Real Engagement – Kevin & Sydney, Sydney NSW
When Kevin got down on bended knee before girlfriend Sydney – in front of the iconic Australian harbour of the very same name – he said very few of the romantic words he had rehearsed.
His advice for anyone asking the love of their life to spend forever with them? Keep it brief so you can let the joy, relief and pure emotion of the moment take over without worrying that you’ve forgotten a particular line.
Kevin and Sydney’s is a love story that began as a quirky online gaming encounter but unfolded into a real-life connection that deepened across continents and was cemented during a whirlwind trip to LA where heartfelt words (and one accidentally deleted message) made it clear he’d found “the one.”
Scroll on for delightful behind-the-scenes details on how he planned – and captured – a perfectly personalised proposal with the help of supremely talented photographer Georgia Verrells, plus we recount the story from Sydney’s point of view too!
The meeting.
Kevin: In my heart this is quite the funny story, and I know Sydney hates it, but I love it. We met randomly while playing an online game called MapleStory. I used to be quite the hardcore gamer on MapleStory, and Sydney was the complete opposite. She loved making friends on that game, and she loved hanging out to chat in an in-game town named Henesys. Long story short, she saw my character in Henesys one day and wanted to befriend me due to my cute chicken costume. I was a bit taken aback because Sydney was so keen on making friends online and literally traded social media details within the minutes of conversing with me. Who knew that awkward, random little interaction would lead to this.
Sydney: Kevin and I met on an online game called MapleStory. I just saw his pixels, and I enjoyed how he styled his character, we later then exchanged Instagram accounts and became friends in April 2017. We officially met in September 2019 when I was going to America for the first time with my Mum, Stepdad and one of my sisters Gaby. I asked him on Instagram whether he had any recommendations because I knew he lived in California and he asked if I wanted to hang out. He picked me up at my Airbnb and took me to a group hang out called a ‘photo walk’ which is where his group of photography friends walk around downtown LA and take film photos. It was overwhelming and fun, meeting all these Americans for the first time and meeting Kevin for the first time too. This photo walk lasted for about four hours and I thought the day was over and Kevin would be too tired to continue to hang out. However, he still wanted to take me to Santa Monica pier where we just chatted about his life and ate at an Italian restaurant for dinner. I flew back to Australia and honestly thought we’d be friends that never really spoke again so I ended my trip with a huge thank you message on text saying how I appreciated his time etc. The following days Kevin kept messaging me and wanted to continue getting to know me and he then self-invited himself to my best friends New York trip where he asked me to be his girlfriend in 2020.
‘The one’.
Kevin: We’re practically two peas in a pod when it comes to doing anything or going anywhere. I’m a firm believer in dating for marriage, so I guess you could say I always knew that I wanted to propose to Sydney. I actually knew she was ‘the one’ after hanging out with her in-person during her 2019 visit to LA with her family. She reached out for recommendations, and I decided to just take her around to see my friends and visit some touristy spots. We had so much fun I decided to hang out with her again before her flight back home to Australia. Quite literally, when she was about to board the plane, she sent me this huge paragraph, and I’ve never felt so appreciated in my life when I was reading it. I forgot what happened, but when I held the message to save it, I accidentally deleted it, and it was not in the “deleted messages” section. I started to panic and didn’t want to ask Sydney to send the message again, so I started downloading random iMessage restorer apps and services. I kid you not, all the other messages were restored just except for the big, long paragraph she sent. Throughout that embarrassing panic, I kind of just figured out I was actually in love.
Sydney: It was definitely during some mundane day and I thought that ‘I could do this with him forever’. And just watching how well he treated his friends and family and even when meeting my side in Australia, he is the most generous, kind and loving person.
The proposal.
Kevin: We were on a double date with Sydney’s best friend, and we had an amazing day from start to finish. I popped the question as we were taking some touristy photos by Mrs Macquarie Point, where the Opera House and Harbour Bridge were right next to each other. We took some amazing engagement photos right after I proposed, and I surprised Sydney with an engagement party at Porteño with her closest friends and family to top it all off. It was one of the most fun nights we’ve ever had.
