Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
February 2024
Cherylene and Mark’s Technicolour Disco-Dino Wedding at The Alkaff Mansion
Cherylene and Mark celebrated their love in a brightly coloured disco-dino wedding at The Alkaff Mansion, filled with sparkling disco balls, vibrant florals, colourful dinosaurs, and custom craft brews!
Mark, 32, Bar Owner, first caught Cherylene’s, 35, Creative Group Head, attention with his smooth shuffling skills, but they only started talking a few months later when her matchmaking friend set them up! The fun couple celebrated with a technicolour disco-dino wedding filled with bright colour, disco balls, and dinosaurs at The Alkaff Mansion on 25 November 2023, then partied the night away at Mark’s bar!
How did you two meet?
Cherylene: We first crossed paths at a drag night at Hard Rock Cafe. I was there with friends and Mark was literally dragged along by a gal pal who was celebrating her birthday. It just so happened that both our groups shared mutual connections so we got to mingle in passing that night! His shuffling skills on the dance floor caught my attention but I wasn’t really looking to pursue anything at the time.
Luckily one of my best friends thought we’d be a good match and tried to set us up during drinks a few months later! This time around I’d had enough liquid courage to confess that I thought he was cute, and we spent hours talking, just the two of us, until sunrise.
What made you fall in love with your partner?
Cherylene: He’s a very cool and collected person – the antithesis to my ball-of-anxiety nature. To be honest, in many ways we are yin and yang!
He always does his utmost to keep me grounded, cheer me on, and find new ways to make me laugh. And although he comes across very stoic on the outside, he has a softer side that I feel privileged to enjoy every day.
What was the proposal like?
Cherylene: It was low-key and intimate, partly because of COVID social distancing. I had booked a hotel staycation to celebrate my birthday with two of my closest friends; little did I know he had secretly plotted with one of them (our OG matchmaker!) to pop the question after checking in. I remember being completely caught off guard because he unexpectedly fished the ring box out of his cargo pants pocket, after making a joke about how I wish he wouldn’t wear cargo pants so much LOL.
How did you plan your technicolour disco wedding?
Cherylene: SingaporeBrides was a huge help when we were shortlisting non-hotel venues, and I loved scouring the Real Weddings section for vendor inspo!
From the get-go I knew I wanted something whimsical, colourful, and FUN. Mark isn’t too fussed about aesthetics so he left most of the styling up to me. Since we both think dinosaurs are cool, I wanted to incorporate that as a way of representing him. It ended up being a disco-dino garden party! Being a craft beer lover, Mark was keen to give out specially bottled brews as the wedding favours so we worked with a local brewery to specially bottle a batch with custom-designed labels.
What was your wedding day like?
Cherylene: We loved The Alkaff Mansion’s elegant yet rustic ambience and they were really accommodating with our guests’ dietary restrictions. Everyone loved the food. It was pouring rain on the day and we couldn’t go ahead with the garden ceremony we had wanted, but the team (along with our stylist and planner) turned things around to hold the ceremony in the dining area smoothly. We have no regrets!
The whole day was filled with silly, playful energy since Mark and I aren’t the sort to take ourselves very seriously. We just wanted to have a good time sharing food, drinks, and laughter with the people we care about. Our friend did a reading of “The Lovely Dinosaur” during the ceremony, the dinner speeches were both hilarious and heartfelt, and we surprised everyone with a video of Mark and I doing a Q&A, Hot Ones-style. The merrymaking continued on to the wee hours with an afterparty at Mark’s bar, The Coup!
What was the most memorable moment of your wedding?
Cherylene: Hearing Mark read his vows. He’s not a words person nor does he like public speaking, but he stepped out of his comfort zone to express himself in detail because he knew it would mean the world to me. I wish I could relive that moment!
On a less sappy note I also loved the death drop Mark did for the gatecrashing, and my best friend’s extremely convincing powerpoint presentation about why Mark and I are meant to be!
The Size of the Wedding: 120 guests
The Cost of the Wedding: $40,000
The Venue: The Alkaff Mansion
The Wedding Day Photographer: Rolling Pie Pictures
The Gown: The Proposal and Needle & Thread
The Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka
The Suit: Stitched
The Groom’s Shoes: WHY & Co
The Engagement Ring: Lydia Madeline Jewels
The Wedding Bands: Stale & Co
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Candy T. Makeup Artistry
The Wedding Cake: Sarah’s Loft
The Florist: WULALA!
The Wedding Stylist: WULALA!
The Wedding Planner: Holy Moly
The Pre-Wedding Photographer: Oddly Familiar Photography
The Videographer: Sloth Creatives
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: Papypress
The Wedding Favours: Niang Brewery and Dapiku Sweets
Credits: Images by Rolling Pie Pictures
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