Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
July 2024
Constance and Saminda’s Sustainable, Tropical Destination Wedding Weekend in Sri Lanka
Constance and Saminda celebrated their mixed cultures in a vibrant destination wedding in Sri Lanka, where bright tropical flowers popped against the sea and sky.
Constance Cook, 32, Interior Designer at Indoor Art Studio, and Saminda Pathirana, 34, Assistant Vice President Software Engineer for Bank of Singapore, love travelling the world together. After a romantic proposal on a farm in the United Kingdom that was overheard only by donkeys, the pair decided to tie the knot in a simple ROM ceremony in Singapore where they first met, and throw a grand, two-day wedding in Sri Lanka on 4 and 6 April 2024, where they handmade many thoughtful details and sustainably sourced and repurposed items to stay true to their beliefs.
Tell us about your story.
Constance: Sam and I didn’t meet organically. It was through a dating app, and his captivating words were, “You have icy eyes,” which I couldn’t interpret as a good thing or bad. So naturally I then gave him the challenge of getting to know me.
Our dates started off easy, exploring Bugis, which soon became our favourite spot for the food. And during Covid, we started ticking off a few hotels for staycations. PARKROYAL proved to be our favourite spot, which we now return to for anniversaries.
Our first holiday was a trip to Sri Lanka and since then we haven’t stopped traveling. We managed to tour Bangkok, cruise Langkawi island, bask in Maldivian sand, climb in England, Scotland, and Wales, and celebrate our other Singaporean friends’ destination weddings in Perth and Koh Samui. Last year we did a road trip in Iceland and travelled over Europe, through Paris, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, and Sulzberg.
From the beginning Sam was kind and patient, and would spend as much time with me as possible with our busy schedules. We soon learnt that he also enjoys being creative. So, we craft together for birthdays and Christmas. We also crafted a number of items for our weddings.
We really do match each other’s personalities with our love for animals and nature. We enjoy the outdoors and trekking holidays, climbing mountains, and sightseeing. We cannot wait for the rest of the world to adventure as a married couple. 2025 is the year of our honeymoon, where we hope to get to Africa to see the big five!
What made you fall in love with your partner?
Saminda:We always say to each other that we are the same person in different bodies born miles apart. That similarity was the first reason I was falling in love with her. I was able to be silly and goofy around her and it felt natural. She is also so selfless towards animals. I remember one time she ran into incoming traffic to save a group of chicks when the mother got hit by a car, and we both spent the evening helping them cross the road, canceling our dinner plans.
It was Connie’s idea to hold the wedding in Sri Lanka so it’s easier for my parents to attend. And she’s also competitive, whether it be our boardgames or just as simple as who gets to the top of the flight of stairs first. That’s why wherever we are and whatever we do, I’m simply happy. That’s why she’ll always be my person. And the icing on the cake is, she’s gorgeous.
Constance: Sam has a certain kindness which I haven’t seen in many men in a long time. It’s almost like he’s an old-fashioned gentleman in a new, modern world. I think this is my favourite thing about him. For example, Sam will walk on the outside of the pavement so that I’m safely away from cars. He always opens the car door or any door for me. When we cycle he always makes sure I’m in front so he can see if i get in any trouble (or fall off). Sam is so thoughtful and caring and of course supportive, all of which are remarkable traits I admire. Next, he loves getting involved with my hobbies, so they become something we do together; we craft, stitch, paint, and build together.
What was the proposal like?
Constance: “Few months ago I started to think about what I will say at this moment. A few weeks ago I started to write it down. It was all about how much I love you, how much you make me happy, how you make me a better person and how incredibly beautiful you are. And it was a long speech.”
“I remembered you said no long speeches, so, anyway, I have the rest of my life to say all that to you.”
“I came across something that explains how I feel perfectly. A long time ago, wise men have said, ‘There are two most important days of a man’s life. One, The day he was born. Two, The day he figures out why.’ You are my why.”
“I love you so much. I don’t know how to say it, but I’ll show it to you every day for the rest of my life. I promise to love you everyday, I promise to love you for who you are. And I promise I’ll not forget my suit on our wedding day.”
Please make me the happiest man in the world. Will you marry me?”
These are the words Sam said to me while we were enjoying the morning dusk on a farm in the North of the UK, the only witnesses being donkeys in the neighbouring field. It was so remote and quiet, it was perfect.
Where did you decide to hold your destination wedding?
Constance: As Sam’s family is mainly still in Sri Lanka, and mine being across Singapore, Indonesia, and England, we both decided to hold the wedding in Sri Lanka. Not only is the landscape breathtaking, but it also gave everyone an excuse for a magnificent wedding.
We attended two The SingaporeBrides Wedding Fairs to get inspiration and a feel of what suppliers we had to offer. It was actually through an article I read on the SingaporeBrides website that we found GrizzyPix to be our photographer for our ROM. We held our ROM in Singapore as it would mean something to the two of us both meeting here, and once we found out we could use the Bandstand in the Singapore Botanic Gardens, we couldn’t resist getting a few outdoorsy shoots with our puppy! We kept that one small and only had my parents and Sam’s on a live video.
In Sri Lanka, we have a few favourite spots, and every town has different architecture, so it was a hard choice, but in the end we chose down south, only two hours from Colombo and remote enough to feel like we’re the only people there. Tri Lanka, in Koggala, is about 30 minutes from Galle (an old Dutch fort town) and in the middle of the jungle with a lake view. Tri Lanka was actually one of Sam’s favourite hotels when he was living in Colombo and it had been a dream of his to one day spend the night there, let alone host his wedding.
