Cory and Lauren’s ‘Dreamy Boho’ Beautiful Thailand Wedding by Liam Collard

I have the most stunning wedding to share with you today, as we take some time off from Christmas and head to a much warmer and sunnier part of the work, back in May of this year. Cory and Lauren who live in Shanghai chose Thaliand for their destination wedding to give their guests the most amazing holiday location and I have to say this beautiful backdrop does not disappoint. The whole wedding is a feast for the eyes from beginning to end, the decoration is immaculate and the attention to details is quite something. What a totally gorgeous day they had, big thanks to Liam Collard for these stunning photos.

Lauren and Cory were married on 7th May 2024 at Rosewood in Phuket Thailand. ‘We chose Rosewood Hotel based on friends recommendations and also that we could have music going longer than most places. The staff, service, food, resort, everything were incredible and we definitely would recommend to others. Our welcome event was held at The Sundeck – the owners are friends who used to live in Shanghai so it was nice to also have a mini-Shanghai reunion while overlooking a beautiful view of the sun setting on the ocean and enjoy great drinks and good food.’

How they met
It was the FitFam Spring Challenge of 2017. Both Cory and Lauren went to a FitFam (a free fitness community) workout. He had recently moved to Shanghai and it was one of his first FitFam workouts he had begrudgingly joined.  Lauren was on the verge of opening the first F45 Training Studio in Shanghai and after learning Cory was a physical therapist, knew there was a good reason to connect for future collaborations. Cory came to her studio opening party and for the next year, they would see each other occasionally in the gym, at FitFam events or playing summer softball. Cory was jealous because Lauren’s team (Team Graey) was the most fun, and only hoped that one day he could be on a team as Graet as hers. They didn’t begin dating until over a year, many workouts and many runs (including a Japanese sake festival half marathon dressed as the Blues Brothers)

The photography
We love how the intricate and special moments are captured, but also how there is a creative element added. It’s not just your standard wedding photos but the way both photographers use lighting and different elements to enhance the photos make them look extraordinary. You can feel the fun on the dance floor, you can feel the quiet moments when it’s just the two of us. It’s the feeling along with the imagery that’s conveyed in the photographs that truly makes them magical.

The dress
Well… I waited until 2 months before the wedding (much to the dismay of our planner) because I didn’t want to pay for something I’d only wear once, and all the bridal shops I went to seemed a bit crazy or it was hard to imagine the style. I took some inspiration from Grace Loves Lace as I really like the bohemian-style and vibe. I even considered a few of their dresses, but by the time I had decided it was too late to get them to China. I also went to the wedding dress market in Suzhou, China to try on different dresses, which was a fun adventure in itself. In the end, one of my friends – Miriam – suggested an American-Chinese designer Safia based in Shanghai. We used some of the dresses I tried on and created our own style from it, then looked at patterns that we could use in our limited time. Her and her team were so lovely and helpful and really brought everything together in such a timely manner. It was incredible. Not to mention the cost was less than what I would have paid for a factory-made dress as opposed to my own design.

Theme or Colour scheme
Bohemian. More of a chill but romantic vibe. It rained lightly during the ceremony (after an absolute downpour and flooding in the morning), but it really added to the romantic feel and the umbrellas that everyone had really looked so beautiful in the photos. Also everyone really welcomed the rain since it was so hot – except for Cory who didn’t have an umbrella!  I wanted sunflowers but as that’s hard to come by on the island, we opted for a sunflower colour paired with ‘blue turquoise’, ‘Poseidon’ & ‘crystal teal’. For as long as I can remember I’ve always imagined the bridesmaids wearing a ‘blue colour’ because it’s my favourite and I also think they all look so wonderful in that colour. The colours felt very tranquil to match the setting and we had a lot of help from our wedding planner to arrange the style and make sure everything blended together.

Flowers
I don’t know if we actually discussed flowers since sunflowers weren’t an option. The wedding planner chose the florist based off of what she said she always uses and they came up with the design. But they were very pretty and went with our colour scheme and feeling. The final presentation was stunning and reflected the hours upon hours of work and preparation that went into it.

Food
Here we have to give full credit to Head Chef Luca and his incredible team at the Rosewood Phuket. A few months before the wedding, we were able to visit Phuket from Shanghai to meet the team and taste the menu. We are both foodies and really wanted the food to be something that was talked about afterwards in addition to setting a high bar for future weddings to come. I can confidently say we couldn’t be any happier with how things went and hearing how much our guests enjoyed the experience. We are also extremely grateful to the Rosewood staff who brought us each plate to enjoy at our couples table, because otherwise we would have starved through all of the attention and adulation we received.

