Singaporebrides | Fine Dining
December 2017
Adrianne and Will’s Beautiful Wedding at The Refinery
Faith was important to Will, and it felt like a divine moment when Adrianne accepted Christ the very day he had the urge to buy an engagement ring. The couple rode up to their wedding at The Refinery on a motorbike laden with flowers, and celebrated their union in an emotional ceremony.
Adrianne Liu, 29, Marketing, and Will Tan, 29, Gymnastics Coach, Personal Trainer and Former National Gymnast, both swiped right on Tinder, and their very real conversations and strong opinions bloomed into a relationship. Although they didn’t always see eye to eye, and even walked away from the relationship at one point, Adrianne and Will had the courage to keep trying. In a divine moment, Will, a spiritual guy, decided to buy an engagement ring the very same day that Adrianne, unbeknownst to him, accepted Christ into her life. On 15 July 2017, Will rode his bike into their wedding at The Refinery, and the couple began their life together with a holy matrimony surrounded by family, friends, and lots of flowers, followed with a celebratory dinner at Grand Hyatt Singapore, where everyone could mingle over a buffet spread and fun games!
Wedding video by AndroidsinBoots
How did you meet?
Adrianne: How we met isn’t our brightest and most glorious moment. I had just recently moved out of my ex-boyfriend’s place, into a rented place with a friend. On a regular Friday evening, I just didn’t feel like going out, but I was bored. Funnily enough, that same night, my MacBook decided to crash on me, and the TV refused to work for some reason. After killing hours playing games on my phone, I finally felt like there was literally nothing left to do so I thought, “You know what? I’ll go on Tinder.”
Will’s profile on Tinder had his Instagram handle, so after swiping right, I of course checked it out for quality assurance. He checked all my boxes–not too bad looking, healthy social life, a little wild (tattoo, rides a motorbike, and enjoys nightlife), loves children, passionate about his job, and most importantly, he used good English. The most alluring thing was that he seemed like an open book: no nonsense, just keepin’ it real.
Even though his bio stated “Greatly Blessed • Highly Favoured • Deeply Loved • A Sheep That Doesn’t Bother About A Lion’s Opinion,” coupled with a number of posts that hinted that he was a Christian, I overlooked it for some reason. It’s not that I had anything against it, but it was one of those things that I didn’t want in a guy.
Anyway, I thought a male gymnast (in a leotard) was pretty amusing, so I decided to say “Hello!”
Will: I remember having our very first conversation while I was busy gaming online. I thought it was quite bold of her to say hello first, because it wasn’t conventional to me then. My first thought was, “Oh okay. This girl’s got initiative, and she looks pretty decent in her pictures,” and that’s how it kicked off. We met two days later on Sunday for our first “date” at Seah Im Food Centre (because it was close to her place). Little did I know that this bold girl who popped out of nowhere would be the amazing woman I would want to spend the rest of my life with.
What drew you to each other?
Will: The truth is, at the start I was disappointed because she looked taller in her pictures. Haha! But I really liked how chatty and “real” she was, which made our conversations very natural and two-way. Moreover, she wasn’t afraid to “offend” with her views, which made us very similar. However the main problem for me then was that she wasn’t of the same faith. So although she was very real, she also had a very negative and skeptical outlook about the general things in life, pretty much how I was like before I accepted Christ. I knew just then, if she were to just receive… we could have a great shot at many beautiful things to come.
Adrianne: I think his inner joy and big heart was what drew me in the most. His love for people and willingness to continuously bless people is what makes him so attractive. I’ve never seen someone so passionate about giving. I see it when he coaches his students–both children and adults. I don’t think he has ever ended a class early or on time, because he just wants to keep on giving. He has this wonderful dream of reaching more people and really helping and supporting them in their goals.
What was the proposal like?
Will: We dated for almost a year and had our fair share of ups and downs–downs because she was extremely mean and difficult at the start, yet somehow still irresistible. But as time went by, I noticed a change: although not altogether there yet, she became a little more positive and happier. She still wasn’t of the same faith, but somehow I felt peace that she was the one and it would be okay. So, in faith, I went to buy her a ring, even though I wasn’t too sure. I told myself, “Hey, if she isn’t the one, I guess I could keep the ring for the next girl. Haha!” The next day, she told me that she had accepted Christ the night before. She did this on the exact same day that I bought the ring! It gave me goosebumps, and I just wanted to marry her there and then. It was simply divine. I knew it was time to pop the question soon but I just needed the perfect date.
On a random morning, I woke up with an ideal date in mind; the upcoming Singapore Gymnastics Championships on 5 June 2016 which my nephew would be taking part in with me as his coach. I had a peace in my heart about that day so I decided to plan it all out.
