IT WAS a simple affair, with only close family and friends in attendance.

But the small army of media photographers was a sure sign that this wasone hotly anticipated wedding.

After months of speculation over their relationship, local singer-actress Rima Melati and Indonesian singer Marcell Siahaan finally tied the knot on Wednesday night.

The marriage comes barely a year after Rima's divorce went public last March.

Just two years after her marriage to British-Chinese Davin James Cook, an operations executive with a local caterer, Rima, 28, was slapped with a talak tiga divorce, which in Muslim law means an irrevocable divorce.

The news was splashed in the papers, shocking fans and Rima herself,whodid not expect it.

Likewise, Marcell's eight-year marriage to singer- novelist Dewi Lestari ended last July.

Both Marcell and Rima have children from their previous marriages – Edga is Rima's 20-month old boy and Marcell, 31, has a 4-year-old son, Keenan.

Up until Wednesday's nuptials, the couple has had to endure speculation that they caused each other's marriages to fail.

In an interview with The New Paper earlier this week, Rima said: "People are going to talk about us anyway, no matter what we do."

She candidly acknowledged that the relationship had developed soon after their previous marriages.

Rima said they first met while performing for a televised charity show in 2006.

But they only got to know each other better when she contacted Marcell through Facebook to seek potential producers for an album.

Insisting it was "purely professional" at first, the couple did admit to feeling "weird" when Rima flew to Jakarta to meet Marcell early last year.

After messaging back and forth, they went on a first date at the end of April.

‘It feels right'

Rima said: "I think it does seem like it's a little fast. If I were not in this position, I would have thought that it's impossible to fall in love so quickly. But now I am, and nowI know."

Added Marcell: "You cannot put a timeline on these things.Whenit feels right, you just have to do it."

That explained why he popped the big question last November,just half a year after their first official date.

Marcell was quick to explain that when he met Rima,he was already separated from Dewi.

Things are still amicable with his ex-wife.

Dewi remarried in November, but before the wedding, he and Rima would double-date with Dewi and her fiance, Reza.

"People find us a very weird couple. They think it's weird that we're still friends even though we're divorced," said Marcell.

"In Indonesia, being nice to each other after divorce seems weird. So how is it supposed to be? Killing each other? Like in the dramas?"

Considering all the hoopla, the couple decided to keep their wedding celebrations small, with just a 13-table buffet dinner at Tepak Sireh Restaurant.

"Anyway, it's our second marriage, so no need to besar besar (make it big)," said Rima.

A few famous faces were there, including Malaysian singerand actress Juliana Banos,and local singers Fauzie Laily, Man Toyak, Eddy Cradle and Imran Ajmain, whowere onhand to serenade the couple.

Rima and Marcell will have another reception in Jakarta at the end of the month.

Marcell admitted that when he first announced his wedding plans, his family was "shocked." "They were just thinking it's very soon after the divorce."

But, he said, his mum had already met Rima and "fallen in love with her".

Marcell added that he hates hearing others see his first marriage as a failure. "I don't like the term ‘gagal' (fail in Malay). Because if you say I'm gagal, then what is Keenan, my son? He is a product of the marriage. He is not a kegagalan (failure)."

And Rima hopes her second marriage will outlast her first. "He's (Marcell) like me, but in the form of a man," she gushed.

As for how their children are taking to this marriage, Marcell said Keenan calls his new mother Tanter Rima (Mother Rima) and constantly asks to see Rima's son, Edga.

The couple are planning to take a family photo with theirtwo children, as well as with Dewiand Reza.

Aware that some people may raise an eyebrow at the couple's unorthodox ways, Marcell said: "When you get divorced, you don't have to hina (abuse) the other person. You must always remember that you once loved this person too."

With acting commitments in Kuala Lumpur until June for Rima, a Malaysian film due to start filming soon for Marcell and their children staying at home in Singapore and Indonesia respectively, where will this country-hopping couple live?

Wherever work takes them.

"It's really important for me to work hard for Edga," said Rima, who hinted that she may have a career in Indonesia as Marcell'smanagement has plans for her.

"We have an apartment in KL, a house in Indonesia and my home back here, so we can go anywhere."

This article was first published in The New Paper on Jan 30, 2009.