They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but for Cherise Wong and Rick Liu, absence made them realize they couldn't live without one another.

Cherise and Rick met through a mutual friend while attending the University of British Columbia—she studied biochemistry and he finance—but it wasn't until they were both jet set for Hong Kong that "things took off," notes Cherise. She was there for a student exchange program, while Rick was there for an internship.

After they graduated, Cherise pursued a masters of science degree in Baltimore at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Rick found himself in New York as a hedge-fund manager. Although being a couple hundred miles apart proved to be difficult, Cherise found that "the distance between Ricky and myself really helped us realize how much we love each other."

They had briefly discussed the idea of marriage, but it was a faint thought when Cherise visited Rick for Thanksgiving. On their walk to dinner, Cherise recalls: "Ricky said 'I love you, I love you so much' repeatedly, that with each time he said it, it seemed to build greater in meaning and intensity." Despite a light rain, under the candescence of a street light, Rick placed their umbrella on the ground and got down on bended knee.

It was extremely important to Cherise and Rick to enjoy their engagement so they took six months before they embarked on planning their "dreamlike" destination wedding. "When it came time to think about the wedding ceremony and reception, we knew we wanted a small and intimate location," Cherise reveals, adding what could be "better than to have all of our closest friends and family go on such a wonderful trip to arguably the most romantic city?"

After electing for the Salon Anglais—modeled after a Versailles library—at the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris, Cherise and Rick were sure that they would be able to achieve the "warm, inviting, classy" and "not over the top" feel they were going for.

Rick found himself to be "pretty relaxed" the morning of the wedding—he even enjoyed a leisurely espresso and a walk along the Seine River. But when he saw his photographer step through the door of the church he admittedly became "pretty nervous." As the processional began "the anticipation of what was to come really hit home and in an instant I began to cry," remembers Rick. As Cherise came toward him with her father, she could see that his "eyes were wet with tears. I thought to myself—all the while smiling—that today was our day; not mine and not his, but ours to share with all our friends and family."

Looking back, they agree that "the day was just so amazing." Just as they enjoyed their engagement, they we able to enjoy their wedding with "in-depth conversations" and French fare in a city that pays homage to their love.

Already in Europe, Rick battled between the "options of Greece and Italy" for a honeymoon, eventually opting "for what I felt she could enjoy the most of." So off they went on a tour of Italy; "we visited a few regions of Tuscany...From there we went to Florence, staying there for three nights," and eventually found themselves in the city of canals. Venice "was like being in another world," describes Rick.

> Written by Jessica Latimer