Jerry and Felix: Our Cover Boys
From the very first moment Jerry and Felix met, they both knew that their lives had changed forever. That was 4 years ago on a hot summer’s night in Hong Kong.
After Jerry's heartfelt and phenomenal proposal to Felix overlooking the Hong Kong harbour, the gents planned their wedding, focusing especially on the enormous love they share for both their family and friends.
Photographer Love of Mine
-
Tell us about the first time you met?
Jerry: Back in July 2015, on a hot Summer’s night in Hong Kong. Actually, it was quite a serendipitous moment, literally. We accidentally ran into each other at a bar when Felix was rushing into the bar to meet his friends. It was a pleasant surprise indeed! Who would have thought that that moment would change our lives forever!
What was the first thing you noticed about each other?
Jerry: Felix’s cute face and big hairdo.
Felix: I just remember looking up and locking eyes with this tall, handsome man.
What does Marriage mean to you?
Jerry: Since the wedding, I’ve often been asked: “Is it any different after being married?” Usually, I would say that it hasn’t changed drastically, as we’ve practically lived and shared our lives together for the past 4 years. But as cheesy as it may sound, I re-watched “Sex and the City 2” for the 10th time the other day, and I realised that I had become “Mr Big”. Not who he was in the series or the first movie as such, but I am happy and content, and I don’t need to make an effort to dress up and have awkward conversations with people. I’m now the comfortable husband who comes home from work, orders take-out, chills out on the couch watching TV & a little resistant to a night out.
But I guess the beautiful thing about Marriage is that you can still be both: a comfortable and content husband at home, and a fun-loving husband who can have a night out with some close friends and come home to my loved one.
Felix: The moment of committing ourselves to each other in front of our friends and family was so meaningful. Marriage, to me, is about commitment and support, it’s about partnership and growing through life together. Getting old, being so in love and continuing to hold each-others hand before we fall asleep. I feel that we’re definitely even more connected and in love after the wedding and it's so it’s nice to know that love continues to grow and evolve with us.
Who proposed, and how?
Felix: Jerry proposed. It was a surprise proposal on my birthday, February of last year. It is quite a long story, so I do apologise.
I thought we were going to have a simple dinner together. Not telling me where we were going, we arrive at a new restaurant that has an incredible view of the Hong Kong Victoria Harbour. As we walk to our table, I see that we had a private, corner table, I also notice that the tables around us had been removed because there was a vast area that could easily have fit about 5 other tables.
Near the end of our dinner, he sends a video message to my phone. Slightly confused, I put his headphones on and pressed play, turns out he had made a birthday video with a bunch of our friends from around the world all singing ‘Happy Birthday’. Then, out of nowhere, a few of our friends surprised me, and at the time I just thought the surprise was for a birthday drink.
Our friends huddled around me, unbeknown to me, Jerry had snuck off. While I’m chatting with our friends, another video message pops up on my phone from him. Like before, I put on the headphones, but this time I’m shaking. I press play, and his beautiful face pops up, he’s smiling at me and wishing me happy birthday, then out of nowhere the screen turns into two screens and on the other video are my parents. He then proceeds to tell my parents how much he loves me, then asks for their blessings to take my hand in Marriage. As you can imagine, I was an absolute mess. At this stage, I’m crying and wondering where he is. I sit there still crying and my friends suddenly tell me to turn around. Time suddenly slowed down; I turn around to look out onto the incredible view. Suddenly, spotlights come on, and there are 20 of our closest friends in Hong Kong, with ‘Marry Jer’ signs, lights and smiles from ear-to-ear. I am absolutely stunned, then our friends tell me to turn around again, and when I do, there is my gorgeous, then-boyfriend, down on one knee, with a huge bouquet of roses and a ring that his Mum had passed down to him, asking me to take his hand in Marriage. Through ugly crying tears, I say ‘Yes!’ to cheers and whistles from the entire restaurant and from our wonderful friends who had been hiding in the bushes for the last hour while we were eating dinner.
Turns out Jerry had been organising the whole thing for months. I still gush and smile from ear-to-ear every time I think of that day.
When did you get married?
11th of August, 2019.
What was the most important thing to you surrounding your wedding?
Jerry: My husband of course. But, also my friends. None of my family members came, and my friends are basically my family. With them being there, it made me feel so loved and so blessed.
Felix: Same, nothing mattered more than our friends and family and the opportunity to celebrate our special day together.
Any standout suppliers?
Lover of Mine - First, a big shout out to Anthony and his wife, Kim. Anthony, the photographer, is not just a hot guy (total eye candy, sorry Anthony), but also amazingly talented. He was so great with our guests and without him patiently guiding us on the day, we would have just looked very awkward in every one of our photos. He also tied our bowties for us like MacGuyver, he was an absolute lifesaver!
Gabbinbar Homestead - They were just excellent in every aspect.
Our Celebrant, Carmen Dillon from Cloud Nine Ceremonies, officiated the most touching ceremony with her incredibly beautiful words that really came from the heart. We really connected with Carmen and she really understood our love from the moment we met.
Give and Bake Brisbane - Phuong is so super talented and was beaming when we asked her to make our cake for us, that’s when we knew we’d come to the right person. She also painstakingly made personalised cookies, not only did they suit our theme perfectly, they were also devoured by everyone.
The Little Flower Stall - Kimmy, oh, Kimmy, she is the sweetest person you’ll ever meet. She was extremely flexible and so happy to continue to throw ideas around and around and around because we couldn’t make up our minds. She was very patient and when we walked into the venue on the day, the flowers were perfect!
White Lace Films - We reached out to Tanya and Bruce pretty last minute, thankfully they were available, and they were all-hands-on-deck from the get-go. They were so respectful of our guests’ experience and their being able to see everything but at the same time, somehow there for every pivotal moment, capturing everything that was happening. A very cool, chilled-out couple who were a pleasure to have on our day.
How did you translate more common traditions into a ‘two-groom’ wedding?
Jerry: We had a traditional tea-ceremony at Felix’s family’s Memorial Hall. I wore the traditional Chinese cheongsam and Felix wore a traditional Vietnamese ao dai. The tea ceremony traditionally signifies the groom coming to meet his bride to take her to their home to start their new journey together. His parents adapted the ceremony for us, and it was more about welcoming me into the family and us getting the blessings from all of his uncles and aunties, in addition to our friends and his family. It was such a special moment for us, as well as that day marking 40 years ago that Felix’s father’s family immigrated to Australia from Vietnam, and our wedding being the very first Same-Sex Marriage in their family and conservative cultural traditions meeting Same-Sex Marriage.
Suppliers
Photographer Love of Mine
Videographer White Lace Films
Venue Gabbinbar
Suits Suit Supply
Flowers Little Flower Stall
Cake Give and Bake Brisbane
Celebrant Cloud Nine Ceremonies
More For You
