Sometimes life gives you a few interesting surprises along the way. Chance encounters that were fated. Especially when you’ve communicated with the person in the first place, but never met each other.

In 2005, Eng Wah’s company had a job vacancy. Penny’s housemate was his ex-colleague, so she got in touch with Eng Wah through MSN and sent him a resume. Unfortunately she did not get called in for an interview and as luck would have it, she never got to meet Eng Wah.

Two years later, they met each other in an IT event. She came with her colleague and he was there with his housemate. They sat together, had lunch but did not talk to each other.

Fast forward to 2009. Somehow his contact was still in Penny’s MSN list, so one day, she noticed his status had changed to include an IQ test. Penny answered and it was right. That was the first time they started a conversation online. Everyday, Penny and Eng Wah looked forward to their online chats. “Good morning” was the keyword to trigger the conversation of the day. Gradually, they found their similarities… same college, favorite restaurant, favorite food, favorite song, pasar malam, travelling…

Eventually, they started going out for dinner, movies, pasar malam every Wednesday…

When Eng Wah cooks, she tests his food. When Penny goes out for photo shoots, Eng Wah becomes her model (which is unusual, as most girls tend to be the model instead!). Their friendship grew, until one day, he finally mustered the courage to hold her hand while shopping at Isetan.

Which led to… 2011.

One day, Eng Wah picked Penny up from a company event and they went home together. When she arrived home, she found that he had used her color pencils to write “I LOVE YOU” on the ground. On top of that, there was a delicious looking jelly inside the fridge with the words “Would you marry me?”on top. And she said yes!

The day of our photo shoot (by Eng Wah & Penny)

In order to make sure we are relaxed during the shoot, we decide to take whole week’s leave. Before the actual shooting day, we went to Melaka for food hunting, ate a lot of food… Satay Celup, chicken rice ball, durian cendol, capati and roti naan, nyonya food, coconut milk shake… we might have added a few extra pounds during that trip, but we didn’t care… as long as we were happy.

It rained on our shoot day. When Grace reached Pullman hotel, she told us, “Don’t worry, the rain will stop soon. Let’s start shooting in the hotel room first.”

Grace always tells us to enjoy the moment, talk to each other …. But the problem is that we didn’t know what to talk about! So the only thing we said to one another was… “Wow the food in Malacca was great! Satay celup, chicken rice ball, durian cendol…. ” BLA BLA BLA…. So when we talked about the food, we laughed as well.

The day when we received the DVD

The day we received the DVD from Stories.my, that night, the both of us kept repeating the slideshow… repeat repeat and repeat. I can’t remember how many times we hit repeat… I kept telling Eng Wah, not enough… one more time please….  The photos are just so beautiful. And we discussed which one we should print as canvas… this one… that one…. Ahhh~~ can’t decide which one is the best… almost all are best!

Eng Wah & Penny, am so happy you love the photos. Though the mosquitos at the park were voracious, I didn’t mind. Wish you many years of excitement hunting for new places to eat, and places to take photos! :)

Some months back, I blogged about my travel to Nikoi Island for a pre-wedding photo shoot. I met Kevin & Katherine (also known as Ruifeng & Peishan) about a year ago when they traveled from Singapore to KL just to meet up with me. Katherine is an avid supporter of my work which I am grateful for. :) She comments on so many of my Facebook updates which is really really nice! Kevin & Katherine flew me into Singapore for their wedding on the 22nd of October, and prior to that, their pre-wedding shoot in Nikoi island.

I must say, I have a weakness for beaches, the sea and islands. Over the next few weeks, you’ll find a number of postings on the blog related to beach weddings – we photographed so many over the past few months! Back to Kevin & Katherine’s pre-wedding shoot – this was a memorable event for me. Actually, the trip itself was an adventure. Alex and I had to fly to Singapore, catch a ferry to Bintan island, take a 45 minute taxi ride across Bintan to another jetty, hop onto another ferry for 30 minutes, and then we reached Nikoi island! Phew! But it was worth it! I love the seclusion of this island, plus I could walk around it in 20 minutes. Alex and I had a private chalet to ourselves, thanks to Kevin & Katherine’s generosity.

