Childhood sweethearts Cheryl and Joey’s meet-cute moment played out as Joey, a school ambassador at the time, showed Cheryl and her kin around campus. “He approached my parents and me with a warm smile, offered to take us on a tour, [and] proceeded to charm their socks off.” Clearly, he made quite the impression on Cheryl, too, with the two becoming close friends before coupling up three years later.
Based in Singapore, the duo dreamed of an intimate but lively destination wedding Down Under in the stunning Yarra Valley. Thankfully for this bride, coordinating all the moving pieces from another country was no sweat and actually kinda fun. “Joey could not believe it when he saw the 55-page deck I had put together”. They made the superb call to put Lovegood Images behind the camera alongside Graeme Passmore on film to record all the revelry. There was partying, meticulous planning, and even some proposal pranking – scroll on to read Cheryl and Joey’s story!
THE PROPOSAL “I [Joey] picked Cheryl up at the airport holding a rather sad and scruffy looking bundle of flowers and a giant piece of craft paper that said “DEAR CHERYL, WILL YOU” on one side, and “DRIVE THE CAR PLS” on the other. After a couple of false proposals and countless heart-attack-inducing twists in my planning process, the proposal was eventually set at the base of Mount Buffalo, Victoria. We had been cycling around the town of Porepunkah [and] as we parked our e-bikes, ‘our song’ could be heard playing. I held Cheryl’s hands and led her into a grand setup of flower bouquets and flickering candles, artfully strewn around the backyard area of our cosy cabin-in-the-woods style Airbnb, with the help of event planning company Unforgettable Proposals. Cheryl was so nervous she didn’t remember a thing I said from the moment she realised it was happening. I was so nervous that I forgot to put the ring on her finger after she said yes. It was magical.”
THE VENUE “(JOEY) Funnily enough, we were looking at our wedding venue a few days before I proposed to Cheryl, and I pretended to get on my knees at the spot where we eventually stood for our vows…only to adjust my laces.” (CHERYL) “We lucked out with our venue. Riverstone was the very first spot we visited. With our tight schedule [travelling] from Singapore, we did not have time to venue-hop. Our must-haves were simple: 1) a venue proportionate to our small wedding party of just 31 guests. We wanted to maintain that cosy, intimate vibe. 2) We wanted the space to feel exclusively ours and 3) somewhere that had a solid wet weather option, as we wanted to do an outdoor ceremony. On our wedding day, we had a sprinkle of rain during the ceremony, which created a dreamy haze for our backdrop and gave us some adorable umbrella photos for variety. It was like nature adding its own special touch to our celebration.”
FAVE DETAILS “We decided to jazz up the table decor with vine tomatoes – a homage to one of the first soups Joey made for me when we started dating. I never liked tomatoes, but his soup made me a convert. The day after the wedding, my sister-in-law sent a picture of the mountain of Tupperware filled with roasted tomato sauce she made from those tomatoes. Trust me, it could have fed an army!”
LITTLE LOL “The night before, my boys squeezed a massive carton of lemons for our lemonade booth by hand, only for nobody to drink any lemonade (with free-flowing award-winning wine, we probably should have known better). Meanwhile, I was rewriting my vows over and over till 3:30 am, only to be woken up at 5 am with a terrible case of the runs, which prompted EVERYONE to believe I was getting nervous about getting married. There was even a moment about 20 minutes before the wedding when I was just staring at the scenic view, taking in the moment, but my groomsmen were convinced that I was contemplating bolting off from the scene.”
WE’RE GLAD WE “Did an intimate overseas wedding with our closest family and friends. It added an extra layer of significance to the ceremony. Walking down the aisle to Joey and witnessing the emotions on the faces of our loved ones meant the world to me. Seeing our friends and family, who had been by our side throughout our journey, brought together in one place was truly heartwarming and watching them bond over the trip was an added bonus that made our wedding even more memorable.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “Meleah, our photographer, guided us through the planning process and helped us map out the flow of the day to ensure everything ran as smoothly as possible. And on the day itself, the calm hour we spent with her and our videographer, Graeme, was exactly what we needed. We were both buzzing with emotions after the ceremony, and they swooped in to whisk us away to the serene fields for some golden hour shots and much-needed alone time.”
Looking for visual storytellers who will capture your day AND keep you cool, calm, and collected? Reach out to Lovegood Images and Graeme Passmore on the Hello May Directory. And did someone say destination wedding? Get inspired by some of our fave spots here.
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Lovegood Images Cinematographer Graeme Passmore Event Planner Cheryl Koh (Bride) Florist Tweed Twigs Stationery Charmaine Low (friend) & Cheryl Koh (Bride) Printer Little Print Venue Riverstone Estate via Easy Weddings Cake Maker Millstone Patisserie Wedding Favours Delinuts Hire Items One Big Day Event Hire Sound Hire Play On Sound & Lighting Celebrant Oliver Silen (friend) & Wendy McRae Rings Artemis Rings THE BRIDE Bridal Boutique Rentadella Shoes Alias Mae Accessories Lili Claspe (bracelet) & Ettika (earrings) Hair & Makeup Aimmey Pham Fragrance/Perfume Jo Malone THE GROOM Jacket & Pants Ben Thanh Market & Usagi Tailors Shirt Suit Supply Shoes Benjamin Barker Watch Omega Barber/Grooming SUI Salon Groomsmen Suits Peter Jackson & MANGO
