Meet the undertaker couple who posed for their wedding photos with a coffin

A fatal train crash was the catalyst for a Singapore couple’s death inspired wedding shoot – because the groom’s parents were on board.

Darren Cheng and Jenny Tay gained the nickname ‘the undertaker couple’ after their wedding photos caused controversy when they were shot dressed to the nines sitting on a coffin.

Darren, 30, and Jenny, 29, run Direct Funeral Services in Singapore.

When the photos went viral the couple explained it was because they wanted to remove the ‘taboo’ when it comes to talking about death.

Considering they were surrounded by death 27/7, it was a fair call to make.

However it turns out it was a particular brush with death that sparked the shoot.

Darren’s parents were passengers on the Amtrak 188 train, which derailed while travelling too fast from Washington to New York on May 12, 2015.

The crash tore apart passenger cars and sent seven off the tracks.

At the time they were described as being ‘smashed like aluminum cans’.

Eight people were killed and more than 200 people were injured.

Darren’s parents Andrew Cheng and Ong Lay Hong (both from Singapore) were on the train.

While the pair survived they were inside the carriage with all eight who died.

“His dad escaped with a stiff neck and his mum escaped with a bruised bum,” Jenny told Yahoo7.

It’s an act that could only be put down to incredible luck, and is one the young couple will never forget.

For them the wedding photos serve as a reminder of what could have been.

“The brush with death helped give us that push to honour life and to tell people to cherish things before they never get the chance”.

The wedding photos taken by photographer Joel Lim are beautiful. Set in an open field with aging trees, Jenny looks breathtaking in her taffeta dress with handsome Darren by her side.

The pair felt the photos ‘summed up who they were’.

‘We were surprised by the reaction,” Jenny said.

“To most people a wedding and a funeral shouldn’t be mixed together. For us our job is our life, that’s why we decide to have a coffin in the shoot.

“It also matches our personal views. Death is definitely a part of life and it shouldn’t be viewed as taboo."

From the photos it’s clear to see their love story is far from normal.

Three years ago, both ditched their already successful careers in Advertising and Counselling to take on the funeral business after Jenny’s father, Roland Tay, fell ill.

Roland Tay is considered on the world’s most respected undertakers – known for offering pro-Bono funeral services to families of murder victims and the poor.

It was big shoes to fill for a young modern pair coming into a very traditional industry.

But it’s a move the couple have never regretted.

“I find it more meaningful to help people and I wanted to do what my father does,” Jenny said.

“The funeral life allows me to feel like my life is fulfilled.

In the last three years they have worked hard to shift the strong attitudes of Singapore’s highly traditional funeral business and modernise it.

“The industry used to be very rough. When I first started it was very male dominated and it was a big culture shock,” Jenny said.

“Most of the people in the industry were between 50 and 60 years old.

“I think we’ve made some important changes which have changed the perception of the industry”.

One of those was drawing inspiration from the hospitality and hotel industry to provide a more comforting service for grieving families.

The couple also run a wedding flower business together – something that will no doubt come in handy when the pair get married in front of 700 people in October.

The pair met 15 years ago, when Jenny moved into the same compound as Darren.

They quickly formed a close friendship and 11 years later, discovered a romantic spark.

“It wasn’t love at first sight but we were very good friends,” Darren said.

He described their love as ‘magical’.

While they’re surrounded by the solemn and morbid on a day-to-day basis, the pair manage to keep the spark alive and they’re dead serious about each other.

“We made it clear not to bring work home. The moment we tell each other it’s couple time we try not to be affected by work,” Jenny said.

In fact, being around death 24/7 has given the couple a better appreciation of life.

“We’ve come to cherish life a lot more in this industry… our relationships with our own families has gotten a lot better,” Jenny said.

“The point is to live every day meaningfully, as you never know when you won’t be around.

“People have the perception that the people who work in this industry are very solemn, but a lot are surprised to find we are both very happy, go lucky people.”

Despite this, they’re not afraid to talk about death and feel nobody should be, including children.

Mr Cheng is about to release a book ‘Where did Grandpa Go?’ which will help parents explain death in a child friendly way.

"The very first customer we had was my best friend. His father passed away and his nephew came up and asked ‘hey where did grandpa go?’” Darren said.

“For kids it’s pretty hard to explain death and the afterlife… this is the story of grandpa explaining to kids where he might go when he dies”.

“We believe you shouldn’t fear death in life and know that your life is limited”.

Despite having modern views on death the pair said they remained quite traditional when it came to marriage.

“We believe marriage is a form of partnership, where you do things together in life,” Jenny said.

“We feel truly happy as partners”.

Staying true to their ‘til death do us part’ mantra, the pair planned to return to work as soon as possible after their wedding.

“We’ll take a few days for the wedding then head back to work,” Jenny said.

“They’re both important things in life".

LOVE IS IN THE AIR