What was your wedding theme and how did you create it?
We tried going for a Bohemian Chic meets Sustainability theme. As we had held our wedding over two days, we wanted to best utilise our florals and decorations. We knew we could play around and choose two different styles for each day, but we then also wanted to do it the more economical way. Tables and chairs were reused for each day, and we kept the foliage for both days, only switching out the florals. We also had six bridesmaids. Since it was a destination wedding, no bridesmaid or guest would want to take bouquets back home with them, so we repurposed them as table and bar decorations.
We minimised our printing of menus, table numbers, and seating charts. Our Buddist Breakfast table setting was gin themed; we are collectors of gin, and we saved our empty bottles from the previous two years to reuse them as the table vases that doubled up as table names. I digitally drew each gin bottle collection, and we only printed the seating plan grouping our guests by gins. Anything we did have to print was on recycled paper and reused for the second day, and we have now made them into wall art for our home. As for our gin bottles, we are in the process of working with Refine SG to repurpose them into our new collection of cups, bowls, and vases for the home which will hold long lasting memories.
Each name tag was also the wedding favour for guests to take home: personalised key rings handmade with polymer clay.
Our Poruwa backdrop was also the backdrop for our photobooth which made the photos, I think, even more fun!
Constance: When I dreamt of my wedding as a teen, I had actually always wanted a woodland wedding filled with wildflowers. As I grew up, my tastes grew more elegant. Having two weddings really allowed me to have both looks. We wanted to make sure we used as many resources from the island of Sri Lanka, So for our woodland–now jungle–themed Sinhalese and Buddist ceremony, we made sure to use all the wildflowers of Sri Lanka. For our Western ceremony, my favourite colour is yellow, but as this was hard to match, I didn’t want to overdo it. So, we chose Sri Lanka’s yellow orchids with some natural whites to complement.
Our food again, was only sourced locally: fresh seafood from the morning catch, and common meat from the market. We made sure to use local traders rather than import fine delicacies. All our bridal gifts were handmade, I drew everyone personalised postcards as their thank you cards, I sewed personalised pyjama bags, and with my Cricut machine, we personalised champagne glasses, water flasks, sunglasses, jewellery boxes. All gifts were then small enough to travel home with our guests and gave them that personalised touch to remember the wedding. Sam, being a software engineer, built our website, with the help of me drawing all the graphics, and we made online updates with a newsletter. With all the drawings I had ever done, I created a children’s activity pack colouring book for our guests with children.
All in all, it was a lot of late nights, over two years of crafting, drawing, designing moodboards, and narrowing down our selections and ideas.
How did your wedding days go?
Both days were very full on; starting from 9.30am we both were in hair and makeup, getting all excited for our first look together. Our guests were to arrive at 4pm to refreshments and get settled for our entrances. For our Buddist wedding, we were escorted in by Kandyan drummers and dancers. This led to a few traditional blessings on their ceremony called the Poruwa, followed by our families and ourselves lighting a candle.
Constance: Later in the evening we had an amazing live band, who got me to come up to the stage and sing in Sinhalase. We made two signature cocktails named after our paw kids, Basil (cat) and Sage (dog), where everyone got a free gift each time they ordered the specials.
For our Western wedding we did another first look before the ceremony including all the bridesmaids and groomsmen, this was great fun getting in all our fun shoots with our oriental umbrellas and Vogue-type group photos. The ceremony was led by a solo sax player, and our family friend as the officiant, making the ceremony lighthearted and funny.
After the ceremony, more of my personality came out with a candy floss man serving yellow candy floss, and Sri Lankan canopies to entertain the guests while we took some couple photos with the incredible sunset. As the party entered the late hours, we had our first dance, cutting of the cake, and grand finale of setting Chinese lanterns into the sky, biodegradable of course.
The Size of the Wedding: 70-110 pax
The Cost of the Wedding: S$80k (for three events)
The Venue: Tri Lanka, Koggala, Sri Lanka
The Wedding Day Photographer: Char Cook Photography
The Gown: Customised with The Gown Warehouse, Kandyan Saree, and Dilambey Brides
The Bride’s Shoes: Handmade, New Look
The Suit: Custom made by Zuit Colombo and Namal Balachandra
The Groom’s Shoes: ASOS
The Engagement Ring: Customised with Draco Diamonds
The Wedding Bands: Customised with Draco Diamonds
The Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Customised with Dilambey Brides
The Groomsmen’s Suits: Custom made by Zuit Colombo and Namal Balachandra
The Flower Girls’ Dresses: Customised with Dilambey Brides
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Malshi in Galle
The Nail Artist: Infinity Nails in Columbo
The Caterer: Tri Lanka, Koggala Sri Lanka
The Wedding Cake: Marly Gourmet Cakes
The Florist: Local florists in Sri Lanka
The Wedding Stylist: Mainly the bride, with help from the groom
The Photobooth: V.P Photography Pop Up Studio
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: Made by the bride and groom
The Wedding Favours: Made by the bride and groom
The Band: The Warehouse Project, Minesh D, and Kavee Sax
The Solemniser: Couple’s family friend
Credits: Images by Char Cook Photography
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