Sean + Shiyan // Directed By Yang of Substance Films

How did your story begin?

Shiyan: I was introduced to Sean through my best friend, Ashley. It was in 2014 when Sean and I had returned to Singapore from completing our bachelor’s degrees in Boston and Melbourne respectively. Right off the bat, Sean was forward in getting to know me and asking me out. Before we knew it, we had hit it off so well that we had been dating for a year, until long-distance would become a running theme in our relationship.

A year into our relationship, Sean had to leave to pursue his MBA in Los Angeles for two years and we had to transition to a long-distance relationship in different time zones. Upon graduating, Sean returned to Asia, to the same time zone that I was in. However, it was still not all plain sailing as Sean had to spend a good portion of his time with his business outside of Singapore. Despite the distance, our relationship strengthened as we grew stronger not only as a couple but as individuals.

What made you fall in love with your partner?

Shiyan: Initially, it was his radical candour and deadpan dry wit. I mean it was so bad that I found myself laughing hysterically every time we hung out. Sean has always had the ability to make me laugh and there is never a dull moment with him. He is also very patient with me; for instance, during our snowboarding trips, he would tirelessly wait for me on the slopes no matter how long I took or how cold it was.

As we progressed into our long-distance relationship, we had to cultivate a high level of trust and independence from each other. In retrospect, this actually forced us to grow not only stronger as individuals, but also more steadfast as a couple. Because we knew that our time together physically was limited, we were more mindful and conscious about spending it in the right way. At the same time, we were working on ourselves as individuals.

What was the proposal like?

Shiyan: It was romantic but not like what it seemed. Sean proposed to me in the lavender fields of Provence, in the south of France. Prior to the south of France, we were in Ibiza with friends, so I had never suspected that we were on a “proposal trip”. That day in Provence, Sean stopped by a lavender field on the pretext of taking some shots with the camera tripod that he had set up. As he ran over to join me in the picture, I saw him reach into his pocket and go down on his knee. He gave a speech that made me cry, and then I saw many ants and bees starting to make their way up his body as he was on his knee. A tad freaked out from the bugs, I said yes quickly and yelled at him to get up!

After the proposal, Sean revealed to me his other proposal plan that he did not go through with. The night before, we stayed in a 1,000-year-old castle and Sean thought that it would have been memorable to propose there. However, he decided against it as he thought the castle was kind of creepy.

What was your wedding theme?

Our wedding theme was modern luxe. We were inspired by the elegant architecture in one of our favourite cities in the world, Paris, and the majesty of the Aegean sea in Santorini when we were on our pre-wedding photography trip.

I used SingaporeBrides to build up my wedding inspiration moodboard. Overall, the floral styling was the trickiest for me as I could not make up my mind on what flowers to choose. SingaporeBrides was my watering hole, as I was scouring your fresh and stylish content to help me get floral ideas and styling concepts.

What was your JW Marriott Singapore wedding day like?

Shiyan: As clichéd as it may sound, our wedding day was everything that we had wanted and more. Seeing our loved ones from all over the world together in Singapore celebrating our wedding, was the most meaningful to us. In addition to our 200 local guests, we had 100 guests who flew in from many different countries, mainly the United States. As you can imagine, we were not only managing the wedding itinerary but also the accommodations and transport for overseas guests. Suffice to say, everything came together smoothly with the invaluable help from our families.

Our wedding ceremony started at Chijmes Hall and it was a memorable one for our overseas guests as they were excited to be in the same venue where the Crazy Rich Asians movie was filmed. In the evening, we hosted our wedding banquet at the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach Grand Ballroom. It was a breeze working with the JW Marriott Singapore wedding team as they were on top of their game and even nailed our ballroom styling. We chose JW Marriott Singapore’s ballroom because techie Sean was amused by their giant LED screen, and I personally love their forest of light ceiling installation.

Stepping into the ballroom, we felt like we were being transported to another galaxy. We leveraged our pre-wedding photos and used them for the giant LED screen so that guests could “travel” with us throughout our journey to France and Greece, countries that hold a special place in our hearts.

After our wedding day in Singapore, we flew with 90 guests to Bali for our official after party in a villa perched on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean, mountains, and rice fields on the West Coast of Bali. It was rather majestic as we were able to kick back and catch up with our dearest friends while gazing out into the epic-ness of the ocean.

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What was the most memorable moment of your wedding?

Shiyan: Sean and I had so much fun during our first dance. We had two parts to our dance. For the first part, we danced to “La Vie En Rose” while re-creating a Paris cinematic vibe with a black and white photo of us on the LED screen dancing in front of the Eiffel Tower.

For the second part, we chose “Forever” by Gesaffelstein, who is coincidentally a French DJ. I was expecting us to forget our moves but I couldn’t be prouder of Sean leading me and nailing it with the dance steps. If you know him, he’s not one to take up dancing classes, so completing this was a huge achievement. Needless to say, we were successful in surprising our parents as they had not expected this from us at all.

The Size of the Wedding: 300+
The Venue: Chijmes Hall and JW Marriott Singapore South Beach
The Wedding Day Photographer: Lightedpixels Photography
The Wedding Day Videographer: Substance Films
The Gown: First gown by Galia Lahav // Second gown by JessicaCindy // Cheongsam by Cinobi
The Bride’s Shoes: Stuart Weitzman and Tote Shoes
The Suit: Dylan & Son
The Groom’s Shoes: Custom-made
The Engagement Ring: Jeweller in New York
The Wedding Bands: Jeweller in New York
The Flower Girls’ Dresses: Bloom
The Page Boys’ Suits: Bloom
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Shaun Lee as makeup artist for actual day // Gary Low from Passion Salon as hairstylist for actual day // Cynderella for pre-wedding
The Caterer: JW Marriott Singapore South Beach
The Wedding Cake: JW Marriott Singapore South Beach
The Florist: CC Lee Designs, Floral Magic
The Wedding Coordinator: Holy Moly
The Pre-Wedding Photographer: Lightedpixels Photography for Santorini // The Paris Photographer for Paris
The Photobooth: Cheese Effects Photobooth
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: Dreamweavers
The Wedding Favours: Dreamweavers
The Band: Saxophonist – Edmund
The Solemniser: Family friend
The Bali After Party Photographer: Maxtu Photography

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Credits: Images by Lightedpixels Photography

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