The Sun Broke Through the Clouds for This Couple’s Forest Wedding in the Bhutanese Himalayas
When James Joseph went on his first date with Tara Susanto-Joseph in June 2021, he didn’t actually know it was a date. At the time, the two were neighbors in Jakarta, Indonesia, and a mutual friend, Andrew Hong, decided to introduce them.
“He thought it was hilarious that we lived just 50 seconds apart and yet had never met,” Tara remembers. “It was during the Delta outbreak, and Andrew knew James wasn’t easily convinced to leave the house, so he played both sides: He told James it was a business meeting because I’d be a ‘great investment,’ and told me it was a date with a very good-looking neighbor.”
That first date-slash-business meeting? It didn’t go so well. “Let’s just say it was not a great first date—borderline horrific, actually—but I didn’t give up easily,” Tara says. Luckily, she was able to set up another meeting with James, and this time, things went much better. The two started dating, and went on to co-found Bumiterra, a company that focuses on reforestation efforts in Indonesia, in 2022.
On October 4, 2024, James proposed to Tara at Amanwana on Moyo Island, Indonesia. At first, “I wasn’t having the best time,” Tara says. They almost went home, but James convinced her to stay for snorkeling and swimming, which they always enjoy together. “After a morning of wondrous snorkeling and open water swimming by the resort’s quiet and gentle reefs, we took a nice sunset cruise to wind down, and James popped the question!”
Tara recalls what James said when he proposed: “Tara, you’ve taken care of me since the day we met exactly the way I needed to be cared for, and in the way only you could do it, and now I wish to do the same for you for the rest of my life.” He gave her a royal blue sapphire ring from Christie’s.
He had considered an emerald ring to match her birth month, but decided against it, Tara explains. “He thought I had too much green in my life—green like the rainforests we built, and he wanted our love story to be much more than what we worked on professionally together,” she says. “So blue is for the ocean, for the safety, peace, and love it always brings me.”
Their wedding weekend took place from October 4 to 7, 2025, at Amankora in Bhutan, known as the Land of the Thunder Dragon—so named for the dramatic thunderstorms in the region. The couple, who are of Chinese-Indonesian heritage, chose Bhutan for the country’s “appreciation for intention; it is the land where we believe the intention you come with or you bring is more important than any other thing,” Tara says. They also “fell in love with the pine forests” at the Amankora resort, and that sealed the deal. (In addition to the Bhutan celebration, they also held wedding events, including a tea ceremony and a cathedral solemnization).
The couple worked with planner Cyrielle Mohara on their Bhutan celebration, and centered sustainability throughout. Their goal was to honor the land and the people of Bhutan, and among other efforts, they focused on “making sure everything was 100% harvested and foraged in Bhutan” and “making use of as much Bhutanese craft and work” as possible, Tara says.
When deciding what to wear for the wedding weekend, Tara wanted to honor their “Eastern roots in a way that felt modern, intentional, and deeply personal.” She took inspiration from Her Majesty Queen Jetsun Pema, Queen of Bhutan, and wore a look by Chuni Dorji Privé, a Bhutanese brand, for the welcome event. James wore Kraton by Auguste Soesastro, one of their favorite Indonesian designers, and a brooch that Tara sourced on 1stDibs. “It was actually a vintage belt, which I promptly turned into a brooch…and now I wear it constantly because I’m obsessed,” she says.
For their wedding day, Tara wore custom Hian Tjen, and James wore Barney Cheng. “Barney is a true master of weaving traditional artistry into modern craft—and his warm, witty personality is the most delicious cherry on top. Our lotus wedding logo was hand-embroidered in gold thread on the back of James’s Mandarin jacket, with vintage chased brass buttons for the finishing touch.”
In Hong Kong, the couple found jade beads that they had designer Rinaldy Yunardi turn into a necklace. But when Tara tried it on, it didn’t quite work as a necklace at first, so she wrapped it around her wrist as a makeshift bracelet.
On the day of the wedding, it rained, true to the land’s moniker. The scene was still stunning. Tara notes “the flaming red amaranth, the marigolds, on the backdrop of Amankora’s pine forest, the monks singing and chanting the Tara mantra,” plus “some seriously transcendent trumpet instruments in the background, and just a wonderful touch of warmth, because the sun decided to show up last minute.”
They exchanged cups of rice wine to symbolize their union, said their vows, took photos, and hugged their loved ones. At the ceremony, it was just the couple sharing the aisle. “It was just us, walking down our path. It felt right,” Tara says. “I teared up at the end of my vows, when I said ‘I see you, James Joseph, 姚清思 (Yao Ching-Sze), from the first moment we met, and I will see you for the rest of my time here on earth. Because when I see you, I feel the me, in me,’” Tara shares.
“It’s something I profess to James all the time,” she adds. “But saying those words at the ceremony, surrounded by all the world’s beauty and intention, only made even clearer to me that I was there with James, and that everything we’d worked so hard on was made possible on that day, because James’s love helped me meet a version of myself that I know is only grazing the surface of my fullest potential.”
“At the end, the sun cleared the fog, revealing the snowy Himalayan mountains,” Tara says. “The guests proceeded to cocktails and dinner with the most magnificent view, and I honestly have never felt closer to God.”
“I have never had an experience like it,” James says, reflecting on the ceremony.
For the reception dinner, Tara changed into a custom red Stella Rissa dress. “And in a stroke of pure serendipity, lo and behold—the dragon jade necklace fit perfectly around my neck for the dinner! It was the truest cosmic moment and actually became my favorite look for the Bhutan leg, because it was the most myself I’ve ever felt,” Tara says.
At the reception, guests surprised the couple with some impromptu karaoke, requesting that the band play backing tracks to sing along to. The evening “transformed a full-blown live karaoke night,” and the newlyweds joined in on the fun. “Everyone was on exactly the right frequency,” Tara says. “All celebrating being present in Bhutan.”
Photo: Maritha Mae1/80Overlooking Drukgyel Dzong from Amankora Paro.
Photo: Maritha Mae2/80Snowy Himalayan peaks, quietly peeking through—a rare and fleeting blessing.
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