Prior to our first meet up, I had never met Paul Tan, the famous car blogger. I only knew about him through my husband, Alex, who one day, told me that I might get a call from Paul asking about wedding photography. And one day, I did receive an sms from Paul. Since he was traveling, and Jenny was in Sibu, it was really challenging to arrange for a meet up. Eventually, everything was discussed over email and sms, and shortly after, the Stories team was booked to photograph their wedding.

Ok I do admit that I sometimes google up or ‘check out’ my clients on Facebook, just to get a feel of who they are. Especially so when I have never met them in person. So I went to Paul’s Facebook page, and one of the first few things I saw was this photo of his wife posted on his wall… it said “Biniku gangster”. (translated, it means, my wife’s a gangster). Uh, she did look a little formidable in that photo, and I wasn’t sure what I was in for.

Fast forward to our first meet up (which was a few days before the wedding!), and I thought, Jenny has got to be the worst gangster ever! She was actually the sweetest thing, and really friendly too. I found out that she is a doctor working in Sibu, Sarawak. Being physically away made it a lot harder to plan their wedding, but eventually, they got around to it and everything came together.

I also discovered that Paul’s a man of few words (in person at least!), and my first impression of him was that he seems to be a really serious person. I found out that they met while schooling at Victoria Institution, and one of their favourite hobbies is eating together (that is soooo Malaysian!).

Well, enough said, here are some of the photos from their wedding day, including the same day slideshow that was shown during dinner. Congratulations, Paul and Jenny!

And if you’re keen on watching the same day slideshow, please click here.

Credits:

Photographers: Grace, Johan & Weiming
Wedding Gown: Red Bliss
Shoes: Christian Louboutin
Make Up: Wedding Isle
Dinner Entertainment: Mosaic Music
Dinner Reception: KL Hilton

A couple of days before the wedding, I dropped by Theng’s family home to meet up with everyone and to get to know Jeremy and Theng better. I was glad to find out that the dinner was going to be an intimate affair of 200 people. That’s really small for a typical Asian wedding, since most dinner receptions would have at least 300-400 people!

On their wedding day, we spent quite a bit of time doing some portraits around Intercontinental Hotel. I recently popped by Intercontinental for another shoot, and to my dismay, found out that part of the lobby is under renovation. So yeah, this staircase has been boarded up. I wonder what everything will look like once it’s done!

“We got engaged in February 2011 and started planning the wedding quite soon after.   As we both live in the UK, we decided to hold a small reception in London for our immediate family and close friends, as well as dinner receptions in KL and Hong Kong.  Planning a wedding from abroad was exciting but definitely challenging!  We had to rely on wedding blogs and personal recommendations to source for potential vendors.  With the help of our parents, multiple emails over the months and some last-minute planning a week before our reception in KL, we eventually managed to pull it off!  We had a great time and were very grateful that most of our friends from all over the world were able to attend.”

Jeremy & Theng 

I love Theng’s gorgeous gown! The detail on the top reminds me of her wedding cake! Just like petals, and totally romantic!

Some quick portraits in the family garden. Helps to have nice white picket fences in your lawn!

Johan discovers the joy of creating flares in photos! :)

The cake’s gorgeous, right!?

Before the walk in, I told Jeremy and Theng to walk slowly, enjoy the moment and look around at everyone. They took my advice literally, and walked really really slowly to the main table! Hahaha… but it gave us plenty of opportunities to walk around the couple and take shots like these!

By the way, I personally am not a big fan of the dried ice effect. I think it tends to make the image murky, especially if there’s too much of it. But it works pretty ok if the dried ice is only released AFTER the couple walks through. Then it won’t block their faces… in this case, we were pretty lucky because the strong back light from the spotlight created this cool effect!

More dried ice and flares! :) Congratulations Jeremy and Theng!

