A few months ago, I photographed Adam and Dalilah’s engagement event, held at her beautiful home. Considering the engagement event was done really tastefully, I could not wait for the nikah and wedding reception to see what they had planned. I was not disappointed, for on that day, I was greeted by beautiful decorations that satisfied my taste buds and my shutter happy finger. Adam and Dalilah were surrounded by friends and family who were extremely warm and who obviously loved them very much.

I felt a little sad for them though that Adam’s mum was not able to attend the wedding as she fell ill during that period. Luckily for her, the videography team recorded every moment and she even witnessed the event online as it happened.

The dinner reception was held at the Mandarin Oriental for a large group of 800 people. There were royalty and VIPs present for the dinner that night. The ballroom was transformed into an elegant and grand space – the entire ballroom was covered with dark purple curtains. I love the colour theme and I think purple just looks great in every wedding! (That was why my wedding had a purple and white theme too!).

Hope you like this series of images, as much as we enjoyed creating them! To start off, here are some more decorations from the day of the nikah ceremony.

Some of the many hantaran that were exchanged that day.

Dalilah, you look gorgeous!

And Adam, you looked a little nervous! :)

And now, some dinner reception images…

Love the main table decorations…

And this amazing cake by Delectable by Su and of course, who can go wrong with Jimmy Choo’s?

Look who was the emcee… Yasmin Yusoff…

Congratulations, Adam & Dalilah! Thank you for giving us the honour to photograph your wedding and for booking us even though you did not meet us in person till much later. I appreciate your warmth and thoughtfulness towards the team. Have an awesome marriage.

While thousands of Malaysians took to the streets of KL on the 9th of July 2011 supporting the Bersih 2.0 cause, a group of 100+ people were out for a different purpose – to celebrate the wedding of Arif & Natassha. A few days before the wedding, Johan and I were concerned about the road blocks and not being able to reach the wedding venue on time. Truly it was a blessing that Arif and Natassha’s wedding was held at Holiday Inn, Subang… relatively far away from the events in KL city. I read in the newspaper the next day that some weddings had to be called off due to the massive road blocks.

I am sure Arif and Natassha’s family breathed a sigh of relief when the Coriander Garden hall was packed with their friends and family who were there to witness the akad nikah. No road block was going to stop them from celebrating this joyous occasion!

Arif & Natassha, the wedding was beautiful… and I am so honoured to be able to capture the strong relationship you have with your family members at your wedding.

Three generations of women… Natassha, her mom and her grandmother.

Arif & Natassha’s love story started some time back when a coincidental meeting over lunch connected them. Their first official date (according to Arif, but not Natassha!) was at Starbucks… but Arif was so late for the date that Natassha thought she was stood up! Luckily for Arif, his personality and company was good enough to impress her on that day.

That evening, hundreds of guests piled into the ballroom of Holiday Villa for the dinner reception.

And the following day, they had a luncheon at a different location for Arif’s side of the family. These photos were taken by Johan & Weiming.

Congratulations Arif & Natassha!

There’s just so much to love about this wedding. I am absolutely thrilled whenever I walk into a wedding and see lots of delicious details that beg to be photographed. Add to that equation two really talented, arty and creative people – Nora & Along, and also all of Nora’s friends who were from Parsons School of Design, New York, (especially those who contributed so much to the wedding day)… everything turned out just perfect. Tears flowed freely during the dinner reception. It was really obvious that Nora & Along are deeply loved by their family and friends.

Some time back, Johan photographed Nora & Along’s engagement ceremony, and a few months later, we were there to photograph their wedding day. Thank you, Nora & Along, for this opportunity to document important moments on your wedding day.

To start off the post, I’d like to point out these lovely invitation cards that were designed by the talented Emma K, who is also Nora’s sister.

It pays to have designer friends. Nora’s nikah gown was designed by her friend Sapto. Gorgeous details!

Look at the details at the back!

Looking at someone’s room can tell you so much about that person. I love Nora’s little wall, filled with important little things. And Along’s toys are cute!

