the café helping Winson to track our movements.
Winson then showed up with a Pooh cake, a Pooh mascot worn by my mom’s colleague, and also my family and relatives! It was such a surprise for me that I started to cry. After several rounds of them singing the birthday song and taking photos, Winson brought the Pooh back to the small room. To my surprise, it was his turn to go in to the costume! Despite being unwell, Winson came out running, dancing, and finally he sang me the song, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” I really couldn’t take my eyes off his adorable dance movements in the Winnie the Pooh costume!
After his performance, a video montage which was prepared by Winson was aired. It contained photos of our journey together, all captioned in Mandarin, and yes, the video was done by him as well. That to me was totally impressive. Finally, he came out like a Prince Charming, popped the question, and I said, “YES!” As a girl, I had watched and imagined several proposal scenarios, but this was one of a kind, and I loved it!
What was your wedding theme?
Winson: Much of the styling and the central theme came from Freida. She had envisioned a rustic, country wedding and with that, we went on to websites like Pinterest and with months of information collation, we created our wedding moodboard.
Freida: I dreamed of a rustic, country wedding, and hoped my wedding could be like a simple party, where people can eat, drink, dance, and enjoy the night. I do appreciate that Winson graciously allowed me to do what I want for the wedding most of the time, but he was also the one who constantly reminded me not to overspend.
Most of the wedding planning was done by the both of us; from the invitation card’s design to how the banquet should be. It cost us quite a bit of time trying to finalise everything, despite us planning more than one year in advance. Winson was the one who did more of the planning stuff–budget list, guest list, video and photography list—while I took on the master curator role, which sounds powerful, doesn’t it!
Tell us about your wedding day.
Winson: It was absolute madness. I had to drive around Sentosa at three in the morning, trying to find a place that sells oranges because the bride and her girlfriends had forgotten about them. Like many other couples the day before their weddings, we only caught one to two hours of rest. But with the adrenaline, we did manage to pull through. Our friends and family were awesome. The day would have its share of hiccups and imperfections, yet we still felt that it was, in the end, the kind of wedding we were expecting to have.
Freida: Haha, yes! It was a really crazy day. It’s really not easy to do everything when you are the bride and groom. Luckily, I had Winson by my side to hold everything together when things went south. So I felt really bad when we were already so tired, and I had forgotten to buy the oranges that we needed the next morning! I only realised at 3am too. I think Winson really wanted to kill me at the moment, but he managed to get those oranges, so three cheers for him!
Lastly, I am extremely grateful to have our family and friends with us. They were really helpful on our big day. Even though there were so many surprises that day, I still love how our wedding was. There were a lot of heart-warming moments, and from the looks on our guests’ faces, we could tell that they too had enjoyed our wedding. It was a great feeling.
What was the most memorable moment of your Sky Garden wedding?
Winson: Driving around at three in the morning alone looking for oranges in Sentosa. Jokes aside, it was during the exchanging of the vows when I was caught off-guard by how emotional one could get when delivering vows. Previously, when we discussed this segment, I was rather adamant that I wouldn’t be able to portray much emotion. But of course, that was not how things turned out to be. I was barely holding myself together. So that is definitely the most memorable moment – saying my vows to my life partner. It didn’t matter what had taken place leading up to that very moment, because the vow should be the standard moving forward.
Freida: There were two uniquely memorable moments for me. One is when Winson came into my room after the gatecrash, presented the bouquet to me, and we looked into each other’s eyes. All the memories came rushing back, and all the tiredness and disagreements we both shared during the wedding preparation just didn’t matter anymore. I thought, “So long as the person whom I was going to spend the rest of my life with is me, then I think it’s worth going through this rollercoaster ride of ours. The other time was during the exchange of the vows.
I think we might be one of the more “dramatic” couples, especially Winson. It’s quite normal for me to be emotional as I’m always an emotional person. Winson, who was quite confident that he wouldn’t cry on our wedding day, was struggling to get through his vows! I think he was surprised by himself as well!
The Size of the Wedding: 135 pax
The Cost of the Wedding: $45,000
The Venue: iFly Singapore Sentosa
The Gown: Dolce Vita Couture, Malaysia
The Bride’s Shoes: Shinkong Mitsukoshi Department Store, Taiwan
The Suit: Red Dot Bespoke
The Groom’s Shoes: Blackbrown
The Engagement Ring: Michael Trio
The Wedding Bands: Cartier
The Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Zara and Taobao
The Groomsmen’s Suits: Uniqlo
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Evan.Y Makeup & Hair Designer, Taiwan
The Nail Artist: M.Nail Singapore
The Caterer: OC Weddings
The Wedding Cake: Cloud9 Bake Shop
The Florist: OC Weddings
The Wedding Stylist: Bride and groom
The Wedding Planner: Bride and groom
The Pre-Wedding Photographer: SunRoom7 Studio, Taiwan
The Wedding Photographer: Darren and Jade Photography
The Videographer: Sense Gallery
The Photobooth: Bride and groom
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: Bride and groom
The Wedding Favours: OC Weddings
The Solemniser: Mr. Chiang Heng Liang
The Wedding Car Rental: Bride and groom
The Wedding Emcee: Ben Logan from Blink Events & Entertainment
The Official Hotel for Taiwanese Guests and Venue of Gate Crash & Tea Ceremony: Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa
The Reception’s Dessert Bar: Bloomsbury Bakers
The Canvas Photo Prints: P & L Printing, Malaysia
The Wedding Resource: SingaporeBrides
Credits: Images by Darren and Jade Photography
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