To be precise, the chalet looked like this:

Since Katherine loves details, she planned and transported all these items for her photo shoot in Nikoi.

The first time Katherine laid eyes on Kevin was during their Mathematics lecture back in National University of Singapore…

Katherine: To be exact I only caught sight of his back more than his looks and that was only because my male friend said there is a good-looking guy sitting in front of us. My first impression? Oh my goodness! How can he be good-looking?! I thought he looked rather unfriendly! Haha!

But from then on, I noticed him all the time since we were in the same faculty and course. I decided to do a search on the then-popular Friendster and found him. From there, I realized that Kevin was actually from the same junior college as me and decided to get to know him by sending him a private message through Friendster.

Kevin: One fine day, I got a message from *tadah!* Katherine via Friendster, and I was surprised to find out that we were both from the same junior college! With this common bond, we sent a couple of private messages and started chatting with her on ICQ. Somehow, we seemed to connect really well and enjoyed our late-night online chats. It felt like we were old friends rather than two individuals who barely knew each other for less than a month!

First impressions? Tall. Slim. Somehow, a little different from the other ladies in our course, but I didn’t really think too much about it at that time. Love at first sight? Definitely not for us, I guess! One thing led to another. We met up on campus, went on a date, and the rest is history.

I promise you, the skies are real!

The next morning, we woke up early to catch the sunrise. Our make up artist Cherry had a hard time doing her make up in a dim chalet at 4am but she did a great job.

Kevin & Katherine, thanks for your hospitality. I felt pampered while I was there at Nikoi for our shoot. Glad the weather was great! I had a good time in Singapore over the weekend too. Hugs and kisses!

It was 8am. I arrived at Aaron’s home in Subang to be greeted by his warm and welcoming family. In a matter of minutes, they made me feel at home, our conversation drifting from what they do for work to why I shoot portraits for a living to pieces of artwork on their family wall. For an hour, I took some informal photos of Aaron’s family. An hour later, Sheena arrived at Aaron’s place, having rushed over from work not too long ago.

She had just completed her night shift at the hospital, and hadn’t slept at all. After her shift ended, she rushed home, got dressed, did her own make up and made her way to Aaron’s place. I was really amazed at the energy this girl had! I was concerned that she would be really tired for our portrait session, but Sheena made everything look so easy.

The both of them are super easy to photograph. They kept laughing at every little thing I said (or didn’t say!). Our shoot location was no where glamourous. In fact, it was a tiny park across the road from Aaron’s home. I hope these photos show you that it doesn’t matter at the end of the day where we shoot, what matters most is the connection between the couple. Aaron and Sheena were so comfortable in their own skin and in front of the camera. Sometimes I felt ignored. But that’s totally fine with me. :)

Nice touch with the t-shirt…

Aaron & Sheena will be getting married on the 7th of January 2012! Our team will be covering their wedding then. So if you are friends of the couple, save the date!

Some great childhood memories just last a long time. And some great friends last a lifetime. Even though you might only see each other once every few months, or once a year…it doesn’t matter, because every time you get together, it feels like old times again. Amanda is one of those childhood friends who totally fit the bill. Since our primary school days to secondary school and onwards… we grew up together, saw each other through the ugly years (when I still had braces!) and through all the hardships a teenager would normally go through.

Mance, thanks for all the fun memories from our days in Malacca… I wish I could be there on your wedding day, but unfortunately, that date has been booked by another client months ago. I am glad that I managed to photograph your family portraits and some casual shots of you and Ivan though! Nice meeting Ivan for the first time, but we definitely have to sit down for a proper chat over a meal soon! Maybe after your wedding?

Hope you like the photos and slideshow!

The Pang family…

A week ago, I posted some photos from Aaron & Chrystin’s pre-wedding shoot. It was such an elaborate set up that I knew we had to document it with a video. What you don’t really see in this image below is the many piles of cow dung that we had to avoid stepping on in that field. The shoot was done at UPM, where cows graze freely at certain times of the day. Thankfully, I managed to find a cow-dung-less spot to set up our little picnic mat. So hope you enjoy the video and do leave a comment behind!

