We were delighted to play for the Spring Wedding of Yogie and Kun at Houghton Wines in the Upper Swan. We played for their pre-dinner drinks and then, a sprightly instrumental Tequila by The Champs for their bridal entrance to kickstart the evening’s celebrations with more music.
With so many Straits guests that evening, we pulled out duets our Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian friends had always loved. These two were madly in love, with each other; and their friends, were madly in love with them. We had never witnessed a fairy tale spun so quickly, intricately, and most of all, cheerfully as a team into a tapestry from the start to the end of the wedding.
Juliet and Didi, thanks a million! You both made our wedding night so beautiful and so magical. My guests can’t stop raving about how good the live band was! Kun and I love your tunes so much that we’d hoped you’d never stopped playing!
There were times when the customary ‘Yum Seng’ (the classic can-you-match-the-volume-and-length-for-bliss-and-fertility Asian toast) sprung up in between various dishes, and we would pull out instrumentals suitable for background music and speeches. We noticed a few more elderly guests, looking slightly left out, so I decided to pull out our duet and bilingual arrangement of a Marco Valles bossa nova classic ‘Summer Samba’ for the overseas guests to feel more at home. The Mandarin lyrics of this song was penned by a dear friend, and also jazz/pop songstress Joanna Dong from Singapore, and she’d be very happy to know where her beautiful lyrics have travelled to and blessed. 🙂 Emcee Jovan, also the couple’s close friend pulled out spontaneous games, mostly kissing games, and we didn’t know there were so many ‘portraits’ to the age-old engagement until the evening, thanks to many ‘wedding bells’ worth of kissing challenges. You know it if you know it. LOL.
Thank you for being so thoughtful that you even sang a Chinese song (for my folks) even when it’s not in your songlist!
Their first dance was quite a moment, even for ourselves. Yogie and Kun picked our namesake ‘Polkadots and Moonbeams‘ for her first dance with her father as well as with Kun. It was also a very thoughtful ‘handover’, a symbol of trust to this new man in her life. We then continued playing a Gershwin classic ‘Our Love is Here to Stay’ after the song, as the emcee/DJ(!) opened the dance floor. He didn’t know he had it in him, but the joy of a child dancing in celebration of the union of his dear friends, joined by the cheer of other family and friends, really debuted his DJ-ing skills for the evening. We found ourselves laughing, dancing and loving them all.
Their wedding was a formula of no formalae. It was of trust. Their choices were simple, and yet sweetly sophisticated. Houghton Winery is not your usual row of vines period. There was a lot of heart in the work of the staff behind the scene. Those wavy branches created a lovely natural backdrop on a Spring’s day during their ceremony, and a beautiful netting against the velvety night skies. We also had a very sweet local magpie nesting above with us throughout the evening. We also received one of our highest compliments from Mitch, from Houghton Wines that evening. You know that when a colleague who’s served in dozens of weddings comes up to tell you just how much he found himself enjoying the music whilst serving. Thank you Mitch, truly. Means the world to us.
We still can’t thank you both enough for making our wedding so memorable. Kun and I are truly blessed by all the support we have from our church community. We had countless compliments on your live performance, and we are still receiving compliments on your talents.
Houghton Kitchen (Herb Faust Food) is no stranger to the local foodie. The couple invited us to be seated with them, so we were very blessed to have experienced, tasted and savoured the menu for the evening. I struggled to share with Moonbeam my barramundi portion, that crispy skin, and the tiny but thoughtful tangy garnishes that went with it. And that opening main was marvellous. We had a taste of it before hopping back on stage after our short break, and it was unforgettable. The servers were just genuinely beautiful people. That dessert, generous, clever mousse creme – chocolate and vanilla… was the first time i ever saw the Moonbeam wipe clean his sweets in all our 8 years together. What was not to fall in love with? I must have sent my compliments to the chef like 3 times through the evening. I don’t think i was ever a foodie, but I believe i was a convert after the evening’s affair with Herb Faust. Quietly phenomenal.
You guys were simply amazing – thanks for blessing us with such beautiful music – the wedding wouldn’t have been complete without it!
Wedding vendors as ourselves to be honest, have lesser to do with it than this mad love they had throughout the celebration. Being married ourselves, we understand how it is no easy feat pulling everything together in one day. Without our own darling friends, could we have gotten through it as beautifully? So in credit of the couple’s wedding celebration for the evening we feel it apt to acknowledge their church mates, friends, families who gave themselves whole-heartedly to this couple’s love. To be able to give our heart and soul through music for you and your guests, we feel incredibly blessed and awed to be in the presence of all your love for Yogie and Kun.
Yogie & Kun’s handpicked lot:
Venue: @houghtonwines (www.houghton-wines.com.au)
Lighting/Florals: Couple’s incredible mates
Catering: @houghtonkitchen @herbfaustfood (www.herbfaustfood.com)
DJ/Emcee: Jovan @leejovan18
Coordinator: Jun @junnie91
Makeup: @angies.mua (www.facebook.com/angies.mua/)
Chairs: @blacklabelevent (www.blacklabelevents.com.au)
Live Music: Polkadot + Moonbeam @apugnosedream (www.polkadotandmoonbeam.com.au)