22 October, 2020
That Bride: Megan Verge Kiss
That Bride: Megan Verge Kiss
Weddings

That Bride: Megan Vergé, A True “That Bachelor” Success Story

22 October, 2020
That Bride: Megan Verge Kiss

Megan Vergé shares how she and her husband met through Sassy, and how they pulled off their wedding during the pandemic in just four weeks.

If you’ve been a Sassy reader for a while, you might be familiar with our That Bachelor series which gave readers the chance to win a date with some of the city’s most eligible men. It was fun playing matchmaker, but we didn’t quite imagine that it would lead to marriage! Our That Bride Megan scored big time when she won a date with our That Bachelor Paul Vergé – and so did he!

After three years together, Paul finally popped the question and, without hesitation, Megan said “yes”. The plan was to always get married in Hong Kong, a special place for both of them, but as with many weddings that were planned for this year, the bride and groom-to-be were forced to do things a little differently. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop them from enjoying their big day with loved ones near and far.

Read more: Your Guide To Choosing A Civil Celebrant

That Bride: Megan & Paul Verge

How did you two meet?

It was 21st century dating at its finest. Thanks to the famous Sassy article, Paul found me.

Winning a man might not be on the cards for everyone, but it turns out it was for me. Three years ago, I hopped on a plane to the foreign land of Hong Kong. Little did I know that the man I’d “won” would become my husband!

Picking me up like a true gent, Paul wasted no time and met me fresh off the boat, the day I arrived. He whisked me off to the Philharmonic Orchestra opening season concert with a couple of friends – a mighty fine choice, if I do say so myself!

He instantly knew I was a keeper when, whilst having a conversation about their awesome seats, a friend implied that Paul would be enjoying the view seeing as they were sat in view of the cellists (Paul plays the cello I later found out). I hadn’t quite caught on and jumped in with a witty comment about it being a great view of Yuja Wang’s butt. And we’ve been laughing together ever since!

Every bride has a proposal story. What’s yours?

It was just your average Tuesday in August (this was last year). Paul texted me about leaving work a tad early to do what we had become quite professional at – picnicking on the beach. We’d taken the habit quite seriously and had been doing it all summer, so I thought absolutely nothing of it. Off we raced in a taxi, at an outrageous 5pm on a school day – destination: Repulse bay.

Paul had the picnic in tow, it was the usual winning combo of cheese & cold cuts (I mean he is French after all!) and we sat talking, watching the day fade away into the sunset.

Of course, no dinner is complete without dessert. I was asked to close my eyes as Paul told me he had a few surprises. First was a fruit salad (thank you Hunny, I got the hint) followed by Ferrero Rocher (talk about sending mixed signals) and then BAM, he was lying on his stomach, ring in hand, asking me to marry him. I mean who could say no to that? And there we have it, two years after we met on a random Tuesday, we were engaged.

That Bride: Megan Verge Ceremony

Tell us about the ring.

Funny story actually… my first ring was plastic. Yes, no joke. Paul has zero patience, and unbeknown to me, he was in the process of mustering up the most gorgeous emerald cut diamond ring with a simple white gold band. In the meantime, Paul had found an exact replica in plastic that could be delivered in a week, so for him, it was a no brainer. The real ring came about a month later and it couldn’t have been more perfect!

As for our wedding bands, we actually decided to make our own. We signed ourselves up for the wedding ring workshop at Obellery in PMQ and had such a fun time. We picked similar styles in white gold, and spent two Sundays sawing and molding away. We both engraved private messages that we read on the wedding day.

Read more: The Best Independent Jewellery Designers In Hong Kong

Tell us about the dress. How many did you try on?

I always had this idea of trying on dresses with my mum and bridesmaids, and having that moment of epiphany when I found “the one”. Well, it didn’t quite happen that way. I tried on probably close to 50 dresses and I never found “the one”. My friend had recently got married in a tailor-made gown that was gorgeous, and she recommended her tailor, Kath Yeung. So I met with her and showed her the design of a jumpsuit I wanted to recreate, and that was it. Kath was amazing and managed to recreate the design in just four weeks. She made the fittings so special, allowing me to bring friends and FaceTime my family and bridesmaids to show them.