Some time back, Weddings Malaysia organized a virtual treasure hunt competition for brides and grooms. We participated as a vendor and offered a pre-wedding session as one of the prizes. And that was how I got to know Jackson & Julie. Over a cup of coffee at Starbucks, I got to know the both of them and chatted about what we could do for their pre-wedding session. Since Julie is a nyonya just like me, I suggested we do a vintage shoot in a typical Peranakan cafe. While The Little Nyonya show was playing on TV, we spent 2 hours exploring every corner of this place (in between bowls of cendol, of course!)

Jackson & Julie will be getting married this coming December… so I wish you all the best for the future!

By the way, Julie painstakingly sewed this kasut manik-manik (beaded shoes) herself. Amazing!

Aaron & Chrystin’s pre-wedding photo session was so well thought out and detailed, they immediately made it to my ‘Top 5 most prepared bride & groom’ list (next to Jamie & Ann, Alvin & Melissa, Kenny & PC and Kevin & Katherine – to be blogged after their wedding). I was really amused when Chrystin emailed me a detailed list of what props she would bring, the colour theme of the shoot (CMYK), and other important details like Chrystin’s right side of the face look better sometimes. I hope you’re not embarrassed about this, Chrystin, but I do think it’s great that the both of you are super detailed and communicate these things to me.

Both Aaron & Chrystin work in the creative line (Aaron is a freelance graphic designer with his own t-shirt brand Individium, whereas Chrystin is a multimedia executive). I got to know the both of them some time back when we were all involved in a media conference called Charge Up, organized by LiveWire Media. Aaron & Chrystin are really talented individuals, and it wasn’t a surprise that they planned their pre-wedding shoot to be so graphically interesting. Everything was done with excellence in mind, and it showed in the end. But of course, it couldn’t have been done without the help of their good friends Jackee Chong & Kenneth Fong (a behind the scenes video will be posted soon!).

On Chrystin’s 24th birthday, Aaron proposed to her during a surprise party he organized with some friends. Towards the end of the party, he gave her a gift which included this handmade doll that resembled Aaron (Notice the hairdo! I think it should be the same colour as his hair though!) and this sign that said “Will you marry me?” Aaron promptly went on his knees and gave her a speech on why she should marry him, and told her he won’t stand up till she said “YES!” And the rest is history!

I took the following excerpt from Aaron’s blog post (hope you don’t mind!) cause I think what he wrote there is so true! There is a lot of wisdom in this.

I’m kinda sure a lot of people did not expect this coming from me and would ask questions like, “Are you guys ready for this?” or “Why so soon?” or “Do you have the money to get married?” and all sorts of other questions that the world bombards at people who have the slightest intention to tie the knot in marriage. The truth is, I don’t really understand why people are so concerned over such petty and trivial things. If I do love Chrystin, (and I have the blessings of our parents and spiritual leaders) then that’s all that matters. Everything else is secondary. Period. NOTHING else should stand in the way to hinder me from spending the rest of my life growing old with the love of my life.

If I was a girl and the man I love does not want to marry me because he thinks he’s not ready for marriage yet, then I’d be very offended. Offended because he’s not sure if I’m the girl he’d want to spend the rest of his life with. If I was a girl and the man I love does not want to marry me because he thinks he doesn’t have enough in his bank account, then I’d be very offended. Offended because money has robbed early marriage, youth and happiness from me. If I was a girl and the man I love does not want to marry me because he thinks he needs to climb the career ladder, buy a house, buy a car and get everything else so that I can live comfortably before he can marry me, then i’d be very offended. Offended because he did not include me in his life experiences and achievements. That is, if I’m a girl.

So, am I worried? Not really. I know everything will fall into place and I’d rather spend this time enjoying the planning, fussing around and working things out for our coming wedding with Chrystin (but I’m pretty sure she’ll be making most of the decisions =) Besides, the wedding should not be our main focus, but it should be marriage! Now, that I’m excited! =)

Aaron & Chrystin, I pray that the both of you would discover a colourful life as you move into this new stage called “Marriage”. You’re absolutely right, it’s not about the wedding, but about the marriage. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to document your love. I adore the details you prepared for the shoot… (uh, remember me when your wedding is over and you want to give away the white crates). God bless!

