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

We love the pink and white theme that was so apparent through out the wedding. Everything looked visually perfect. These cute cuff links were a nice touch too!

Joe has known his friend Michael Marder (best man) since he was 4 years old, and Michael knew Oanh through his then girlfriend. It was Michael who had the great idea that Joe would be a great match for Oanh and decided to set the two of them up. Soon, a ‘date’ was set, and they got along great. When Joe first met Oanh, he was awestruck by her lovely eyes and nice, long black hair! Oanh was smitten by Joe’s mature, yet laid back nature. She laughed at his jokes, and conversation flowed easily between the both of them. A month or two later, a trip was organized for just the 4 of them to go on a driving trip around the UK for the long Easter weekend and the rest is history!

Sun block is definitely a must for every beach wedding in Malaysia!

Everyone received personalized wedding favours with their portraits stuck onto a coaster. Brilliant idea!

Congratulations Joe & Oanh! There’s more of their wedding to be featured on this blog… from the day-after portraits to the wedding video highlight which will be posted later. In the meantime, guests can view their photo slideshow here.

Credits:

Photographers: Grace & Weiming
Videographers: Nigel & Alex
Wedding Gown: La Runa
Make Up: Bride’s sister, Mai
Decorations, stationery, cake, flowers & wedding planning: The Andaman
Dinner Entertainment: Dan & 9 Lives

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!

Men in kilts?

A couple who are head over heels in love?

What a glorious combination! Stephen and Sarah’s wedding was filled with laughter, silliness, and lots of great memories. It didn’t matter that it rained on their wedding day. Everything came together beautifully.

I still remember the first time I met Stephen and Sarah at a Starbucks in Petaling Jaya, a couple of months ago. Sarah told me that though they wanted a beach wedding, she didn’t actually like sand getting between her toes. It made sense then that the Float at the Westin, Langkawi would make the perfect location for their beach wedding.

The day before the wedding, Alex and I arrived in Langkawi to meet the family and friends of the couple. I was really stoked that Stephen and Sarah were generous enough to put us up at the Westin… that was a really lovely birthday treat for me! That night, after a delicious dinner with Alex, we came back to our room to discover a surprise… a birthday cake from Stephen and Sarah! Thank you so much for being so thoughtful!

Ok, back to the wedding…

Stephen & Sarah’s Story

We first met at a friend’s birthday party back in 2008 where we got into a heated debate about the labour laws in Thailand.  We argued for at least an hour despite the fact that I was agreeing with Sarah the whole time.  This kind of set the tone for the rest of the relationship :p

We were both in relationships at that time and we saw each other every now and then but we were just friends.  Things stayed the same until two years later when we moved into buildings next door to each other in the same apartment complex in Dubai.

We saw a lot more of each other and went on a couple of ‘fake holidays’ at the beach bar at the Hilton on Jumeirah Beach and I really started falling for her.

I thought things were going well when Sarah invited me to her pre-Christmas “Dubai Orphans” dinner at her house.  We talked all night and I even stayed to do the washing up (a first for me, sadly this is now my main duty in the relationship) and that night we shared a good night kiss.

I invited Sarah out for dinner the next day and she turned me down!

However all that changed in a few months over a series of three music concerts.  We went to see James Morrison at the Dubai Jazz Festival and ended up dancing the night away afterwards and that was the first time I realized that Sarah might be falling for me too.  Two weeks later we went to see Sting, the night before Sarah had tricked me into a date by arranging for me to meet her in the bar next to her work.  I thought it was a normal night out with everyone and was shocked to see it was only Sarah when I arrived.  We had a great night talking, laughing, Sarah playing songs on the jukebox and we even made a bet that would end up in ‘platinum’ ;) The night ended with Sarah’s famous scrambled eggs.

The next day we were at the Sting concert together and after leaving we were deserted by our friends and ended up sharing a taxi home together.  In the back of the taxi I asked Sarah if we were more than just friends and for the first time she agreed.

Unfortunately I had to go to the UK on business the very next day but we spent the week texting each other constantly (the phone bill was huge) and we even managed to squeeze in a Youtube date, which I nearly got fired for missing a company dinner to meet Sarah online.

Finally at the end of a long week away I got home just in time to go on our first date to the Paolo Nutini concert in Dubai.  We spent the day together with duty free champagne and marmalade on toast and then went out for the greatest first date in the history of first dates.

After that we spent the whole week together and we have pretty much spent every day together ever since.  It’s been the best two years of my life.

Sarah, you glowed.

Love the teddy cufflinks. Very macho.

Time to get married!

It was a super windy day!

Dinner was held at The Tide, Westin.

Stephen and Sarah, thank you for choosing us and for allowing us to be part of this beautiful day. Alex and I had so much fun. I hope these images will remind you of the love you share, forty years down the road when you are old and wrinkly.

You also summed up my thoughts precisely when I read what you wrote about your wedding planning process. You could not have said it any better.

We planned the wedding ourselves, over masses of lists and cut out pages from magazines, on the dining room table, with gin and tonics in hand and music on in the background, colour coded spreadsheets and a “contentious decisions” list. Anything we couldn’t agree on at that time was put on the contentious decisions list and was worked out later. Our parents were great sounding boards as well, reminding us constantly that although the details of it all were important, that the most important thing was that we were getting married to each other. And at the end of the day, that is the most important thing.

Credits:

Photographers: Grace & Alex
Location: The Westin, Langkawi
Wedding Gown: Boyle from “After You Say Yes”, Intercontinental Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand
Groom’s Attire: Heritage Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland
Shoes: Jimmy Chia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Flowers & Decorations: Darling Florist, Langkawi, Malaysia
Stationery:  Wedding Paper Divas
Cake: The Westin, Langkawi

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