This Stylish Singapore Couple Throw The Most Glamorous Parties In Town
Part of our annual round-up of creative tastemakers and their festive fashion antics: Singapore couple Ashley Tay-Ong and Paul Ong, who throw dinners and parties that revive glamorous old-school entertaining.
By MAY YIP,
The permanently dapper Ong is a regular on local best-dressed lists, while the elegant-yet-sprightly Tay-Ong organises events for a living at PR company Directions Group Inc. Together, they make a modern-day William and Babe Paley, throwing dinners and parties that revive glamorous old-school entertaining with a dash of Miami flash.
Take their wedding last year, for example. After a lavish dinner here at The Ritz-Carlton, they jetted off with their closest friends and family to Bali for a three-day celebration that included a poolside party, dinner by the sea, fireworks and a tote for each guest printed with the hashtag-perfect slogan “Pash Bash”. Details are everything, says Tay-Ong: “I take wardrobe cues from the way the dinner table is styled, as opposed to the other way round.”
When they’re not playing hosts, they enjoy drinks and conversations at cosy watering holes like bespoke cocktail bar Bitters & Love (118 Telok Ayer Street), venue of choice for this shoot. “We love places where the service is personable and the drinks, top-notch,” says Tay-Ong, who now counts the joint’s events/marketing director Fiona Fernandez (second from far left) and head barman/beverage director Naz Arjuna (the man mixing the drinks) as friends – she roped them in for the picture.
Joining them: their drinking pals/ideal dinner guests who include Ben Lim and June Huang (couple on the near right), owners of multi-label boutique Et-i-kit, which carries cocktail-ready brands
like Self Portrait and Mawi London. The quick-witted #girlboss with the graphic necklace is Claire Teo, who helps run an engineering business; while Jaime Lee (third from right) conjures up pretty paper goods, including party invites, as creative director of boutique stationery retailer, The Paper Bunny.
Hair Heidi Huang & Kiki Moo/Air Salon, using Aveda Makeup Zann Thiang/27A & Angel Gwee
An adapted version first appeared in Female's December issue, out on stands now.
Like this? Spot Singapore DJ collective ATTAGIRL! spinning at the coolest parties in town.