Wedding photographer and retoucher at Moda Operandi Rebecca Ou and Gabriel Chua met in high school. “We first bonded over the fact that our siblings both share the same birthday, and we were both born in the same hospital,” she explains. “We also found out that our dads went to the same high school, and my mom and his uncle are best friends!”
Since Gabriel’s sister is also a photographer, when she came to visit the couple in New York, Gabriel knew Rebecca would want to have a photoshoot at the Brooklyn Bridge, so he and his sister started to plan the proposal around it. After wandering down Washington Street, Gabriel proposed in front of the Manhattan Bridge. “I couldn’t have been happier that day!” Rebecca remembers.
Since the engaged couple decided on an August wedding in Singapore, they had to plan remotely from New York. Rebecca and Gabriel knew they would be having a Chinese Banquet, but they also wanted an outdoor space for an intimate ceremony. Raffles Singapore had indoor and outdoor venues that fit their vision perfectly. And they were the first couple to get married in the Jubilee Ballroom after its massive, two-year renovation.
When it came to finding her wedding dress, Rebecca wanted “something classic, sophisticated, and timeless.” She eventually chose an Amsale gown with full sleeves and paired it with kitten heels from Prada. Her mother gifted her a Chanel flap bag, and her mother-in-law gifted the bride a traditional Si Dian Jin jewelry set before the wedding ceremony. “She carefully sourced a beautiful Peranakan jewelry gold set that she presented to me during our Guo Da Li—betrothal ceremony—and gifted to me during our tea ceremony,” Rebecca says.
At some parts of the day on August 31, 2019, Rebecca “felt a little more stressed than present.” But when she walked down the aisle with her father, she finally felt in the moment. Since the father of the bride is a pastor, he officiated the ceremony, while Gabriel’s father translated his words into Mandarin. “After our vows, my dad passed the mic to Gabriel, thinking he would say, ‘I do’ softly in it,” Rebecca says. “Instead, he didn’t take the mic and yelled, ‘I DOOOO.’ It caught me by surprise and I felt so happy at that moment that we were married.”
Once married, their banquet began and heartfelt speeches were given. The couple made their grandmothers cry, when they gave them flowers as a thank you for raising them.
Then the newlyweds had their first dance to “Tenerife Sea” by Ed Sheeran. And after the reception came to a formal close, the after-party kicked off at a bar across from the hotel. The new Mr. and Mrs. then departed to Turkey and Greece for their Mediterranean honeymoon!
