Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
March 2023
Vivian and Nicklaus’s Fun and Nostalgic Pre-Wedding Shoot in Vibrant Traditional Chinese Outfits
Vivian and Nicklaus’s pre-wedding shoot perfectly captured their fun-loving personalities and everlasting love.
Vivian Tan, 27, Banker, and Nicklaus Neo, 27, Founder of Forwardier, made a pact during their secondary school years to remain as friends until their GCE ‘O’ Level examinations were over. Since then, the pair has been together through the different periods of life in the last decade. After a romantic proposal down memory lane, Vivian and Nicklaus decided to immortalise their love in a fun and nostalgic pre-wedding shoot that incorporated their love story and lively personalities.
Share with us your story.How did the two of you meet?
Vivian: Nicklaus and I were in the same class for the first two years of our secondary school life. We were best friends and often played Maplestory and chat on MSN Messenger together after school, and helped each other in our studies using our different strengths (he was good in Mathematics and I was stronger in Languages).
Although we were as close and attached to each other as best friends can be, we were too young to know what love was. It wasn’t until we moved to different classes in secondary three that we realised that we had feelings for one another and missed each other’s company a lot.
You can say absence made our hearts grow fonder and we often texted and checked in on one another frequently. In order not to let our feelings affect our studies, we promised to reconcile this feeling with one another after our ‘O’ Levels in 2012, and got together officially on 19 February 2013, and have been very much attached to one another ever since.
What drew you to each other?
Vivian: I don’t know if you can call it love at first sight, but I genuinely enjoyed Nick’s company. He is the most patient and down-to-earth person I have ever met, and I am really lucky to be loved by such a kind soul. He is very selfless and he always puts me in front of anybody or anything else. We kind of complement one another because I am very outspoken and impatient in general (I am a Taurus), while Nick on the other hand is more reserved and calm (Nick is a Pisces). In a way, I think we make the best team because we respect one another and we always consult each other before we make any small or big decisions in life together.
Nick: I believe that we both were not aware of when we started to develop feelings for each other. But what I know is that we were there for each other through thick and thin, and most importantly, we genuinely cared for one another. Vivian is someone who is really helpful, outgoing and bubbly in nature. I guess it was her personality and company which fostered the feeling of affection.
What is it about your partner that you love the most?
Vivian: His patience, his love for me, how he loves and dotes on my family like his own, his genuine heart, his pure intention, how he always puts me first, how he always thinks for me and of me, how he trusts me with everything in his life, how even before we got engaged his first gift for me after he started working was a sub-card to his credit card, how he always fetches me to and fro work and appointments as and when he has time, how he always helps me with all the errands in life, how he puts anything that is important to me important to him as well.
I also love how he takes all my requests seriously, how he listens to all my rants, how he motivates me when I am down, how he acts silly with me. All these big and small things, I am thankful and grateful for. The list can go on and on, I am never thankful enough to have his love. There is just so much love I have for this guy right here, and I am honestly the luckiest when I am with him.
Nick: Her beautiful smile and laughter. Honest, genuine and filial personality. How she prioritises and includes the both of us in everything that we do. How we are able to open up to one another and recap our work day together. How she groomed me into the man I am today, and most importantly, dotes on me unconditionally. Her kindness and beautiful heart is what makes everything okay. How we compromise with each other and accept the flaws that we have. How she wants the best of me and never fails to stop trying. I am too blessed and thankful to have a partner like Vivian.
What was the proposal like?
Vivian: After over nine years together, he proposed on my birthday in 2022. I am thankful to my best friend, Peach, and all his brothers (our secondary school clique) for their help in setting up the proposal.
Nick: It was super hot and sunny, but it was all worthwhile! The proposal took place at Canterbury Road and the theme was “A Walk Down Memory Lane” where the photos chosen were the milestones we had gone through together since Secondary 1. The main idea and inspiration was to walk Vivian down memory lane as we walked down the slope of Canterbury Road, to reminisce about the past 13 years since we met.
The brothers and I arrived in the afternoon to set up and prepare for the big event. Lots of preparation, planning and coordination were done beforehand and all the decorations used were ordered directly from Taobao. Thankfully, Vivian did not suspect anything as her best friend, Peach, helped to craft a beautiful lie. As we walked down the hill of Canterbury Road, towards the proposal site, it felt like only the both of us were present as I was too engrossed in remembering the speech that I had crafted for her. It was a magical moment no words can be used to describe. All-in-all, everything went well and we finally got engaged! I am thankful for the help of everyone who was involved!
Tell us about your pre-wedding shoot. How did you decide on the theme, and was it difficult to source for your outfits?
Vivian: We didn’t think of a theme in particular, but I’ve always loved the traditional Chinese culture and costume, so when I came across this 国潮风 wedding photo shoot in China on social media, I was really tempted to fly over to get my pre-wedding shoot done as well! However, due to the COVID-19 lockdown, we couldn’t travel to China.
Thanks to my ever spontaneous husband, Nick, who was ready for my funny ideas and requests, we went to four locations for our pre-wedding shoot. One of the locations we went was the secondary school we met and fell in love at. Most of our teachers were still teaching at the school, so it was good to go back. Freddy from FreddyWong Photography then suggested we head to Joo Chiat for our casual photoshoot, and we ended the day at Marina Cruise Center, watching the sunset together.
To prepare for the shoot, we sourced for our outfits from Taobao by ourselves, since Nick is doing freight forwarding business from China to Singapore.
Tell us about the day of your pre-wedding shoot. Did you meet any obstacles or challenges during the shoot?
Vivian: Thankfully, it was bright and sunny throughout during our pre-wedding shoot. I would say we didn’t meet any obstacles or challenges; we really had the A-team for the shoot. Freddy was very professional, and he guided us with all the poses and he even got down on the ground to capture certain angles for us. He is very talented, humble and genuine, and we were very thankful that we found and engaged him for our pre-wedding shoot and actual day wedding.
Our makeup artist, Gaby was also extremely helpful and down-to-earth. She arrived early in the morning for our hair and makeup, and was very spontaneous throughout the entire day, and helped me take plenty of behind-the-scenes videos and photos which were very precious to us. And also, a special shout-out to our girlfriend, Jasreen, who followed us throughout the day and helped with the behind-the-scenes photos and videos!
Share with us a funny/memorable moment from your pre-wedding shoot.
Vivian: Freddy was very engaging and funny! He really made us laugh naturally throughout the shoot. Returning to our secondary school was also very memorable. We visited the classroom from our lower secondary days where we first met, and it was very nostalgic to be sitting back in the same seats 13 years apart. Seeing Nick dress up in our secondary school uniform also brought back so many memories.
Do you have any advice for couples who are planning for their pre-wedding shoot/wedding?
Vivian: Just enjoy the process! Expect the unexpected and don’t be too stressed out in the process of your planning. Don’t forget to enjoy each other’s company as well!
Lastly, a pre-wedding shoot is really extremely mentally and physically draining, but my team of people – Nick, Freddy, Gaby and Jasreen, made everything fun and worth it. Seeing all the photos Freddy took during our pre-wedding shoot makes me feel very overwhelmed with emotions as well, because he captured our love perfectly.
The Pre-Wedding Venue: Joo Chiat, Pei Hwa Secondary School, Marina Cruise Center
The Bride’s Outfits: Rico-A-Mona
The Groom’s Outfits: Assemble
The Pre-Wedding Photographer: Freddy Wong Photography
The Hair and Makeup Artist: By Gaby Tan
The Wedding Bands: Vivo Diamonds
The Wedding Resource: SingaporeBrides
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