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Pre-Wedding: Eric & Jennie

Photographer: Grace
Hair & Make Up: Michelle Touche
Wedding Gown: That Special Occasion
Flowers: My Bridal Florist

It’s such a great honour when another photographer chooses to hire us as their wedding photographer. It’s also quite stressful, cause they have certain ideas about what looks great, and with their x-ray vision, can probably tell if I’m making a mistake. :) But thankfully, Eric is super easy going and went with the flow… and Jennie, well, she is used to being in front of Eric’s camera.

Eric is a destination wedding and portrait photographer, having set his footprints in Australia and Indonesia. Currently, both Eric and Jennie live in Jakarta, but last month Eric and Jennie traveled to KL; he had planned to attend CM Leung’s photography workshop and during the same trip, be photographed by us!

Since their flight was scheduled to arrive in KL the day before the shoot, that meant we had very little time to organize everything. Multiple emails were shot back and forth before the wedding. They chose the location, we organized the flowers and the make up artist. After their flight landed on Saturday afternoon, they headed straight to That Special Occasion and found a beautiful gown for Jennie.

We had an awesome time wandering the streets of KL, and it was great that we had so much help! Together with my assistant, Diane, Eric & Jennie had brought their entire family along! Eric’s sister Elsa was shooting some behind the scenes photos, and Jennie’s parents were there for moral support! Now this is a different sort of family holiday!

Eric & Jennie, thank you for your confidence in us. It was so easy talking to and photographing the both of you! I can’t wait to fly to Jakarta next year for your wedding… it would be my first trip there, so am excited about it! Perhaps I can spare some time after to go shopping as well. :) Hope you like these images!

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Pre-Wedding: How Wie & Adelene

Photographer: Grace
Location: Dusun Garden Fairies
Hair & Make up: Shinny
Wedding Gown: Pretty in White

One of the most beautiful and memorable places Alex and I have ever been to is Cinque Terre, in Italy. It’s not a common holiday destination for Malaysians as you’d need to travel quite a fair bit to reach this beautiful cliffside destination. Alex and I spent our honeymoon there and we absolutely loved the quaint little villages and doing simple things like hiking from one village to another, while eating grapes and looking at the scenic ocean view.

And so when I found out that one of How Wie & Adelene’s many travel destinations was Cinque Terre, I knew they were a couple after our own heart. :)

Adventure and travel seem to be the theme of their lives. Both flew thousands of kilometres across the globe to London, one escaping the bitter cold of Boston, while the other traveled from New Zealand to visit Europe. As fate would have it, they crossed paths at a mutual friend’s party in London on Valentine’s Day. Over many meals, desserts and shared conversations later… a relationship developed.

And that led to more kilometres of adventure as they visited many countries, explored beautiful sights and discovered love for each other.

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Internship position available

If you are keen on working with the Stories team, do send in your resume to us. We welcome students who are looking for an internship position. Requirements:

Time frame: Able to work min of 3 to max 5 days from our PJ office from the months of September – December 2011
Skills: Basic Lightroom or Photoshop skills, preferably familiar with a Mac platform, otherwise, we will train
Tasks: Photo editing, and album design
Perks: Get to hang out with cool people at Integricity, tag along for shoots (whenever possible)
Attitude: Willing to learn, humble, friendly, passionate about what you do!

Do note that this is not a full time position, though it may translate to one in the future. So do send in your resume or write to me at grace.tan[at]stories.my to say why you’d love to join us for these few months! Looking forward to hearing from you, and have a great weekend!

 

Wyeth Family Contest Winners!

Some time back, Wyeth ran a Be Photo Ready competition for families where the grand prize is a portrait shoot with Stories! Through this contest, I met 2 awesome families – CK, Martina, their sons Melvin and Mavis, and Ivan, Jennifer and their 2 cute girls Cayla and Liz-Myra. My job is a breeze whenever I get to photograph really cute babies like these…

I am sure he gets his cheeks pinched every so often.

Presenting CK & Martina’s family…

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Of money and shoes

You know the advice that every mother gives to her soon-to-be-wed daughter… “You should always have a separate bank account from your husband. It’s for a rainy day, you’ll never know what may happen…”

Yesterday was one of those days when the topic of finances came up during a discussion with friends. Whenever it comes to finances, I have to admit, I am really lousy at managing it. When I started work years ago, I didn’t really think about budgeting or planning for my future. All that mattered was that money came in, I didn’t spend more than I earned, and that was fine.

When I got married, everything became even more complex. Put into the equation a man who says that my shopping and shoe purchasing habits are rather extensive, and you have a recipe for arguments. He believes in spending more on fewer pairs, but buying quality. I prefer quantity.

So… I worked hard to earn all that money, right! Having more shoes means more options for a girl! :) I don’t really consider myself a spender, in fact, I am super excited whenever I get a good bargain – I’d rather shop at the Chatuchak market in Bangkok any day than at any branded goods store selling LVs or Guess dresses.

But you see, when I said “I do” five years ago, I also said “I will” to opening a joint bank account with Alex. And part of that “I will” also meant “I promise” to be accountable to you regarding financial matters, and he the same towards me.

I don’t regret it. I remember a story someone told me before… this couple had separate accounts and as usual, they split the bills for everything… he paid for the daily expenses and she paid for the house. They were happily married, but soon, their marriage turned rocky. It was then that things got complicated when she said that the house was hers because she paid for it.

Frankly, I think money can either unite or divide. People quarrel over money matters all the time. So when Alex suggests rethinking my shopping habits, I need to stop myself and think, “Is it really worthwhile quarelling over this? If I go ahead and spend anyway, ignoring what he says, will it be damaging to our relationship?”

Think about it, even if you had your separate bank accounts and one partner bought something the other does not approve of, would that not be cause for conflict too?

I can imagine some of you saying, “But it’s only a pair of shoes!”

Ok, so we had an agreement. If we intend to purchase anything beyond RM200 in value, we’d consult each other.

I am happy with that arrangement. As for my mother (who did give me that same advice at the top)… I didn’t really have an answer for her then. But now that I am older, I wish I had told her, “I don’t want to go into any relationship thinking that a rainy day will come. I want to go into this marriage thinking that both of us will make it work, come what may. It’s a permanent covenant, not a contract. It’s not to be broken, it’s for life.”

* Alvin & Melissa’s pre-wedding session