Phoebe and Jonathan Get Married in Koh Samui Thailand

Phoebe & Jonathan were married on 6/28/2012

Phoebe (MrsElephant) used the BDW Community to bring her destination wedding to life. Phoebe gives back to the BDW Community as she kindly shares the details of her perfect day in the interview below. 

Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? 

We always knew we wanted an intimate wedding on a beach somewhere. Our families are from all over the world so everyone would have to fly somewhere anyway. We liked the idea of a mini vacation for our family and closest friends and while they witness our union. We were able to convince our parents that we would still incorporate Chinese traditions in a nontraditional setting. We didn't want to sacrifice the experience of the tea ceremony so we were prepared to bring everything we needed for that no matter where we chose as our destination. In the end, the wedding turned out perfectly and everyone enjoyed their little getaway too.

Why did you choose your location?

We were looking for a beautiful venue on a quiet beach and Miskawaan was just that! We rented 2 adjacent villas and my guests stayed with me in one while my husband's stayed with him at the other.

We were not allowed to see each other the night before the wedding, so being able to have our own "homes" meant we didn't have to spend our last night single hiding in our rooms to avoid bumping into each other.

Plus it was nice to spend an evening catching up with family and friends who all flew all the way to Thailand for us and haven't seen in a long time.

What were your wedding colors and/or theme?  

We had different colour themes for different aspects of our wedding day. For the tea ceremony, it was the traditional lucky China red. We brought different red decorations and red lanterns with us to Thailand. Our wedding attire was red and my traditional wedding dress had gold and silver thread embroideries of dragons and phoenixes. 

Since the morning was going to be about everything red, we wanted to switch to a white theme for the beach ceremony to compliment the beautiful natural surrounding. Some brides mind other guests wearing white on the wedding day, but I didn't mind at all. We had a small guest list of 24 including bride and groom. To me, every single guest there was just as special as the bride. Besides, wearing white makes everybody more comfortable under the heat of the sun! 

As for the reception, I had really wanted to bring paper lanterns to decorate the reception space. I didn't want to do red, and it's unlucky to hang white lanterns according to Chinese culture. In the end we decided pink, to match the pink wedding dress my moth er wore on her wedding day that I was going to wear for the reception. 

Every wedding is special in its own right.  What made your wedding unique?

I think every wedding is special in their own way but what made my wedding different from the weddings I've been to or seen on this site is our special guest - the elephant! My husband's entrance on the elephant was really awesome. My husband loves cars, but after the wedding he told me that riding in on the elephant was cooler than arriving in any exotic car! Photos with our enormous new friend also turned out awesome, so our experience with her is truly unforgettable.

What makes our relationship special is that we spent 6 of the 8 years of our relationship long distance. Long distance isn't a 2 hour drive long, but a 16 hour flight LOOOONG! We saw each other 1 to 3 times a year for a maximum of 10 days. Many have asked us how we did it, and I really have no idea! It took lots of love and trust, and more love and trust. It wasn't easy waking up when he was about to go to bed, but I'm so glad we made it. Now we have the rest of our lives to be together!

One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar.  What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding?

Photographer -- Matt and Sol from Del Sol

Wedding Coordinator -- Faraway Weddings based in Koh Samui, Thailand

Wedding Dress --ME! I am not a dress designer but I had dress ideas in my head and had them custom made

You were an active member of BDW and created some great content. Could you please summarize (with hyperlinks) some of your best work for us?

Mrs. Elephant's Dream Wedding Photos     

FOR SALE: Mrs. Elephant's Gorgeous Rose Dress

FOR SALE: Mrs. Elephant's Custom Wedding Dress

FOR SALE: Mrs. Elephant's Red Silk Cheongsam Dress for Tea Ceremony

FOR SALE: Mrs. Elephant's White Wedding Dress for TTD

Here are more photos from Phoebe & Jonathan's wedding: 

Your Wedding was absolutely beautiful!  Your posts and reviews will be extrememely helpful to our new brides.  Thank you for sharing your special day with us at BDW.

Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you. Contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with us.  For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread"

Thanks!