Photography: Smittenpixels Co.
Venue: Stoneridge Estate Queenstown, New Zealand
Some couples know exactly what they don’t want. For Leon and Kei Xuan, that clarity was the whole point. Together since their school days, united by a shared love of European culture and a mutual, deeply held aversion to Singapore’s heat, they spent a long time dreaming up the right wedding. Leon works in the industry himself, which meant he’d seen enough big weddings to know they wanted the opposite: something small, private, entirely theirs.
They explored many locations before landing on New Zealand. Somewhere neither had been, with September weather that delivered exactly what they hoped for: cold air, clear sun. They flew their immediate families to Stoneridge Estate in Queenstown, and what unfolded was as intimate as they’d imagined.
The ceremony took place in the late afternoon, framed by scenery almost too perfect to be real. There were tears from the very first look onward. Afterwards, we stole a few quiet portraits as the sun dipped low and gilded everything in gold. Dinner was unhurried and warm — simple activities the family had planned, and a speech from the couple that left the entire table in tears.
It couldn’t have been more perfect.
