She wore an ivory satin dress with a pouf skirt and a gauzy veil from local designer Keith Png, while he was top-to-toe in Italian fashion from Ermenegildo Zegna, bow tie rakishly undone.

Yesterday's exchange of marriage vows by MediaCorp artistes Fann Wong and Christopher Lee was witnessed by over 60 people and capped a relationship that, in its early years, was marked by secrecy and public denial.

In their first-ever movie together, this year's romantic comedy The Wedding Game, the pair spoofed the paparazzi-plagued and secretive nature of their courtship.

Yesterday's event, however, was anything but chaotic.

Family members and close friends packed the living room of the Shangri-La Suite at the Shangri-La Hotel.

Aunts, uncles and other members of the Fann clan rubbed elbows with the Lees from Malacca.

The mood was warm and relaxed.

Guests such as actors Zheng Geping and his wife, actress Hong Huifang, began arriving at 9am. Other celebrities included actors Jeff Wang and Rayson Tan.

Most of Lee's family had arrived and checked into the hotel on Friday.

Solemniser Chiang Heng Liang, who is in his 40s, said he was aware of the keen public interest in the event. 'After all, this is the marriage of the year,' he said.

Just after 10am, the couple, both 38, walked into the living room of the suite to applause and cheers.

The ceremony took place around a conference table, with Mr Chiang reading the vows in English and Mandarin.

At the table were Fann's parents, Mr Fann Chin Khew, 68, and Madam Wong Siew Toy, 60, and Lee's mother, Madam Choo Ah Moi, 64. His father died of a heart attack in February.

As flashbulbs popped, the pair declared their 'I dos' in Mandarin.

Cheers and teasing from guests punctuated the ceremony.

'Pay attention!' shouted someone from the crowd when Fann appeared to be whispering to Lee rather than listening to Mr Chiang.

The couple then exchanged platinum rings, and Lee moved in for a kiss that was held so long that Fann started giggling again.

The couple met on the set of the TV series Madam White Snake in 2001.

That same year, they were photographed holding hands in Bali.

But they kept denying that they were more than friends despite years of his car being seen parked at her Upper Thomson house, and both owning units in the same Newton apartment block.

In 2005, they admitted that they were seeing each other, and last year they announced their engagement.

Close friend and celebrity hairstylist David Gan helped oversee the ceremony yesterday and is planning their traditional wedding on Sept 29, also to be held at the Shangri-La.

He said he did not have to do much yesterday except work on her hair and 'make sure she was wearing the right diamonds'.

Speaking to The Sunday Times from the car on her way to Malacca after the ceremony, Fann said it had been a 'surreal' day.

'To have everyone doing so much for me, it was just so touching,' she said.

'When I walked into the room with Chris, I heard their wishes and I could actually feel their happiness for me. I feel really blessed,' she said.

'Now I'm wearing a ring and yes, I do feel like a married woman and I have to behave like one from now on,' she added with a laugh.

'I'll keep my own name but I wouldn't mind it if people called me Mrs Lee.'

This article was first published in The Sunday Times.