Belinda Lee is officially off the market. The 42-year-old actress-host got hitched on Sunday (Oct 27). The lucky man? A Singapore-based American architect “in his fifties” called David Moore. “I have found true love, given from above! I hope all of you can be happy for us!” she announced on Instagram today (Oct 29).

Photo: Instagram/@jacelyn_tay

8Days.sg caught up with the newlywed over the phone to find out more about her wedding. The couple held their solemnisation ceremony “in a bower of natural twigs and greenery”, according to the press release, which was followed by a dinner at a Peranakan restaurant at Keppel Club.

Why did she choose this cosy setting, we ask the bride. Belinda admitted that she isn’t a fan of big weddings, and added that she could only invite over 100 guests to her “cosy, casual and intimate wedding” due to the size of the venue. The guestlist included close celeb friends like Felicia Chin, Xiang Yun, Chen Yixi, Rebecca Lim, Paige Chua, and Chew Chor Meng. No media was present.

Throughout our phone call, Belinda gushes about her “sweet” and “respectful” husband is — he went through the “old-school” way of asking her dad for her hand before the proposal seven months ago in March (Belinda’s mum passed away from cancer in 2016).

Belinda first met David's family in person when his clan travelled here for the wedding, though it's almost as if they've already known each other prior to this. Besides speaking to his family via WhatsApp calls, the perky host tells us that she’d gifted them her book, Larger Than Life, for Christmas. Perks of being a celeb-slash-published-author? Definitely.

Jacelyn Tay was among the guests, and the erstwhile actress posted snaps from the shindig, and gave a glimpse of the nuptials. You made many of us tear when you said you thought you would be single forever. We have been through those years with ya... We know... she captioned.

Photo: Instagram/@Arthurchoo

8 DAYS: Congratulations! How did you guys meet?
BELINDA LEE: We met in the middle of last year in a very old-school way, at a church camp. I’ve heard many love stories of people meeting their significant others on a mission trip, but I wasn’t expecting something like that to happen to me!

How long have you been dating?
I wouldn’t say that we’ve been dating. We started off in the purest form of friendship, and we became really good friends for many months before deciding to get in a relationship. You want to marry your best friend, right? And that’s exactly what we did. We made sure that we were best friends before deciding if getting married was something we wanted to do together for the rest of our lives.

So you went from complete strangers to good friends to husband and wife, all in a span of a year and a half?
Yeah. Prior to our wedding, I spoke to his family on the phone ’cos there wasn’t any time for me to fly over. The first time I met them was [when they travelled to Singapore for] the wedding, but they already love me before they came here. His entire family knows all about me ‘cos my husband gave them my book, Larger than Life, for Christmas last year. Meeting them has been wonderful and I’m very grateful for such a warm and loving family.

​​​​​​​Photo: Instagram/@Arthurchoo

How was the proposal like?
He proposed around March this year. Right at the beginning of our relationship, he initiated a dinner with my dad and asked him for my hand first before proposing to me. Of course, papa was very happy and said yes. I love how my husband has so much heart and respect for people. While I was aware that he wanted to take my dad out to dinner, I was still caught by surprise when he popped the question because I didn’t know the exact date that he was going to do that. And you know, he did it in the most beautiful and traditional way. He believes in writing cards, so he bought a simple yet beautiful card with a drawing of two people, and he drew in a dog, which represents my late dog, Man Man.

When did you know he was The One?
My instincts told me. After meeting him twice as friends, I knew in my heart that I was going to marry him. I always joke to friends that he is not boyfriend material, but husband material. [He's the type that] I would introduce to my single girl friends to him and encourage them to go for him.

So who pursued who?
He initiated it. He's too good to be true and I didn’t know if I was good enough for him ‘cos I’m such an emotional person. He’s very supportive in my work and humanitarian pursuits and he wants to be a part of it. He is the one and only man in my life that I will truly love.

How was planning for the wedding like?
We didn’t take a long time to plan. It was really casual! I mean, he proposed, I said yes, and then he asked if I was free to get married. It’s so funny! I had to call my manager and ask for a date. I’ve been so busy the past couple of months and our conversation went like this:
Him: “When are you free?”
Me: “Hmm, I think I can’t from June to September. I might have more time in October and November. What about you?”
Him: “Me too, I think my travelling would’ve slowed down by then.”
Me: “Eh okay, sounds good.”
And then we had our wedding on Deepavali. In fact, we didn’t even realise that it was a long weekend. A lot of people thought that I was gonna marry an Indian guy! But no lah, we just happened to be free on that day. We planned everything together, right from the gown to the ring and to the flowers.

Were you a bridezilla?
My husband would tell you that I'm far from [being a] bridezilla. I'm so chill, but I've had lot of people helping me. People did question, why didn't I turn into a bridezilla. It's because every step of the way through the preparation, I was never alone. [My husband and I] chose everything together, from the ring to the gown to the flowers.

Congrats again on the wedding. You seemed jaded about relationships the last time you spoke to us two years ago, when we asked about your views on love after ending a six-year relationship.
I have never been jaded about love. I’ve always believed in love and waiting for that right person to come into my life.

Once averse to social media, Paige Chua posted this photo of herself with Felicia Chin, Jeffrey Xu, the blushing bride and groom.

She had her wedding banquet done in her fashion, on her terms, which was cosy, intimate, and passionate. Besides feeling surprised upon receiving her invitation via WhatsApp, I was full of joy, knowing that this lovely, vulnerable woman has found her man, Paige wrote.

Photo: Instagram/@shaunleelee