While the guests arrived to the peaceful rhythms of gamelan music, Nora and her friends got ready. Almost everyone traveled from various parts of the world to be there for her wedding. These beautiful outfits worn by the bridesmaids were customized by Nora’s dear friend and neighbour at Trio-Os Fashion Cafe, Empire Gallery. The caftans were customized to match the traditional Javanese batik sarongs, which were a special gift given to Nora by Didit’s mom.

The decisive moment in every akad nikah ceremony…

And he did it!

There is a whole story to this gorgeous ring that you see here. This Georgian period antique ring was purchased in London while Along and Nora were in UK for a work trip some time back. They were there to do some coffee research (gee, I wonder what that entails… lots of long hours sipping mugs and mugs of coffee?), and while there, they discovered this amazing ring! Coffee led them to their ring by chance.

Now, what about Along’s ring? Since Along loves photography, he opted for an M8 Leica camera instead of a wedding band! Now that’s a practical wedding gift! At least Nora would be guaranteed a lifetime of amazing photos!

The next day, we were at JW Marriott Hotel for the dinner reception. When Johan and I walked into the ballroom, we were in awe. I had never seen such elaborate and beautiful table decorations before. Everything was so green and eco-friendly!

Don’t you just love the wedding favours? I don’t usually take home wedding favours, but I have to admit, Nora & Along, I ‘adopted’ a little pot for myself after the reception ended!

Each guest were also given scrolls – and when unfolded, it revealed a personalized note for Nora & Along! So everyone had to fill in the details and return the scroll to Nora and Along at the end of the night. Some of the really creative things that were on it were…

You two are (fill in an adjective) together…

When you have children, name them (Boy’s name) and (Girl’s name)…

Take a romantic vacation to (place) together…

While Nora’s nikah outfit was designed by Sapto, her evening gown was also specially custom made for her by her friend Didit.

Heartfelt speeches…

And warm moments…

Nora and Along, I am glad to know that whenever you look at these images, you’ll be reminded of the joyous spirit of your wedding day. Thank you for everything and all the best for the future! And make sure Along uses his Leica!

When Shirah first approached me to enquire about our wedding photography services, it never crossed my mind that I would be photographing my first royalty group photo a few months later. We had a good conversation then… she told me she teaches French in Sri Cempaka school, which amazed me! It was only on her wedding day that I realized she had a YM in front of her name. :)

Fahrizal & Shirah’s story began during their university days in London 9 years ago. They were on different paths of their lives and even though they didn’t show any interest in each other at the time, there was always an underlying chemistry between them.

Here’s Fahrizal & Shirah’s story from her perspective:

After graduating and moving back to KL, we became closer and eventually started dating in 2006. Back and forth dating for over four years and at the end of 2010 we decided it was the right time to get married. Our families were eager for us to be married quickly hence only 5 months preparation till the wedding day in May 2011!

I couldn’t be more delighted with the way the wedding ceremony and reception went – a complete success despite the typical unplanned and last minute difficulties a wedding presents, such as rain! Grace, Johan and the rest of the Stories team were so great in accomodating all of these issues and were incredibly professional in dealing with all the formalities and protocol. The sneak peeks of the photos have been beautiful and I would highly recommend anyone looking for a  fun, happy and eager photographer who knows what they’re doing to hire Grace and her team!

As with  most Malay weddings, the akad nikah was held on a separate day as the wedding dinner reception.

During the nikah, Fahrizal was a little… nervous. :)

But he made it in the end… !

Just a glimpse of the many different hantaran that was exchanged that day…

Some decorations from the lunch reception. The cake below was created by Truly Scrumptious. It looks beautiful!

After the luncheon, we took some portraits around Shangri-La itself.

Johan’s image here below makes things look so magical…

The next day, we were back at the Shangri-La ballroom for Shirah’s dinner reception. It was a huge function with about 800 people attending, including KDYMM Sultan & Sultanah Kedah, DYMM Raja Perlis, DYMM Yang Di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan… the list is long!

During the dinner, there was the screening of a thank you video made by Fahrizal & Shirah. Shirah talked about her late mom which made her siblings tear.

At the end of the night, the two flower girls were really exhausted. I love this shot done by Johan. He has such an eye for expressions and catches them just at the right time…

Thank you for giving the Stories team the opportunity to photograph your wedding, Shirah!