Credits:

Photographers: Grace & Johan
Location: Intercontinental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur 
Hair & Make Up: Angie Ng

Dear Diane, Mark & Johan,

I meant to send this earlier, but I didn’t expect the week post-wedding to be equally as hectic as pre-wedding. I actually just wanted to drop a quick e-mail to let you know how awesome it was having you guys as my photographers.

I thoroughly enjoyed the times on-camera as well as off-camera. (Chewah, mcm celebrity, liddat!) Seriously, though, I’m so glad & grateful for how (unexpectedly) easy it was to get along with you, right from the start -  tbh, I didn’t expect that having photographers around would be such a pleasant experience. I was surprised at how comfortable I was with you & how much fun I had just hanging out with you guys during those brief moments after the ceremony/during the luncheon/dinner.

It was a genuine pleasure for me to have you around, so much so I felt as though you were actual guests at my wedding. Having said that, I can understand how you might not share the same viewpoint, seeing as the cameras would’ve been a weighty reminder of the work at hand. All the same, thank you for being such great company.

Thank you, Diane, for all the chats & e-mails, and for all those gentle reminders – yep, I know we’re due to think of that extra song :) It was great to finally meet you in person – I’m so happy you came to photograph my wedding! :D :D – & you are just as nice as you sound over Gtalk. True story. I bet most brides say this, but we really should hang out sometime. Any friend of Switchfoot is a friend of mine & Aaron’s :) (Btw, I’ve got Vice Verses on repeat in my car – that’s probably going to run until I get the new David Crowder album.)

Mark, thank you for enduring my numerous rants regarding the breakdown of my precious system & my “Y U NO [insert appropriate bridezilla expectation here]?!?” Despite how the photo-session went up in flames – in FLAMES, Mark – I was actually present in each moment of my day & enjoyed it, from the chilled-out make-up session, to the ceremony (thank you SO much for giving me no cause for concern during the Mass – I personally thought you did a brilliant job of being unobstrusive & yet the pictures still turned out fabulous ;) to the dinner.

Btw, one of my overseas guests was particularly impressed with the slideshow you put together, esp. considering the limited amount of time you had. As was I: Thank you so much for highlighting what, or rather, Who was & is at the centre of Aaron’s & my union, and I noticed that the pictures came together beautifully at the chorus, so well done :)

Johan, we saw those great shots you’d taken from the balcony. My mother-in-law also made special mention of how you’d subtly (hehe) grouped the guests during the toasting & the different angles you used. Thank you for the efforts you took to to get those quirky & candid shots that I was hoping for, esp. at the main table. (LOL-ing at how you had to recall me from the meet-and-greet for the slideshow during the dinner!) It was a real pleasure encountering you & your sense of humour, and I know my sister was happy to put a face to the gentleman who was so impressed with her Gantt chart, haha!

All in all, I thank God the actual day went the way it did, and that He made our paths cross the way He did. Thank you for being a part of our wedding & I hope you enjoyed yourselves in our company as much as we did in yours. Looking forward ’til we next meet again. In the meantime, take care & God bless!

Yours sincerely,

Sheena

Shooting Aaron & Sheena’s wedding was fun, I have never seen such a cute couple together and boy the wedding day was equally exciting. Interesting things such as the wedding dinner plan laid out in a gantt chart (project managers would probably know what I am talking about) as well as the bride who travels so far away for work because she was posted out of town. In a strict sense, it was beautiful because of two things, it followed the traditions of a Catholic wedding and the wedding itself was held at such a beautiful church. Despite what people might say, I guess deep down I am a traditionalist at heart. Traditions and cultures are some of the few things I see getting lost in this extremely fast paced world.

Surprisingly I found out that I knew Aaron’s brother who was my university mate all the way back in the UK. It really was such a small small world. I consider it a double blessing especially if I find out that I know the couple or one of the couple’s family members.

Congratulations again to Aaron and Sheena. May this new journey in life be a fantastic and fruitful one!