Sydney: At one point of the day Kevin wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens and he took us up to Mrs Macquarie Point and I just thought he wanted to take nice pictures of the view. A photographer was taking pictures of us (the fabulous Georgia Verrells) and when Kevin and I were finished taking our couples pictures he said, “baby wait” and in that moment I knew what was happening. I looked at my best friend and gave her a look and then looked at Kevin’s pants to see the ring box bulge in his pocket and once I saw it, I just bawled my eyes out.
Proposal planning process.
Sydney: I’m a big itinerary girl! We both currently live in Taiwan right now and we were in Australia for my sister’s wedding. I was in Australia for one month and every time I go my itinerary is planned out hourly and for this specific day Kevin was being a bit secretive and vague, so I thought that was weird.
Kevin: Technically, I’d been planning about the proposal since the day I visited Australia for the first time. We got this cute ring from a Japanese onigiri rice ball Gachapon. I still remember I told her something about how when I propose to her, I was going to use the same box and this entire time, I kept that rice ball box close with me.
I didn’t start to plan the actual proposal until my ring was finished being made by the team at Natasha Schweizer. A couple weeks before proposal, I had to change my plane ticket to fly into Sydney earlier. I needed to first pick up the ring, then visit the proposal spot to visualise it, then asked Sydney’s parents for their blessing – all in secret.
I planned the entire thing myself because I wanted this to be a surprise for Sydney. There were a lot of stressful moments when the surprise could had been ruined. Even on the way to the proposal spot, there were probably seven different parties doing wedding shoots and engagement shoots. My anxiety peaked when there were probably three different couples next to my proposal spot. Thankfully, right as I proposed, the area cleared up a bit and we were able to have this beautiful moment all to ourselves.
I had been planning this with the help of my photographer, Georgia, and one of my best mates, Connor. Connor was Sydney’s best friend’s husband; I wouldn’t have been able to make the day work without looping him into the planning. The proposal location was scouted out with the help of Georgia, and I’m so grateful that she was able to visit the spot in person despite currently living in Melbourne. Also, I couldn’t have done this surprise without the help of our friends and her sisters. I practically only told three or four people at the party about the planning, so almost every single person at the engagement dinner was just as shocked as Sydney.
Meaning of marriage.
Kevin: I believe marriage means compromising, communicating and loving.
Sydney: Marriage means a lot to me personally; I’m Christian so not only is it a legally bound commitment, it is also a spiritual commitment. Marriage for us is an even bigger thing because it’s two families from four countries (Kevin; Taiwan & America, me; Indonesia & Australia). It’s our lives constantly moving around and now being able to settle somewhere, together.
Near disasters.
Kevin: I hid the engagement ring box and receipt in a bag inside the cupboard, then magically the fridge’s water filter clogged up and decided to leak water all over the very same cupboard. Not only was the bag wet, when Sydney was helping her dad to clean up, the bag was literally sitting right in front of her eyes. I think I grew a couple of white hairs that night!
Sydney: We did an escape room after lunch and it was a scary one where a girl chased us and we had to hide in a closet. It was so funny because my best friend lost her shoe. I think what’s also funny is that my best friend Michelle didn’t know about the proposal but her husband, Connor, did. We spoke about it briefly together (Michelle and I) that I thought there were some signs of a proposal but she confirmed that she didn’t think so because she didn’t know anything about it.
Wedding plans.
We actually were extremely lucky that Mona Farm had a wedding tour available the week before we returned home. We’ve locked in the venue for November 2027.
Words of wisdom.
Kevin: I want to say this mainly to the person who’s proposing: Keep your proposal speech brief! I started word jumbling during the proposal because Sydney started crying, and it made me cry. The perfect speech I had written down and read to myself over and over was blanked out immediately.
Sydney: As someone being proposed to, I think if you have an idea that your partner is about to do it, enjoy the day and really soak it in. I cried the whole time and I couldn’t really hear Kevin because of my crying and the waves. I should’ve tried to hold back the tears so I could hear him or even look into his eyes for the whole time. But either way it was perfect.
KEVIN & SYDNEY’S SUPPLIERS
Photographer & Videographer: Georgia Verrells
Engagement ring: Natasha Schweizer
