Ivan Heng weds his partner of 18 years on a "perfect British summer's day"

Ivan Heng (right), the artistic director of home-grown theatre company Wild Rice, tied the knot with his long-time partner Tony Trickett, Wild Rice's executive director, in London on Aug 1. -- ST FILE PHOTO
Ivan Heng (right), the artistic director of home-grown theatre company Wild Rice, tied the knot with his long-time partner Tony Trickett, Wild Rice's executive director, in London on Aug 1. -- ST FILE PHOTO

Cultural Medallion recipient Ivan Heng has tied the knot with his long-time partner Tony Trickett in London. It took place on Aug 1.

Heng, 50, is the founding artistic director of Wild Rice theatre company and Briton Trickett, 57, is its executive director. They were married at the Chelsea Old Town Hall in London on the 18th anniversary of the day they met and fell in love, according to Heng's Facebook post.

Heng, who is in London, tells Life! of the occasion: "It was a perfect British summer's day. Memorable in every way. We are very moved and overwhelmed by the messages of love and congratulations from everyone."

The couple will be heading to Tuscany in Italy for a few days of holiday. He also put up a lengthy post titled "I Am A Happily Married Man". While he had always liked the idea of marriage, he added: "I dared not entertain the hope that marriage could happen for me."

Growing up, he explained, there were no positive gay role models to look up to, nor were there happy endings in gay-themed entertainment.

With marriage equality now a reality in the United Kingdom, Heng and Trickett decided to tie the knot at a ceremony attended by "our family and our closest friends".

Heng wrote: "Our marriage is a declaration of our love, and we invite the world to share in our joy. In closing, I would like to report that your fellow Singaporean, Ivan Heng, is now 'openly married'."

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