Jonine Nash & Alex Fuss

Alex and Jonine found their way to Hong Kong from different countries; Alex from Italy and Jonine from New Zealand. One was there for work and the other for the love of traveling. Needless to say, their wedding was a truly international affair, just as their introduction.

They were introduced to one another through a mutual friend. However, they never actually had a chance to speak until a chance encounter two months later. On that occasion, Jonine actually deflected Alex’s attempts at getting her number as she did not believe he was actually single. 

Alex was fresh out of a five year relationship and hesitant to commit again so quickly. Ironically, Jonine was pessimistic of finding love in a city like Hong Kong, but they found that they just could not keep away from one another.

Alex won Jonine over with his phone calls since he did not take the easy route of sending text messages to flirt. Instead, he would call so they could arrange a meeting. When he was not arranging a meeting, he just called to ask how her day was going.

Months later, Alex would sneak into her apartment before she got home from work and would leave her flowers, a bottle of champagne or simply cook for her. It was while she was away from him, in Cambodia, participating in some charity work when she realized how much he meant to her and that this could have a fairytale ending.

After her trip, things moved quickly. Nine months into their relationship, Alex proposed over a romantic dinner and presented Jonine with a ring which he had designed and made for her. They agreed on a long engagement given their hectic schedules and set a date 14 months later in May 2014. 

Every detail Jonine could personalize about the wedding, she did. The wedding rings, suits, bridesmaid dresses, shoes and accessories were all made to their specifications. She even took to outsourcing the wedding decorations—personalized cake topper, personalized stickers for the confetti cones, party favours—everything to make it unique. 

She was set on a backless dress so after some research into designers, realized that Israel was the place to go. Rather than select one dress and get it shipped to Hong Kong she orchestrated a girls’ trip to Tel Aviv with one of her bridesmaids to find the dress. It was complicated legally marrying in one country, being born in another while being a resident in yet another. 

It is hard in general to plan a destination wedding, especially when the couple only visited Italy once to find the venue and meet their vendors. Luckily, they found a fantastic wedding planner who recommended a brilliant photographer! They said their vows in the other’s native language; Jonine in Italian and Alex in English. Their guests flew in from New Zealand, Hong Kong, USA, Indonesia, UK and Europe and the rest drove from around Italy. A true international love story!