- Mark -

Credits:
Photographers: Mark, Johan & Diane
Location: Church of St Thomas More, USJ & Summer Palace Restaurant, PJ
Wedding Gown: Eva Enchanted
Shoes: Alvin Tay Couture
Make up & hair: YenTan Bridal Make up & Hair Do Service
Stationery: Friend of the bride & groom, Crisabel Clare
Cake: Friend of the bride & groom, Denis Ngu
Flowers: Sprinkled with Style
Videography: Beezworks Productions

For those who have been reading this blog for sometime, you might know that I started out my career in the local film and television line. For many years, I edited TV programs, dramas, films, documentaries… and also directed some episodes of various television programs. Then in 2007, I began to explore the world of weddings through my camera lens. You can read more about my history here.

So how is this relevant to what I am about to say?

Well, basically, we will be involved in a new project involving an international travel channel that broadcasts to 120 countries worldwide. No, this doesn’t mean that we are no longer photographing weddings. Every now and then, I believe in doing new things that will help fuel creativity, and though it’s been a while since I directed a TV program, this is something I’m excited to do.

So… this is where you come in.

We are looking to feature weddings in Malaysia, Indonesia (Bali), Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines and Singapore. For each episode, we will feature one local couple and one couple who are traveling to that destination for their wedding. If you are getting married in these locations within the months of May-August 2012 and would love to have your wedding featured internationally on television, do contact us!

Please email grace.tan [at] stories.my with these details:

1. Your name & your fiance’s name

2. The location and date of your wedding

3. Why you think your wedding should be featured (or perhaps some unique details about your wedding plans)

4. Include a photo of the both of you

And that’s it! This is not a contest. We will select the couple based on the best story that fits our requirements. We are excited to hear from you, so do email us soon!

It was in spring of 2009 that Eric first laid his eyes on Jennie. While I am sure he was praying during the church rosary prayer at Bullsbrook, Western Australia, Eric might have been a little distracted. Perhaps. Jennie was not a familiar face…plus she is a gorgeous girl! Eric soon found out that she was there from Surabaya, visiting her sister Anne for a week or two.

Thanks to social media and Mark Zuckerberg, they started connecting by messaging each other on Facebook, Yahoo messenger and MSN. In Eric’s words, “geek mode on!”. After a lot of prayers asking God for signs, Eric finally plucked up the courage to visit Jennie in Surabaya where she was finishing her medicine degree. That month of February 2010 was a milestone, because Eric and Jennie became boyfriend and girlfriend then.

During Christmas of 2010, Eric visited Jennie’s family in Malang, Indonesia and brought with him a Tiffany engagement ring. Unfortunately, Jennie discovered the ring accidentally in his camera bag, but he was quick to pop the question. She blushed. And then she said yes.

Be warned people, this is a super duper long post! It’s really hard for me to pick my favourites!

Amazingly, Eric has a tiger in his home. Uh, is this real, Eric?

Interestingly, the wrought iron stairs at Eric’s home and the stairs in Hotel Gran Mahakam is pretty similar.

Their ceremony was held at Santa Perawan Maria Ratu, a Catholic church in Jakarta. I love the photos taken by Alex below… before she walks into the church. Their wedding car was a gorgeous vintage Bel Air!

I love the modern design of this church. When Eric told me there’s heaps of natural light streaming into the church, I was really excited! I love photographing weddings in buildings that has lots of natural light. Lunch receptions in locations with large glass windows make me do a little leap too!

The Catholic wedding ceremony in Indonesia differed slightly from the ones I have photographed in Malaysia. It lasted longer (1.5 hours) and there were gifts presented to the bride and groom as well, halfway through the ceremony.

The universal language of love extends beyond boundaries. No matter what language you speak, love is the thing that connects us as humans. Eric and Jennie appreciated their parents and in-laws after the ceremony. I thought it was really meaningful and emotional, and something every married couple should adopt as practice during the wedding.

After the group photos, Eric and Jennie gathered everyone outside the church and released pigeons and balloons into the sky!

Every Chinese wedding is not complete without the tea ceremony.

Dinner was held at the Gran Mahakam hotel.