It was the perfect opportunity to propose to her because my mum and nephew who were based in Indonesia would both be present for this competition. On top of that, Adrianne and I only started dating after I had already retired from competitive gymnastics, so I thought it would be a great way to give her a glimpse of me in action, and also in my not-so-fitting competitive gear!
So I prepared a little simple floor routine which would end with me going down on one knee, whilst my best man and brothers would be the judges for the routine. Instead of holding up multiple “10 point” score cards at the end of my routine, they held up signboards reading “Will You (Marry/Ring) Me Adrianne”.
What did you want for your wedding and how did you create it?
Will: My bike has always been a big part of my life ever since I got my license. Without it, I don’t think Adrianne and I would’ve even dated. It took us to many places, places we wanted to go, even when it rained. I wanted my bike to be involved on this special day. As for everything else, she did pretty much all of the research, shortlisted her top three picks bearing in mind my preferences for us to discuss. She took a lot of my thoughts into account when she planned. She really did her research and knew how to plan a beautiful wedding. I was honestly very impressed because we had somewhat similar taste and preferences.
Adrianne: It wasn’t easy because we knew what we didn’t want and we both knew we wanted something that was different but also reflective of us. So really, there was no clear starting point.
I’ve always disliked the idea of round tables, especially when you don’t know most of the people seated at the same table as yourself. Food was important to Will; he doesn’t like Chinese food, and has never enjoyed any past wedding experiences as a guest when it came to food. He believes that you should be able to choose what you like to eat. Putting it together, that was how we decided on having a buffet-style long table wedding for our dinner at Grand Hyatt Singapore. We also really loved the idea that our guests could move around freely and mingle.
We wanted to celebrate our marriage, and we felt the Holy Matrimony was the main essence of our wedding celebration. Doing it in the free room the hotel provided seemed a little small and insignificant, so we tried searching for churches with beautiful architecture but we were unable to find one due to various constraints. We finally decided to hold our Holy Matrimony at The Refinery because of its lovely space, with a high ceiling, a lot of bright light, exclusivity, and the fact that Will could ride his bike all the way to the entrance (because riding into hotel ballrooms was out of the question, and Sentosa was off-limits as they do not allow bikes on the island)!
How did you prepare for your wedding?
Adrianne: When I first started planning my wedding, it was very overwhelming. I recall not knowing where to start, and how to go about it. Pinterest was my biggest inspiration. The problem was that a lot of what I found on Pinterest was either too pricey, or impossible to find locally.
SingaporeBrides was my main resource in my preliminary stages of planning. The events page really helped me source for my wedding dinner venue. Through SingaporeBrides’ schedule of wedding shows, we got to know about Grand Hyatt’s 2016 Wedding Showcase. We registered through the form provided on the page, and Grand Hyatt Singapore got back to us within the same week! The articles were also an infinite pool of resource that I used as reference, in a local context (which is so so important, and really what I needed)! What I loved most was the vendor details at the bottom of the page of Real Wedding articles. #lifesaver
Ultimately, our wedding vendors really played a huge part in helping us achieve our dream wedding.
Jade Swee from Time Taken to Make a Dress brought life to the gown I wanted (an off-white bustier Berta-inspired gown that was comfortable and light, yet affordable) but couldn’t find after visiting 20 bridal boutiques.
Despite the unconventional setting at Grand Hyatt Singapore’s Gallery, Rachel Ye helped us achieve all the changes we wanted (and did it so beautifully)! All of which was made perfect by our specially made four-tier wedding cake by the talented Gina He.
I really take my hat off to 2KG Nails, whose patience and attention to detail really surpassed my expectations. They waited for me to decide on my nails even when I changed my decision seven times. Not to mention the beautiful cupcake (my nickname for Will) on my ring finger which brought so much more meaning to our wedding.
Fiona from Fiona Treadwell who really blessed us with more than we actually asked for. Her flowers were gorgeous! You really should check out her floral arch and the flowers on Will’s bike! Seeing our guests bring back as many flowers and leaves they could carry made it so much more special.
Guan Hui and Silvia from Bloc Memoire were so much of a joy to be around. Their presence sparked so much laughter, which I’m especially thankful for since I don’t smile all that much. We also can’t thank Guan Hui enough for the push Will and his best man needed to ride their bikes despite the rain. He kept saying, “It’s once in a lifetime, and you don’t want to miss this moment.” Thank God the skies cleared shortly after, and because of that, Will and Bert managed to squeeze in some bromance shots with their bikes, and fulfill his desire of riding all the way to the entrance of The Refinery. We also received many praises for our pre-wedding photos (aka our CK ad, according to one of our guests) which we played at Grand Hyatt Singapore.
Quite frankly, we knew we messed up pretty badly for our wedding video interview segment with AndroidsinBoots. Will and I were feeling slightly under the weather, and we just couldn’t get past the three crew and two cameras. It was so awkward for us. Regardless, once the day ended, we prayed about it, and left it in God’s and Androids’ hands. When William showed us a preview of the edited video about two weeks before our wedding, we were blown away by how he managed to cut the video so well that no one could tell how awkward we felt during the filming!