I find it really amusing when a bride & groom can look super glamorous like this one moment…

And absolutely zany and crazy the next moment!

Fun, laughter and silly ideas. That totally describes the kind of shoot we had for Alvin & Melissa’s pre-wedding. Add to that equation a vintage Morris Minor that belongs to Alvin’s mom, lots of love and it becomes an amazing shoot!

It’s not very surprising that Alvin and Melissa came up with these creative ideas as they are both extremely talented and creative people. Melissa works in an advertising agency, and she even gave me a printed brief of what she wanted for her pre-wedding photography session! On the day of our shoot, I was tickled when I saw this sign outside their room door…

So sweet! Aaw, I think I melted into nothingness then. :) Alvin and Melissa even prepared chocolates for me! How thoughtful!

Carcosa is a great place for photography. I love this location!

Gorgeous veil…

Alvin having a bit of fun here…

They are amazing. They created and prepared all these props themselves.

Like spray painted this frame from Ikea…

You can’t go to Carcosa and not have a tea party…

Alvin & Melissa have style… love his Stefano & Mario limited shoes and her Christian Louboutin shoes.

Melissa loves her lomo cameras… and so do I! Years ago, it was lomo that made me fall in love with photography and colours…

Just for fun… cross processed treatment for this shot… :)

Thank you, Alvin & Melissa for an enjoyable day! I can’t wait for your wedding day in October. I am sure it’ll be really exciting with a lot more superb details. Oh, and one more thing… we do have a little behind the scenes video to share… which we will be sharing in another post soon!

* Images of Holiday Inn Resort, Kandooma Maldives taken from hotel website.

If you’ve dreamed of traveling to Maldives and having your portraits taken on this beautiful island, this is the chance for you!

This promotional rate of USD3,400 includes:

- A 3D2N stay for 2 persons in the Sea View Beach House at Holiday Inn Resort, Kandooma Maldives, inclusive daily buffet breakfast at Kandooma Cafe (excluding beverages) and return airport transfers
- 6 hours of pre or post wedding photography by Grace
- Unlimited number of images on DVD (printable up to 4R size)
- DVD slideshow of selected images
- 15″ x 10″ classic album (20 pages)
- 15″ x 10″ canvas art print
- Wedding gown from That Special Occasion
- Accommodation for photographer

This promotion is valid for ONE couple only. Do note that the rate does not include flights (for the couple & photographer).

- Valid till 1 February 2012
- Reservation in advance required and room is subject to availability
- Not valid during peak season 20 December 2011 to 10 January 2012 and 19 January to 31 January 2012

The resort looks amazing! Do check out more details on the resort online and read reviews on Trip Advisor. Email me at grace.tan [at] stories.my to make a booking before 31st October 2011.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder. I am always amazed at couples whose relationships stand the test of time. Traveling between Australia and Malaysia, while contributing to the airline industry economically, both Adrian & Phoebe have learnt that patience is definitely a virtue. Recently, Phoebe flew back to Malaysia for a short holiday, and they decided to contact me for a casual portrait session. In accordance with the long distance relationship and travel theme, they had an idea to do the shoot at KLIA. But I was a little concerned that we would be chased away by security guards (I can just picture the internet news… Photographer detained for questioning after trying to run away from security at KLIA or something silly like that).

Maybe one day I’ll be adventurous enough to try it out.

In the end, Adrian, Phoebe, Diane (who was assisting me) and I ended up at a park in PJ. Two hours spent together, but I felt that we have known each other for years.

Adrian & Phoebe, the both of you were so easy to work with! Love your shoes, by the way!

I found out that Adrian is a pretty sporty person. He even brought this basketball for the shoot, and decided to show me his spinning skills…uh, you can also tell by looking at his shirt that it’s hard work doing all that spinning (& kissing)…

Adrian & Phoebe, though your relationship matured in different countries, I’m glad that you are heading the same direction from now on… towards marriage! All the best for the future!