I love the reception area! Makes me want to pack one of these vintage dressers and bring them home to Malaysia!

Luggage tags is a practical idea as a wedding favour!

The other unique thing about Indonesian weddings is the dinner reception. I was surprised to find out that standing receptions is a norm in Indonesia. 600 guests came for the buffet dinner, stood and mingled in the hotel ballroom and came to the front to take photos with the bride and groom. There were a total of 2 large round tables.

It was really sweet that Eric’s English teacher flew all the way from Australia to attend the wedding.

And finally, the amazing group of wedding planners (including Eric’s sister Elsa) who made the wedding happen.

Eric and Jennie, the both of you will always have a special place in my heart! Thank you for your trust in us even though we did not meet face to face when you made the booking. I appreciate the friendship and kindness you have shown us. It’s clients like you that make our job so easy (and meaningful)! Hugs!!

Credits:

Photographers: Grace & Alex
Wedding Gown: Venisee Couture
Groom’s Attire: Pizzaro Sensation Design
Shoes: Rococo
Hair & Make Up: Michelle Touche
Decorations & Flowers:  Rumah Kampung
Stationery: Red Ribbon Gift
Cake: Clara Cake
Videography: Flawless Pictures
Location: Gereja Santa Perawan Maria Ratu & Gran Mahakam Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia
Wedding Planners: Vanessa & Retno

Yup, it’s every girl’s dream to plan for her wedding. Like waaay in advance. But I wonder if Elaine actually started her wedding planning even earlier than that. You see, she was childhood friends with Kevin ever since she was a 2 year old toddler. I can’t remember a single thing from when I was 2 (could be due to my bad memory). They were best friends till the age of 5, then lost contact with each other for years, until they were reconnected 20 years later! Talk about an amazing story!

So end of 2010, Elaine contacted me again to talk about her wedding and initially she wanted to have it at our old school chapel in our primary school, Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Malacca. I was really excited about it because I have fond memories of that chapel, even though I wasn’t a Christian at that point in my life. I always remember it as being serene and ancient.

Unfortunately that plan didn’t quite work out and the wedding was held in St Peter’s Church in Malacca. That church has a 300 year old history, so I was excited about it too! My parents used to attend that church too when they were living in Malacca and so this church was significant to me.

To make this wedding even more exciting, Elaine requested for Smurfette, my vintage VW kombi to make it’s first wedding appearance as the bridal car! Thank you Kevin and Elaine, for making everything so memorable for me. I had an awesome time, and I am amazed at the level of detailed planning that went into the wedding. Elaine, thanks too for the card and gift. It was really sweet and thoughtful of you.

Ok so on to photos from the wedding…

Kevin and Elaine, I hope you are enjoying married life to bits! Continue to charm each other and remain as best friends for years! Am really happy for the both of you. Lots of hugs and kisses!

Credits:
Photographers: Grace, Eric & Weiming
Location: St Peter’s Church & Renaissance Hotel, Malacca
Vokswagen Kombi Rental: Stories.my
Car Decor: Gabriet Florist, Malacca

Roshan and Janis’ wedding was especially meaningful because Janis’ mum passed away from cancer a few months before their wedding day. Janis’ mum was too ill to travel from Perth, Australia to Kuala Lumpur for the wedding in November, but they wanted her to witness the ceremony. So Roshan and Janis made a decision to hold a small wedding ceremony at the hospital chapel, just for her mum. That made me tear, Roshan must have really been Janis’ pillar of strength during such a trying time. The theme of this wedding is based on these little stones Janis’ mum had in her home – Love. Faith. Hope.

2011 was a challenging year for Roshan and Janis, but is was the strength from God, their friends and family, and their love for each other that brought them through it. This post has fewer images than usual, but it’s because I hope you’ll make time to view this slideshow, as we did something different this time round – incorporating speeches into our slideshow.

