Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
November 2024
Gina and Melvin’s Pastel Garden Wedding in Revelry Hall
Gina and Melvin celebrated their love in a sacred ceremony in Thomson Road Baptist Church followed by a beautiful garden wedding in Revelry Hall.
Gina, 26, Nurse, and Melvin, 26, Investment Analyst had known of each other since they were in junior college, but only met officially on a dating app years later. Love kindled during the pandemic restrictions, when their initial group meetings had to be resized into pair-only dates! Their beautiful surprise proposal in a garden villa inspired their garden-themed wedding in Revelry Hall, Oasia Resort Sentosa on 21 September 2024, a creative and joyous affair full of fun trivia, scratch card games, and rubber duckies that made for a memorable night.
How did you meet each other?
We had known of each other since we were 17 through mutual friends in junior college, but never really got introduced. We followed each other on Instagram as well. In 2020, we officially met on a dating app. Our love story is a little peculiar and out of the norm. We had decided from the get-go that we wanted to get to know each other slowly and allow our trusted friends into the process. Eventually, we decided to meet in a group for the first time, and that went on for about five months. Thereafter, another COVID rule came into place, and to Melvin’s relief, we were allowed to hang out only in pairs. We started going out for dinners on our own, and love kindled. We were sure of each other, knowing we were compatible in our personalities and beliefs! We got together one year after matching online in December 2021, made lots of memories, and he proposed one and a half years later, in June 2023!
What made you fall in love with your partner?
Gina: I love that Mel is an intentional guy. He goes out of his way and comfort to be intentional with not just me, but others around him as well. He is also very loving towards me, giving in to almost every request I had for the wedding as he knew how much it would mean to me.
Melvin: I love Gina because she is perfect for me, plus she’s beautiful!
What was the proposal like?
Gina: I loved it! It was perfect and way better than I could expect or imagine. Mel had brought me out for lunch at the place he asked me to be his girlfriend in Sentosa, and I did not suspect anything as the plot was that we were going to our friend’s yacht birthday part after. Afterwards, we got into a cab, and we started driving to the location.
The surprise didn’t go through, and I found out in the cab because I could recognise that we were driving down the wrong road. Mel freaked out, and I could tell from his face. He then blindfolded me, and when we arrived, my friends led me somewhere. When they let me remove my blindfold, I found myself in a villa at Gardens by the Bay, and attached to the little villa was a garden where he was standing with a beautiful setup full of the prettiest flowers and holding the prettiest bouquet. Our friends and family were all there, witnessing the moment. We then had a celebration, with dinner that he catered for everyone. It was the most perfect day.
What was your wedding theme, and how did you create it?
Gina: Our wedding was garden-themed, with lots of wild foliage mixed with pops of pastel hues, inspired by the proposal. We wore lots of earth tones, and the bridal team was in dark brown—my favorite colour—for the church wedding. I also DIY-ed the reception table, from the angbao box to the mirror where guests could take a “fit check” picture, and sourced all the photo frames and other decor myself; I thoroughly enjoyed it.
SingaporeBrides was super helpful during our wedding planning, especially during the initial parts of our planning when we were looking for venues and vendors. It has everything on the website. We found the linked PDFs of the venue packages especially useful and had an easier time planning using the website as information was conveniently accessible for us. The stories of real weddings were also an inspiration for us as we saw how each wedding was uniquely different and personal for each couple.
What was your wedding day like?
Gina: We had two sessions on the wedding day: a church ceremony with about 320 guests at Thomson Road Baptist Church and a dinner banquet with 160 guests at Revelry Hall, where we stayed at Oasia Resort Sentosa. The morning session was endearing and sacred, with our families and friends witnessing our exchange of vows—a life-changing moment.
The night session, on the other hand, showcased our playful and energetic personalities and relationship dynamic; there was never a dull moment. We had four games personalised to us as a couple, and it was fun, noisy, and chaotic. My favourite game has got to be the first one, where we played trivia with a little twist. We had prepared each banquet table with three rubber duckies each, one big and two small. To play the trivia game and answer the question flashed on the screen, the table had to make the most noise by squeaking the ducks as loudly as possible. The one holding the biggest duck answers and wins a prize, and the entire table gets an extra lucky draw slip each. We chose the ducks as a fun nod to both of our family surnames of “Quek.” Overall, the wedding day was one filled with warmth, and I truly never wanted it to end! It was the best day of my life so far.
Melvin: My favourite game was the secret game, where Gina and I surprised everyone, even our emcees, who were our friends. There was an envelope filled with scratch cards hidden under one seat at each table, and the aim was to “Find the Bride.” Gina found circular scratch stickers online and saw an idea from Pinterest, so we designed and customised cards with my face as well as Gina’s face. We then pasted the scratch stickers over the faces and randomly distributed them into envelopes; there were only three cards with Gina’s face, making only three people winners! The rest of the room were disappointed to see my face after scratching the card. I found that pretty amusing and fun.
What was the most memorable moment of your wedding?
Gina: For me, it was the moment when everyone started squeaking the ducks (and screaming) during the first game, and complete “organised chaos” ensued. Mel said to me, “Isn’t this exactly what you imagined?” I was filled with so much satisfaction, and the sight made me laugh so hard. I had gone over this game many times in my head while planning, and each time, I laughed while imagining it, so having it come to life was so fun for me.
Mel: I think the most memorable moment for me was during the first look. While I was waiting for Gina, I felt the weight of what we were about to enter into, a holy matrimony, fall upon my shoulders. It is a feeling I never want to forget.
The Size of the Wedding: 320 guests for solemnisation and 160 guests for reception
The Cost of the Wedding: $85,000
The Venue: Revelry Hall, Oasia Resort Sentosa
The Wedding Day Photographer: Smittenpixels Co.
The Gown: Bridefully Yours for solemnisation and Truly Enamoured for reception
The Bride’s Shoes: Machino
The Suit: Ron & Rich
The Groom’s Shoes: CNES
The Engagement Ring: JannPaul Diamonds
The Wedding Bands: We had these custom made with our friend’s father who is a jeweller!
The Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: The Radiant People and Viv’s Beauty Notes
The Nail Artist: The Belle Studio
The Caterer: Manna Pot Catering for solemnisation
The Florist: Bucket Full of Roses
The Wedding Stylist: Gina
The Wedding Planner: Gina
The Proposal Photographer: Ambershots
The Pre-Wedding Photographer: Rytoneco and a casual shoot by our friend, Xylia
The Videographer: Smittenpixels
The Wedding Invitations and Stationery: Sonder By Co
The Wedding Favours: Mr Bucket bonbons and Pryce tea tins, and Gina handmade over 200 friendship bracelets for our friends to take home!
Credits: Images by Smittenpixels Co.
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