After a fun destination wedding in Greece last year, Jane Chuck and Han Pin held a second wedding reception back in KL six months later, and to make the occasion even more special, the couple opted to have it on Christmas day itself. Boasting a White Christmas theme, the ballroom was transformed into a winter wonderland complete with a grand carousel had “Marry Christmas” emblazoned on top), claw machines, game booths and more. Their wedding ensemble? On her, two beautifully made gowns by local designers Jonathan Liang and Tengku Syahmi, and on him, an Ermenegildo Zegna suit that was tailored to perfection. If you’ve already read our local designers’ tips on what not to do at your dress appointment, here are more insights from a newlywed on wedding-planning and gown-designing.
1. Your wedding was one of the most talked about weddings last year. Why did you decide to have it on Christmas day?
My husband’s family is very traditional and they gave us a list of “good dates” to pick for the wedding. We saw December 25 is a good day for the both of us, and we thought it’d be quite cool and special to celebrate Christmas with our friends and family in a different way. It took about a good 10 months for the preparation, from brainstorming the ideas to putting it all together.
2. Jonathan Liang and Tengku Syahmi designed your wedding dresses. Tell us more about it.
I was working with Jonathan Liang on something else early last year, and when I told him about my wedding he offered to make a dress for me. Although he doesn’t design bridal gowns, he custom-makes it for his friends sometimes. I thought it was a great idea because I’m all for supporting local designers and, believe it or not, I had absolutely no idea in mind in terms of designs initially. Jonathan invited Syahmi to help out when we started discussing, and that was how it all came about.
3. What was the design reference for the dresses?
I don’t have a main inspiration or a dream design, so my brief to Jonathan was to have something classic, elegant, minimal and not too heavy to walk in, and also something I can re-wear in years to come.
4. Tell us more about your dresses.
Fun fact: Both dresses weren’t the original designs. For my white gown, we were initially planning to tie an organza train to the dress, but when I put on the gown it was already perfect on its own, so we ditched the idea and instead, added a nice bow at the back. I didn’t want anything else to take the attention away from the silhouette.
As for the pink gown, we changed it up less than a month before my wedding because I saw a picture of a dress that I really liked. It was Kaia Gerber‘s look from Alexander McQueen‘s Spring/Summer 2020 runway, and it was just so beautiful. Jonathan came up with a pleated organza design last minute, and it took Syahmi about three weeks to construct—he worked really hard on the pleats, and he was still fixing it right before the wedding!
5. Is there anything you would do differently if you could design your dresses all over again?
I love my dresses and I won’t change a single thing!
6. What are some of the tips you would give to brides who’d like to design their own dress?
Firstly, they should know and understand their body type. If they’d like to custom-make their wedding dress, they should use one design as their main reference, find additional inspirations from Pinterest or Instagram, and bring them to your designer of choice to work from there.
For more bridal stories, click here.
| SHARE THE STORY | |
| Explore More |