Roshan and Janis were introduced to each other by a mutual friend and immediately bonded through their love of music. He’s Fijian Indian and she’s Malaysian but they’ve lived in Perth almost all their lives. I always find it interesting to hear stories of the couple’s first impressions of each other…

Janis: My first impression of Roshan was that he is an extremely kind soul and incredibly talented with music and computers!  He’s such a giving, loving and devoted partner. He’s my best friend and makes me laugh every day. Roshan is soooooo patient with me (anyone that knows me will understand how hard this can be sometimes!) and I’m looking forward to the rest of our lives together!

Roshan: My first impression of Janis was that she was a beautiful, outgoing, warm and fun person. I have always admired her passion for the things that she loves and cares for in life, and the fact that she is “ever reliable” for anyone close to her. She is a kind hearted, warm and loving person, and always lights up the room with her presence. I can’t wait to share a future together with Janis and to call her my wife!

From Roshan & Janis: 

We were very fortunate to have been referred to the Stories team by a couple who had engaged Grace and her team for their own wedding. After countless hours of researching photographers, one look at photos by the Stories team and we knew our search was over!

From the very beginning, we dealt with Grace and Diane and they were so committed to our journey through prompt communication and follow up!

When we met up with Grace, my first impression was how warm, friendly and professional she was! Then over the course of the next 2 days, we also met Alex, Felicia, Mark and Weiming. Roshan and I were just so impressed with the level of care, attention and creativity from each member of the stories team!

On our actual day during the chinese tea ceremony, I remember turning to Roshan and whispered that my hands were sticky from the chinese tea! The next thing I knew, Alex had handed me a napkin with water to wipe my hands with! How thoughtful and sweet this gesture was! This is just an example of how our actual day went with the attentiveness from Grace, Alex and Felicia.

For our second ceremony the next day, Mark and Weiming were so accommodating in taking specific shots that we asked for. They really were so patient and creative in getting that perfect shot for us!

Grace’s bubbliness, expertise and vision completed our wedding experience! The feedback was unanimous that the quality and creativity of photos were just outstanding! Our family members and friends consistently told us that they had goose bumps when watching our same day slideshow which was edited to incorporate parts of our reception speech! It was truly amazing.

The Stories team are just incredibly talented and we are so blessed to have been introduced to them. They have gifted us with memories we’ll look back on and treasure for the rest of our lives.

Thanks and big hugs to Grace and the entire Stories team!

Thank you, Roshan and Janis, for reminding me that love conquers all.

Credits: (most items sourced overseas)

Photographers: Grace & Alex, assisted by Felicia
Wedding Gown: Hob Nob
Groom’s Attire: Hugo Boss
Make Up: Vanz Lee
Stationery: Starfish Lane
Cake: Tea Room
Flowers: Buds ‘N’ Blooms
Dinner entertainment: Mosaic Entertainment & DJ G-Mix
Location: The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, KL 

So 2 presidents from 2 Christian Fellowships, from the same university ended up marrying each other. Despite it being a half day event, it was a big privilege that Johan and I got to document their wedding. I could feel the strong emotion and genuine love they have for each other on their wedding day. And that made it one of my favourite weddings by far.

The wedding was not entirely about themselves but also about their families whom they really love and care for, friends that spent the entire night lending them a helping hand to decorate the church and also about God. What touched me was that they honoured and gave thanks to God for He had handpicked and brought them together. I particularly love the part where Audrey said she sees God in her parents’ lives and wants to be like them.

On behalf of the Stories team we wish both of you much joy, happiness and excitement on your journey together!

- Weiming -

Since Justin & Audrey’s wedding theme is about celebration, the coral and mustard theme colour works really well! We love this line that is on their wedding program:
Please cheer and celebrate with us during the ceremony. It’s not a funeral! :)

A calendar as a wedding favour is not only unique, it’s practical! Featured below is their cool postcard wedding invite with personalized stamp at the back. (same design as the wedding car)

It’s important to have some nutrition before the big task of walking down the aisle.