20th May – Fahrizal & Shirah

21st May – Fun & Dong Liang

28th May – Ben & Angela (by the way, this is one of the largest group photos I’ve ever photographed)

This week and part of next week, I’ll be away in Singapore, Nikoi Island (an island near Bintan, Indonesia) and Kuching, Sarawak. Do keep in touch via Facebook or Twitter!

They have known each other since they were 12. From Form 1 till Form 3, Adam and Dalilah were in the same class at Methodist College Kuala Lumpur. They were never really close friends but they always had a thing for each other throughout secondary school. Their relationship became official at the end of Form 5. And with all teenage romances, there were some difficult moments. A few months into their relationship, Dalilah had to leave Malaysia for boarding school in England to pursue her A Levels.

But love perseveres. They survived the long distance relationship, and a few years later, Adam followed Dalilah to England to complete their undergraduate degrees in University of Nottingham.

Now, they are engaged.

The ‘secret’ room where Dalilah would wait for her future mother-in-law to sarung cincin (place the engagement ring) on her.

The beautifully decorated hantaran (gifts). You can’t tell by looking at these photos, but the cake in the middle is REALLY heavy! And it’s not just the silver tray that is heavy! Dalilah’s friends who were the dulang bearers tried lifting it…and so did I… it was at least 5-6kg I think! Oh, and don’t you love the colourful macaroons on the right?

Congratulations, Adam and Dalilah! Looking forward to your wedding in a few month’s time!

I am still reeling from the excitement of this wedding. From the beautiful akad nikah in the heart of KL to the spectacular beaches of Langkawi, Nathan and Ayu’s wedding was definitely a memorable one. Our relationship started over the phone when Nathan called me months ago to make a booking for their wedding. A year ago, I had photographed Amy and Stuart’s wedding, where Nathan and Ayu were guests. They loved our photos from Amy and Stuart’s wedding, so with a phone call, we were booked for their wedding! Some time after that, I met Nathan and Ayu at their condo in the heart of KL… with the gorgeous view of KLCC from their living room!

They struck me as a very friendly couple. Instantly, I knew that Nathan is a really organized person… because he gave me their wedding program months before the actual wedding day!

Nathan first laid eyes on Ayu on his first day at work in May 2008. He had traveled halfway across the world from UK to work in Malaysia. She was assisting his manager giving the onboarding briefing for new staff. He thought she was gorgeous… but little did he know, that she thought the same of him that day! Months passed by… and their work relationship changed to a more casual one when they started playing futsal together a couple of times. That August, Ayu asked Nathan out casually as he wanted to experience the youth clubbing scene in KL.

The 8th of August 2008 was the starting point of their courtship… and eventually, their love for each other grew deeper and stronger till it led to Nathan’s proposal to Ayu on Valentine’s day 2010 in Krabi.

I have heaps of photos to share from this wedding, so it’ll have to be spread across a few blog posts! The first part is the akad nikah or Muslim solemnization ceremony in KL. By the way, you have to watch their slideshow at the end of this post. The music chosen by Nathan and Ayu works so beautifully with the images!

The groomsmen flew in all the way from UK to attend the wedding. I love how everyone got dressed in the same baju Melayu.

Ayu on the left looking so gorgeous… and Nathan looking smashing too!

The men and women below look so amazing in these traditional outfits! Both group photos were taken by Johan.

The poolside of K Residence, where the lunch reception was held.

Some portraits after lunch, especially with Nathan’s new outfit.

For more photos, view the slideshow below!

Nathan sent me a really lovely testimony which I’d like to share here:

We first met Grace and her Stories team when she was shooting the wedding of our good friends Amy & Stuart Watts on the lovely beach at The Andaman in July 2009.  In February 2010 Ayu & I got engaged and began planning our wedding(s).   It ended up being two weddings in the space of three days!!  One Malay wedding (Akad Nikah) in Kuala Lumpur followed by a beach wedding at The Westin Langkawi 2 days later.

The photo’s from Amy & Stuarts wedding were nothing short of spectacular, so we got in touch with Grace and commissioned her to shoot our weddings.