The cake
Given the unbelievable food menu and the decadence of our desserts, including a rum baba with exceptional local Thai rum and Rosewood Head Chef Luca’s tiramisu using his grandmother’s home recipe, which literally had the groom cursing in delight on a candid video capture, we figured there wouldn’t be as much appetite for cake. Lauren had actually suggested not having a cake at all to help save on our budget, but Cory insisted and the design of the cake we chose had a beautiful teal colour icing accentuated with gold flakes and macaroons to match our colour scheme. We opted for a decorative non-edible base to make it more affordable, and during the celebration the cake provided plenty of photo opportunities as we were surrounded by gold string lights descending from a tree over the lawn.

Entertainment 
As soon as our planner asked, “Would you like to have a disco electronic violinist at your wedding ceremony?” Cory had visions of a pseudo Lindsey Stirling greeting our guests as we started our celebration, but in truth the exceptional violinist playing melodies and covers from under a tree as a light rain fell over the lawn in front of the ocean was about as romantic of a start to the ceremony as anyone could imagine.

Our dinner performance was lead by a trio of Filipino musicians, who to be honest had provided some underwhelming videos on YouTube for us to review but we figured it would be nice for our American guests, many of whom were traveling to Asia or even outside of the country for the first time, to embrace a fun mix of international music culture. What we received instead was a phenomenal performance that inspired one of our guests to jump in and take the mic to deliver her own timeless rendition of Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” which quickly became one of our most memorable moments and photographs of the evening.

Our DJ was an absolute rock star named Ben Jenkins, who was kind enough to endure video chats and Spotify playlist suggestions from afar to help curate our dance party. Cory had recruited his sister Leah and groomsman Ed to help with suggestions and Lauren had asked each guest to RSVP for the wedding with a song they would like to be played. The end result was a 3-hour list of song suggestions that featured everything from the Beastie Boys, AC/DC, and Rage Against the Machine to the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys and Jennifer Lopez, with some 2Pac and Outkast mixed in with Earth, Wind and Fire and Jerry Lee Lewis. The end of the playlist also featured a healthy amount of EDM including Seven Lions, deadmau5, Porter Robinson and Odesza (the groom’s favorite). So basically….a DJ’s worst nightmare. Ben was very patient and recommended to us by our wedding planner Iliare and simply added to the list of confident and passionate professionals supporting our biggest day.

Advice for other couples 
(Cory) For me, I think you need to embrace that everything is going to be just as stressful and contentious as is stereotypically possible during the planning phase of the wedding. Why do flowers cost so much? Who really cares about this detail or that detail? Why not just accept the suggestions of the wedding planner? Well, it turns out all of those questions have important answers, and if you don’t make the time to discuss every painstaking detail then it could affect your experience later. Also, my father chimed in with really important advice: “Do not tell your bride-to-be, ‘I don’t care!’ Just say, ‘I trust you.'”

(Lauren) 1. A friend said to us to take a quiet moment away from everyone to have some champagne with your partner to process everything after the ceremony, which we did. And it was such good advice, it was so nice to be with everyone but having just a couple of minutes for each other was really special. 2. Hire an incredible photography team that ‘gets it’ and is fun to work with! 3. In the leadup to the wedding – you think you have enough time to do everything, but if you have busy lives it’s important to set aside time for planning and try to make it fun. 4. Ask more questions than you think you need from others who have gone through the process.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Photos: Liam Collard.
• Videography: www.phuketvideocreation.com
• Brides Dress Name / Designer: Safia Chen
• Grooms Suit: Custom made at a fabric market in Shanghai
• Flowers Details: www.facebook.com/artflowerphuket
• Hair & make up: www.hairmakeupphuket.com
• Entertainment: DJ BenJay & Filipino Trio
• Planner / Stylist: weddingboutiquephuket.com

FORE MORE INFORMATION ON LIAM COLLARD 

www.liamcollard.com / www.liamcollard.com/miami-destination-wedding / [email protected] / 44 (0) 7584 255 361 (UK Number) / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / PINTEREST / TWITTER

Based in London, we are internationally-awarded London Wedding Photographers, french bulldog lovers and passport stamp collectors who have worked at destination weddings across 4 continents. Real moments are what make your wedding photography stand out from everyone else’s. That is why we developed our signature style of working unobtrusively around your wedding day, while always staying available to guide you through it every step of the way.