A Note from Audrey:

We had a really pleasant and memorable experience with the Stories team led by Johan. Justin is usually a bit shy posing in front of a camera but the warmth and encouragement given by the team really helped us relax. :) And of course, they were extremely accomodating to our requests, for which we are super grateful for! We also appreciated that Nigel took time to come by during the rehearsal to ensure that the sound would be captured for the video. Oh and incidentaly, Weiming is our university friend, so it was an extra bonus to have a familiar face in the team.

Our wedding planning experience was all sorts of crazy. Justin proposed on 1 August 2011 and we decided to wed on 2 Jan 2012, which gave us 5 months to pull everything together. So I suppose to sum it up, we would say it was a miracle, starting from the obvious fact that we managed to secure our venues with little trouble. :) we also couldn’t have done it without the love and support from our family and friends. Our team of helpers totally blew us away with their awesome-ness. (we LOVED the decorations! Our friends were working wayy overtime to get it all perfect. And Audrey’s family hand carried the wedding cake and cupcakes from KK)

Most of all it was a wonderful celebration of friendships. Both of us are from Multimedia University, Justin’s from the Malacca campus and I am from the Cyberjaya campus. We love how the day of our union was also a day of reunions!

Thanks Justin & Audrey! Recently, the Stories team has been producing wedding videos. Here’s a highlight of their wedding day . We hope it brings back memories for the both of you.

Credits:
Photographers: Johan & Weiming
Videographer: Nigel Sia
Wedding Video Edit: Weiming
Wedding Gown: L&L Bridal Collections
Make Up: Haze Long
Decorations: Michelle Ding
Stationery: Designed by Charel Ong & Lydia Chew
Flowers: Gabriet Florist
Church Location: Luther Center, PJ

Stephen and Andrea met in very exciting circumstances, at an accounting course in the University of Melbourne! After getting to know each other as friends, they took the plunge and started dating, and the rest as they say, is history. Having been together for 9 years before getting married, they took their time…but probably also because they were distracted with everything else.

Their love of food connected them together and the joy of trying new places and cooking delicious meals in the kitchen became a passion for the both of them. (seems like a typically Malaysian thing to do to me!) They also love traveling and make it a point to have a holiday at least once a year. So far, they have made their way through Spain, Morocco, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong, Hawaii, France, Thailand, with more to come. They are proud parents of a not-so-little cat called Chester who rules their house and often thinks he’s a dog child. He shows them affection by cuddling on their laps and curling up around their heads when they sleep. Anyone who loves food, traveling, and cats is definitely a friend of mine! :)

Stephen surprised Andrea with a proposal by telling her that they were going to Lorne but instead whisked her off to the Yarra Valley for a weekend of pampering and indulgence. How could she not say yes?

After a year long engagement, they had a wedding ceremony at one of their favourite restaurants in Melbourne – The Stokehouse. It was a typical Melbourne day, there was sun, rain, wind and cloud! The night was a blast with lots of dancing, laughter, good speeches and great company. Their wedding slideshow played that night during the dinner and it looked like everyone had an awesome time!

By the way, Andrea has great taste in clothes and flowers. Love her bouquet!

I asked Steve and Andrea about their relationship and what they are like as a couple. As with most couples, opposites attract. Andrea is a list-maker who attempts to stay organized while Stephen is more of a free spirit who prefers to figure it out as he goes with a huge smile that stretches from ear to ear.

According to Andrea, Stephen is usually running a little late, often thinking that he can fly great distances in his car to make up for lost time. Andrea has an addiction to chocolate, E! channel and Law & Order SVU. Andrea says, this drives Steve batty as he prefers to watch more intellectual programs such as Louis Theroux and Grand Designs.

While they may come from different view points, these differences compliment each other and they find that they function as a unit…most of the time.

So we had 4 hours together wandering E&O Hotel and also the Peranakan Mansion in Penang. Despite the fact that there were huge numbers of tourists around, we managed to do quite a bit of creative cropping and made it look as if we had the whole mansion to ourselves.