So finally, here’s to William and Justina from AndroidsinBoots who really went above and beyond. When it started to pour during our pre-wedding shoot, Will decided to use it to our favour and had us dance in it. When we saw William so readily run into the rain to capture every moment, it melted our hearts. Their dedication really blew us away (omg thank you guys!), and I think the video (that brought tears to many) speaks for itself. And thank you for making all our guests go, “wow” harmoniously during the bike scene. So so amazing!
What was your wedding day like?
Adrianne: Oh man Will had a lot of unfinished business. He spent the whole day before the big day rushing to get his bike polished and decorated with flowers. He had to edit certain parts of the proposal video, do up song playlists for the whole day, etc. In short, he had so many things to do at the last minute that he didn’t get any sleep the night before. Oh, and at 3am one of his brothers dropped the bomb that he would not be able to attend the wedding because the Army had called him back.
We started the day at 5am. While I was getting my hair and makeup done, the girls made life difficult for Will and the groomsmen with minimal gatecrash games where they had to do some outrageous couples yoga poses. Following which, the boys were allowed in and Will got to walk into the room and see his bride-to-be.
We left the house to do our photoshoot with the bridesmaids and groomsmen. On the way to the photoshoot venue, it started to rain. Even though the wet weather plan was to ditch the bikes, Will and his best man decided to take a leap of faith and rode down to our photoshoot venue in the rain (true bromance). It had been raining consecutively for the past week, but we prayed for good weather and true enough, the skies cleared up midway through the shoot even though the men were somewhat drenched. Will received the pictures of their bike shots from Bloc Memoire and absolutely loved it. It was a memorable adventure that won’t be forgotten.
After the photoshoot, we went down to The Refinery for the Holy Matrimony followed by a lunch reception with our immediate family members and our church care group members. It was an intimate session where we got to exchange our vows in front of a beautifully made flower arch by Fiona Treadwell. After our special moment, we did our march out and our church friends threw confetti over us. We got to enjoy great company over the lunch, and it was especially heartwarming to have both of my grandmothers at the wedding, one of whom is turning 99 this year!
Will: There was a three-hour rest between the lunch reception and tea ceremony at 530pm. I spent most of this time writing a speech for dinner because it was not done yet! The tea ceremony was a lovely reunion where we got to see some relatives whom we hadn’t seen in a long while.
The dinner banquet began at 630pm, it was a long-table international buffet at Grand Hyatt Singapore, which is well known for its delicious food. True enough, they delivered according to our expectations. The whole evening was accompanied by fun games and great food, and we were glad when many of our guests told us that they thoroughly enjoyed this different wedding experience.
What was the most memorable moment of the wedding?
Will: Honestly, the whole day was very memorable. Every single event and even the rain we were hoping to avoid ended up giving our special day so much more meaning. Everything turned out so well. The photos were beautifully taken, the food was great, guests were happy, and my Army-bound groomsman eventually made it for the event. There was a series of emotions throughout the whole day. But I guess, to be a little more specific, the most memorable moment was when I broke down in tears just as I was about to put on her wedding ring. I saw that she had a cupcake (her nickname for me) painted on her ring finger and it meant so much to me.
I saw a whole lot of happy moments spent with Adrianne just encompassing the ring as I slipped it on. It was unexplainable.
Adrianne: When Will wept (okay fine, teared) after seeing the cupcake on my ring finger.
The Size of the Wedding: 210 guests
The Cost of the Wedding: $70,000 to $80,000
The Venue: The Refinery for holy matrimony // The Gallery at Grand Hyatt Singapore for dinner
The Gown: Jade from Time Taken to Make a Dress
The Bride’s Shoes: Aldo
The Suit: Tailor On Ten, Bangkok
The Engagement Ring: Les Precieux
The Wedding Bands: Les Precieux
The Pre-Wedding Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: TangYong Hair & Makeup
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: TangYong Hair & Makeup
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist for Family: Priscilla Er
The Pre-Wedding Nail Artist: 2KG Nails
The Nail Artist: 2KG Nails
The Wedding Cake: Gina He
The Florist: Fiona Treadwell
The Pre-Wedding Photographer: Guan Hui and Silvia from Bloc Memoire Photography
The Wedding Photographer: Guan Hui and Silvia from Bloc Memoire Photography
The Videographer: Willian and Justina from AndroidsinBoots
The Photobooth: Hello Forever
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: DIY
The Red Packet Box: Common Hands
The Solemniser: Pastor Gabriel from New Creation Church
The Wedding Resource: SingaporeBrides
Credits: Images by Bloc Memoire Photography
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