Elaine and Andrew Champion wanted a two-day wedding in order to accomodate both a western and Chinese ceremony. “We didn’t want a massive wedding where we wouldn’t have a chance to spend time with our guests,” says Elaine, who works as the cabin crew communications manager with Cathay Pacific. For the western wedding they had around 80 close friends and family, and around 180 guests for the Chinese banquet. “It had to be a bigger affair because that’s just the way Chinese banquets are. 180 is very modest in fact!”
The Champions wanted to get married by the sea, surrounded by beautiful mountains and with grass under their feet. “One-Thirtyone was the perfect venue, and it was the most glorious sunny day,” says Elaine. “The restaurant there is small, so we had Gingers do a barbecue buffet for the guests. And then we had an after-party at the Grand Hyatt in Wan Chai.” Next day’s Chinese ceremony was held at the Hong Lok Yuen Country Club, a place with sentimental value for the couple. “Growing up we spent a lot of time swimming and hanging out there so it was a nice place for us to celebrate our wedding,” she adds. “We were so happy to have so many people come from overseas, so they were all together on our special day.” What made their wedding truly special, however, is how much they did themselves, with the help of friends and family. “We picked up decorations from Bangkok while we were on holiday, and the venue decoration was done by our friends on the morning of the wedding. The groomsmen were busy stringing up fairy lights, while one of our bridesmaids set the tables. Our good friend Jen managed the on-the-day rundown. It was all perfect, thanks to them.”
The bride wore
A Monique Lhuillier from Central Weddings & Occasions, a custom made turquoise silk dress for the after party, a traditional “Kwa” for the tea ceremony and a Chinese silk dress for the Chinese banquet.
The groom wore
A tailor-made tuxedo suit for the western wedding, and a tailor-made black suit for the Chinese banquet both from E-Rave Tuxedo in Central.
Hair and makeup
Elaine’s very close family friend, Louise Rice, did the bride, bridesmaids and mother of the bride’s hair and make-up on both days. “She was fantastic. How she made everyone look just as good the second day after a night of partying was amazing! Her daughter, Mia, was our flower girl.”
Photographer
Ant Yeung from Aperture Studio. “We looked around at all the photographers, and many of them were so expensive,” says Elaine. Ant and his team covered the entire wedding from the morning of the Saturday all the way through to the tea ceremony and banquet on Sunday. We got over 3,000 high quality images on DVD, an edited video of the celebrations, a 20-page hard back printed photo album and four photographers and videographers over the two days. Nothing was missed, and all for a very reasonable price.”
Entertainment
We were lucky enough to have a good friend from school, DJ Yeodie, as our DJ, so lots of old-school tunes to get everyone going. After dinner at One-Thirtyone, we got coaches to take everyone to JJ’s at the Hyatt for the after party.
The guests ate
A barbecue buffet from Gingers. “Liz, who heads up Gingers, is a brilliant party organizer and her team was very professional on the night. Our cake didn’t work out from another supplier so Liz managed to find us another one with 24 hours notice!” says Elaine. “We bought all the wine from a local supplier and the guests sipped on Mojitos before the ceremony.”
If you’d like to share your special day with us, email contact@myhkwedding.com. We’d love to hear from you!