That evening, we met Steve and Andrea again at Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa for their tea ceremony and wedding dinner.

Hey, we’re never sick of photographing portraits! :) So yeah, more portraits!

Some family photos…

And of course, photos with friends, who traveled across the sea to be with them in Penang.

Have any of you played this game before? A question is asked of the couple about each other, for example, “Who’s a better cook?” and each person is supposed to raise the respective shoe to represent their answer.

Steve and Andrea, now it’s 9 years and counting. I am sure you’ll have many years of fun, enjoying lots of good food, and traveling the world together. It’s time to tick off that list of places to visit, which I am sure exists somewhere!

Credits:

Photographers: Grace & Mark
Wedding Gown: Johanna Johnson
Groom’s Suit: Pino Tailoring
Shoes: Shoes of Prey
Make up: Angela Kang
Stationery: One Tree
Dinner Entertainment: Jazz Hats
Location for Portraits: Eastern & Oriental Hotel & Peranakan Mansion, Penang
Location for Dinner: Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa, Penang 

That’s the key word to describe Danny and Jennifer’s first year together as a couple. It’s also a running theme for their wedding day, as we had to travel many kilometres to go from one location to another. Danny started the day at his home in KL, while Jennifer got ready in Seremban. Together with his heng dais, they traveled the distance to pick Jennifer up, and then headed back to KL for the tea ceremony. Immediately after, everyone departed KL and headed south again, this time to Port Dickson for their beach ceremony.

But that distance doesn’t compare to the one year they spent traveling back and forth from Malacca to KL. They were physically apart, with Jenn working in KL and him in Malacca, completing his final year as a student. It was a tough journey, as they each led separate lives (one working, the other studying), finding it difficult to spend time or even meet up with each other but they never gave up.

Back track 8 years ago… to when their story first began in 2003. They met on the very first day of uni in MMU, placed in the same orientation group. It was not a typical ‘love at first sight’ story.

Danny & Jenn’s story as written by Danny

In 2007, after Jenn graduated, we began writing our love story. How did we go on a first date? We both loved spaghetti carbonara, that’s why we had our first date to try out the delicious carbonara at The Noodle Bar, Melaka. That first year was a really tough year but once I graduated, I worked in KL which allowed us to grow our love and bring our relationship even further.

After 3 years together, we decided to take a big step in our life – to buy a house together. We wanted to spend the rest of our life together, build a beautiful home, and to have our own family. When she least expected it, I proposed. Jenn always wondered if I would ever propose because I was never a romantic person, and always say there’s no need to propose.

Buy house = no proposal = get married straight.

On 01/01/11, I surprised her with 99 red roses and a diamond ring. I got down on my knees to propose and of course, she agreed.

Moving into a new home (not to mention the cost of renovating & furnishing) and getting married in the same year ain’t easy. We made the decision to get married in May 2011, moved to a new home in June, and planned for a November wedding. It was really tough, especially on the pocket but we took the huge risk. We only started planning our wedding after we moved in.

5 short months to plan our big day was a real big challenge. Two biggest challenges: 1) Venue, and 2) Photographer. With such a short notice, it was difficult to get a dinner venue and a good photographer. It was a ‘hot’ year, so many weddings, especially on nice date, 20/11/2011. I really thank God for blessing us as we managed to get our dream wedding venue – a beautiful beach at Avillion PD, and noted photographers – Stories (and Grace was available for it) within a short period of time.

Despite it all, both of us really did enjoy the process of planning. Our wedding theme, ‘Sweet Serendipity’ was inspired the song title, ‘Sweet Serendipity’ by Lee DeWyze. The lyrics of the song somehow reflected us and the situation we were in, especially the chorus part…

I ain’t gonna stress
Cause the worst ain’t happened yet
Something’s watching over me
Like Sweet Serendipity

We took the risk, we pulled through the rough road, and on top of it all we were blessed as we got what we wanted for our dream wedding.

