When I first met Belinda and Alvin and spoke about their Saphire Estate wedding photos, we clicked over a love of so many things – rock climbing, food, travel, and spreadsheets! Through the few months before the wedding, Karen and I really got to know these two. On the day of their wedding, we observed how much love their family and friends had for them through their heartfelt speeches. 🙂
Belinda and Alvin met on Harvard’s campus while walking to Chinese class on the first day of class sophomore year. Belinda overheard Alvin and the person he was walking with talking about the class that they were trying to find, and she asked, “Are you going to Chinese Bx too?”. They began chatting about the class and their experience level with Chinese (which was a natural question because the class was designed for Mandarin heritage speakers). They quickly realized that they were both Cantonese heritage speakers and would probably benefit from studying together given the common language background.
They continued to chat during and after class, and they exchanged contact information to coordinate signing up for the same class schedule. Shortly after, Alvin and Belinda began spending more and more time together, eventually growing into the wonderful couple that just got married this August!
To celebrate their five year “dating anniversary”, Alvin planned a full-day bike exploration with a route that went through Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Pond, and the Back Bay Fens. They had just spent the summer brushing up on Belinda’s biking-in-the-city skills, and the weather that day was perfect.
Although Alvin was nervous the entire time, Belinda was blissfully unaware and completely unsuspiciously enjoying the day. Eventually, the bike route led near a garden, at which point Alvin nonchalantly said, “Looks like there’s a fountain or something over there, let’s check it out!” and Belinda agreed, “Okay!”, suspecting nothing.
As they approached, Alvin asked Belinda to wait a few feet outside the gate to the garden, to which Belinda said, “Okay!”, still suspecting nothing. Alvin disappeared into the garden, and a few minutes later, Alvin ran back to grab Belinda and led her to the gate. As they walked through, Alvin said, “Looks like someone put these rose petals along the path, how nice!”, to which Belinda said, “That IS nice” …still not suspecting that Alvin would propose (but did start to wonder if something was going on).
They walked along the path until they reached a heart shaped out of petals… And THEN Belinda figured it out.
Belinda and Alvin, thank you for choosing me to document your beautiful Saphire Estate wedding celebration!