Jewish-style wedding with lion dance at a void deck

Briton was struck by community spirit at void deck weddings and his fiancee said yes

Some 150 guests, including friends and family from England, Ireland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Chicago and Los Angeles, attended the couple's Jewish-style wedding with a lion dance at a covered linkway in Clementi Avenue 4. Food from their favourite Ind
The couple posing with the lion dancers at their void deck wedding in Clementi on Jan 4. PHOTO: RENEE OF JUST LIKE MAGIC CO
Mr Tournoff being hoisted by guests during the Horah - a circle dance to an Israeli folk song - at his void deck wedding, which incorporated the Jewish wedding custom. PHOTO: RENEE OF JUST LIKE MAGIC CO.
Briton Samuel Tournoff, 32, a software engineer at trading firm Cumberland, met his Singaporean wife Andrea Fam, 32, an assistant curator at the Singapore Art Museum, in London through a mutual friend in 2012. ST PHOTO: MARCELLIN LOPEZ
Some 150 guests, including friends and family from England, Ireland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Chicago and Los Angeles, attended the couple's Jewish-style wedding with a lion dance at a covered linkway in Clementi Avenue 4. Food from their favourite Ind
Some 150 guests, including friends and family from England, Ireland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Chicago and Los Angeles, attended the couple's Jewish-style wedding with a lion dance at a covered linkway in Clementi Avenue 4. PHOTO: JXK FOR RICE MEDIA
Some 150 guests, including friends and family from England, Ireland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Chicago and Los Angeles, attended the couple's Jewish-style wedding with a lion dance at a covered linkway in Clementi Avenue 4. Food from their favourite Ind
Mr Tournoff being hoisted by guests during the Horah – a circle dance to an Israeli folk song – at his void deck wedding, which incorporated the Jewish wedding custom. PHOTO: RENEE OF JUST LIKE MAGIC CO.
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Having lived in a Housing Board flat for close to six years, Briton Samuel Tournoff often walked past Malay weddings at void decks, and would be struck by the community spirit on display, and how welcoming the occasions seemed.

The 32-year-old was drawn so much to the idea that he decided to ask his Singaporean fiancee Andrea Fam if they could celebrate their big day at the covered linkway at Block 306A Clementi Avenue 4.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on January 19, 2020, with the headline Jewish-style wedding with lion dance at a void deck. Subscribe