Danny and Jennifer decided to go for a traditional Chinese theme for the morning part of the ceremony. I was really amused when I saw the customized t-shirts for the heng dais and ji muis. In fact, quite a number of items were customized based on their wedding theme and logo, which you’ll see more of soon.

Look at their customized ang pow packets! I salute Jenn for folding so many of these packets!

Danny:

We always dreamt of having a beach wedding. It was raining before we had our ceremony.  We had to make a decision if we wanted to move our wedding event to the ballroom. We were a real risk taker and still opted for the beach wedding. We were so stressed looking at the rain, especially when our ceremony should have already started. Everything was delayed for almost an hour due to the rain. Thankfully, it was cleared by then. The rest of the night (both ROM and dinner) was perfect and memorable for both of us.

After being together 1,549 days, we said ‘I do’ to each other in a small ceremony, witnessed by close family and friends. It was a dream wedding for both of us, as we started our love journey at a beach. =)

Thank you to Grace, Diane, and Mark of the Stories team for being a part of our wedding, doing their magic, capturing the most wonderful moments of our big day, despite of being tired from all the traveling they had to do throughout the day. The photographs were wonderful and we love them so much. Expressions and moments were beautifully captured and the effects were very natural. We definitely would love to have Stories to photograph the next stages of our life – maternity to family portraits. Bravo, you guys!

Remember what I mentioned about customization? They customized their guest book, welcome board, serviettes, wedding invites, program fans, seating number badges and even sticky candy stickers, down to the candy itself! I absolutely love the design of their logo! Look closely at the candy and you’ll see their names!

Purple and white’s a great theme… hey, great minds think alike cause I had a purple and white wedding too, 6 years ago!

Their evening was made even more perfect with this gorgeous sunset!

Oh and I so love the cake that I have to show you how it looks from 2 different angles. I do wonder about the ship’s anchor though… does it mean that they love going on cruises, or does it mean that each keeps the other anchored? :)

Danny and Jennifer, the day couldn’t have been better. I am so glad that everything went well despite the rain. Thank you for choosing us, and we look forward to photographing your maternity and family portraits! :)

It’s been a long post, but I’d like to leave you with some tips on how to plan for a beach wedding, as shared by Danny and Jennifer:

8 TIPS FOR A BEACH WEDDING

1)     Size of Beach: Ensure the size of the beach is able to cater for the number of guests invited. It’s more comfortable when there’s ample space to move around.

2)     Settings (Layout Plan): If you’re going to have both the ROM and dinner on the same night, ensure the setting and spacing is sufficient for guests to mingle. Oh, you’ll need space to toss the bouquet too!

3)     Wedding Gown: Light weight and comfortable as it allows you to move and walk around easily. You wouldn’t want to look as if you are carrying a heavy weight while walking.

4)     Grooms’ Attire: Comfortable and nothing too thick as it’s gonna be very hot and sweaty.

5)     Shoes: Comfortable! You’ll have to walk on the beach in it the whole night. Either you have it on or take it off.

6)     Guests’ Attire: Do inform your guests in advance on their dressing. As a beach wedding is an outdoor event, you wouldn’t want them to dress as though they’re going for a party in a ballroom, especially ladies in heels. It’s semi-casual after all.

7)     Make-up & Hair do: A good make-up artist and make-up products are crucial, and ampoules are essential. You are sure to sweat and you wouldn’t want your make-up to smudge. An up hair-do gives you a ‘non-sweaty-with-wet-hair-sticking-to-your-neck-&-shoulder-look’.

8)     Back-up Plan: Very important, just in case it rains!!!

Credits:
Photographers:  Grace, Mark, assisted by Diane
Location: Avillion, Port Dickson
Wedding Gown: Pretty in White, & DressMe
Groom’s Attire: Armani Exchange, Topman & Mohan’s Executives
Shoes: Aldo, Pedro
Make up & hair: Michelle Touche
Decorations: Avillion & Javen Florist
Stationery: Paper & Colour
Cake: Sugar Boutique
Flowers: Pure Seed & Javen Florist