By Vivien Chan and Bryna Sim

ON TUESDAY night, Madam Kerin Peh, 34, lived every girl's dream by marrying the man with whom she thought she would spend the rest of her life.

Hours later, her dream had become a nightmare.

That was all the time it took for her to turn from blushing bride to grieving widow.

Her husband, Mr Vernon Leong Jun Wei, 31, was found dead on the driveway at the Hilton Hotel, clad in T-shirt and shorts.

He was believed to have fallen from a height.

Just hours earlier, the happy couple had celebrated their wedding at the Orchard Road hotel.

Details of the tragedy are sketchy. The couple were staying in a 10th-floor room but it is believed that Mr Leong might have gone up to the rooftop garden on the 24th floor to have a smoke.

It is not known if he was alone at the time or whether he fell from the rooftop.

Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene at about 3.30am yesterday.

If everything had gone as planned, the newlyweds would have left today for a two-week honeymoon in the Philippines.

Instead, Madam Peh was left to grieve at her husband's funeral wake at the void deck of Block 30, Balam Road, as the rain pelted down last night.

Standing hunched and sobbing over his coffin, she clutched a tissue in her left hand and hugged a well-worn teddy bear with her right.

Dressed in a plain white T-shirt with her hair tied up in a ponytail, the slim and bespectacled Madam Peh could be seen whispering to her dead husband.

In front of the coffin was a smiling picture of Mr Leong in a grey suit.

Their short-lived union could be seen from the lack of interaction between the two families. Mr Leong's family members sat close to the coffin, while Madam Peh's friends sat behind a walled staircase landing. His family members were not sure if Madam Peh's parents were at the wake.

Those who know the couple said they were easy-going and fun-loving.

They most likely had met through their work. Mr Leong is a co-owner of an electronics shop in Sim Lim Square while Madam Peh is a distributor of IT products. It seems that they did not court for very long before deciding to get married.

An aunt of Mr Leong, who declined to be named, said she did not know Madam Peh very well and did not think they had been dating for long.

She said of her nephew: "He was a filial son and a very sincere person. Although I seldom saw him, I looked forward to each time we met."

Mr Leong's army buddies were surprised by the marriage.

"All of us are close and we talk about our lives and relationships. But when we did reservist together last October, he did not even tell us he was dating Kerin," said Mr Leong's platoon sergeant, marine technician Jasman Johari, 33.

He described Mr Leong as a fun-loving, physique-conscious and driven man.

"I've known him since he was 18, and he would always spur all of us onto do well in the army," he said.

Several IT product vendors who "worked closely" with Madam Peh were at the wake to give her emotional support.

But Madam Peh was too distraught to speak with them, they said.

A male vendor in the group said: "The unique thing about Kerin was her cheerfulness. Nothing seemed to faze her."

Others described her as a "happy" person and "good worker".

A source who was involved in the wedding described the couple as jovial, easy-going and accommodating.

Fighting back tears, she said: "Kerin has a good figure while the groom was fit and well-built. They looked good.

"Kerin's bouquet was made of sunflowers, suiting her jovial personality. Jun Wei was a very nice guy, not very mushy, but candid."

Over 300 guests attended the wedding, and the couple had about 10groomsmenand bridesmaids.

They solemnised their wedding at the hotel shortly before their dinner banquet.

Madam Peh wore three outfits - a white tube wedding gown, a silver tea dress and a navy blue evening gown - and Mr Leong wore two suits - black and grey.

The source said the couple also looked good in their pre-wedding photos, some posed in a studio and others at a Sentosa beach.

"They wanted sunset pictures, so they went to Sentosa," she said, adding that Mr Leong was so sporting that he even took off his shirt for some photos.

Three of Mr Leong's employees yesterday told The New Paper that they had closed the shop at 5pm, three hours earlier than usual,on Tuesday, to attend the wedding.

One of them, who wanted to be known only as Lucas, said: "He was nervous and excited in the weeks leading up to the wedding.

"He was nervous even when giving us the invitation cards."

They said Mr Leong used to have a few shops in Sim Lim Square but now runs R&S Dot Com, which was set up about two years ago, with a close friend.

They described him as a fitness buff, whose hobby was going to the gym.

Said Lucas: "He was a super good boss. Whenever we needed to take leave, we just needed to tell him. We don't know how this could have happened."

He said Mr Leong was a casual smoker, smoking about two or three cigarettes a day, and could hold his liquor well.

"We go out for drinks sometimes after work, so I know he's quite a good drinker," said Lucas.

Mr Leong had been drinking red wine during the wedding, but Lucas, who was one of the last to leave the reception, said he seemed "normal, not drunk".

"He called us by name and thanked us for coming," he recalled.

Lucas said he knew Mr Leong and Madam Peh were dating, but he did not know much about Madam Peh, except that she worked as an IT distributor.

When reporters turned up at the Hilton soon after the tragedy yesterday, Madam Peh was seated on the steps of the hotel, weeping aloud.

About 20 friends and relatives later accompanied her to the mortuary to identify her husband's body.

At Mr Leong's wake yesterday, two family representatives told reporters that the family needed time to "get over our grief" and did not wish to speak.

The police are investigating the unnatural death.