Read more: Where To Buy Your Wedding Dress In Hong Kong

What did you do for your hen party?

We planned our wedding in four weeks so it didn’t leave much room for planning. Thanks to Covid-19, and as my bridesmaids live all over the world, unfortunately not everyone could attend. But, the Hong Kong girls pulled it out of the bag and did me proud. They took me to Zuma for a very boozy brunch and then we continued afternoon drinks at Tai Kwun. Everyone really made it as special as they could.

That Bride: Megan Verge Civil Wedding

The best advice you received before the big day?

As a bride, all eyes will be on you. No pressure! As a fairly low maintenance person, hair and makeup artistry really isn’t my strong suit. So with it being a special occasion, I wanted to get my hair and makeup done by a professional. DO A TRIAL! If there is one piece of advice I can give, and that I was very grateful that my friends gave me, is please, please, please make sure you do a trial run with the stylist before booking them!

No matter how good their photos are, you need to try it for yourself. I’m so happy I did, because I ended up opting to do my own hair and makeup. I treated myself to some new products, got ready with a bunch of girlfriends and made it just as special and relaxing as if I were to have had it done at the salon.

Read more: 10 Ways To Save On Your Big Day

What was the wedding like?

We didn’t really have any expectations for the wedding. It was thrown together in a month, without our families and very close friends in Europe. We tried to make it as special as we could, inviting those who couldn’t be there physically to join us on Zoom in their best attire and party with us. I got ready with my girlfriends, and Paul with his mates, and at 3:30pm we left for City Hall.

We timed it to perfection and were able to have 50 of our closest friends in Hong Kong attend the signing at City Hall and a reception at Soho House. Honestly, it was perfect! Soho House was such an accommodating venue, allowing us to use their huge projector screen so that we could continue the live stream.

We had close to 100 people on Zoom that stayed and partied with us the whole way. We even included speeches – both of our dads, along with Paul, gave incredibly touching speeches over Zoom. Our special day was captured by an amazing photographer, Kayley, who really caught some truly special moments. We were overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of friends and family who made our makeshift wedding incredibly special.

That Bride: Megan Verge Zoom

Do you have a favourite part?

My favourite part was definitely my dad’s speech. My dad is not a man of many words, but he sat there in our living room at home in the UK, with my mum and gran, in his suit, and gave the most perfect speech. It was incredible how close everyone felt despite the distance.

What were memorable parts from the speeches?

I have never been more grateful for technology than on our wedding day. Having our dads be able to say a few words from afar and share their stories was really special. Paul, aka “The PowerPoint King”, put together a showstopper of a speech and took the opportunity to showcase his special talent for taking the most hideous photos of me. That was memorable for me!

Most stressful moment?

The most stressful moment happened early on when we decided to get married but didn’t have a date, venue, or invites. But things fell into place fairly quickly and it was practically stress-free after that!

What was the most fun element of planning your wedding?

By far the best part was seeing how excited everyone was! I think Covid had really taken its toll on all of us at that point, and our friends and family were really excited to get together and celebrate.

That Bride: Megan Verge Guest Book

The best decision?

The best decision we made was having a guest book. You will only have these people all together in one room on this one special day, so make sure you do your best to capture it in as many ways as possible. We asked everyone to colour themselves in and write their name or a message. It now hangs beautifully in our dining room where we see it every day.

Any tips and tricks for brides-to-be?

Don’t be afraid to ask your friends and family for help. Everyone was more than happy to lend a hand. My very talented friend created my bouquet the morning of and it was absolutely perfect! Another friend made us Star Wars-themed cake toppers – needless to say, the hubby approved! We also had help organising the cake and managing Zoom throughout the day.

Something we learned on the day is to take photos with everyone! Don’t worry about sticking to your schedule, everyone is there for you guys, so take your time and make sure you take as many photos as you can, with as many people as you can. You won’t regret it, but your face might ache from smiling!

And that brings us naturally to your honeymoon. Were you able to have one, or do you have one planned?

Well, Covid made things very simple for us – we staycationed! We spent a few nights at Rosewood Hong Kong straight after the wedding to just take a moment to soak it all in.

All images courtesy of Kayley Luong via Megan Vergé.

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