We wanted to show the photographs from the Kuala Lumpur Akad Nikah (Thursday) during the dinner reception at the Langkawi wedding (Saturday).  Grace and her team produced a stunning photo story in less than 24hrs – which we showed to our guests.  It far exceeded our expectations and was one of the highlights of the day.

The photographs Grace produces speak for themselves.  Spectacular, professional with an eye for detail and imagination.

A stand out qualities that the photographs don’t show is the manner Grace and her team dealt with the photoshoot(s).  Happy, bubbly, friendly and above all patient – consistently over a number of hours.

Thanks to you & your team.  We can’t wait to see the finished product.

We would recommend Stories  to anyone who wants fantastic wedding photos taken with great spirit and enthusiasm.

Best Regards,
Nathan & Ayu

Thanks, Nathan and Ayu, for the wonderful testimony… and here’s a teaser image for the Langkawi blog post that will be coming up soon!

Updated Note: View part 2 – The berlulut event / portrait session

Rudi fell in love not once, but twice. Firstly, to this part of the world, but most importantly, to Puteri. You can tell when someone is completely in love with another person. It’s all in the eyes. With Rudi and Puteri, you know for a fact that these are 2 individuals whose hearts are totally and utterly committed to one another.

Puteri looking gorgeous!

And here’s Rudi, looking so dashing in his outfit.

Rudi’s family and friends flew all the way from Holland and Indonesia to attend his wedding.

Guess who was the guest and emcee for the wedding? Harith Iskandar!

It was such an emotional akad nikah. When I saw Rudi crying, I knew for certain then that this man would love Puteri fiercely for the rest of his life.

At the dinner reception, best man Onkie and maid of honour Marjolein from Holland were tasked with the important duty of making sure the bride and groom were comfortable!

There are so many photos that I’d love to share in this post, but I cannot realistically fit all of them here. Rudi and Puteri, thanks for opening your hearts to us. I know Johan was really honoured that you chose us to be your wedding photographers. All the best for the future!

If you ever have been to Whisk Espresso Bar & Bake Shop in Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang, you might have seen Nora before. Or her entire family, for that matter. Nora and her sister Emma are frequently seen at the counter, as the quaint little cafe belongs to their family. It’s really hard work and time consuming running a cafe like this, because they do everything from baking the cakes themselves to serving customers at the shop.

But Nora found time to get herself engaged. And on the wonderful evening of the 10th of October (she told me that she doesn’t like the date 10.10.10… I wonder who selected the engagement date), Nora was engaged to Along.

The engagement ceremony was held in Nora’s beautiful home – I love how the home is lit up with all these candles. As I was in Singapore on the same date photographing someone else, Johan was at Nora’s home taking all the shots you see below.

Nora looks gorgeous, doesn’t she? By the way, she and Along are creative people… and they love all forms of art and photography! I heard Along loves all things lomo too… which was how I got started in photography, through lomo!

Nora told me that Along went through a lot to get her this very antique art deco setting ring from somewhere really far…

Introducing… Along.

And the family…

By the way, did you know they serve macarons in Whisk? I think the ones below are home made too… yummy, I love macarons!

Caught in the act… hope this boy cleaned his hands before eating…

Congratulations on the engagement, Nora and Along! I will definitely be coming back to Whisk for a drink or a macaron sometime in the future!

Hi, it’s Johan here…this is my first blog post on the Stories blog. I prefer to just post photos than write, but Grace made me! Anyhow, we were introduced to Raezal and Asyura by Nori Abdullah. During the discussion, we noticed things like instead of having a flower hand-bouquet, the bride was going to make the grand entrance holding a Japanese fan. From the word go, we knew that this was not going to be a typical Malay Wedding reception.

And boy, we were to be not disappointed.

From the cute origami cranes to the unique “merenjis” ceremony on the “pelamin” to the Japanese style wishing tree, it was such a colorful affair.

Raezal’s mother (Auntie Nonni) is Nori Abdullah’s auntie. Auntie Nonni’s mother is Datin Mariam Abdullah, a true blood Japanese. This explains the Japanese theme and settings. Raezal’s henna “tattoo” on his arms translate to “Just Married” in Japanese and his hands are “bar coded” with Raezal and Asyura.

Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi or more well known as Pak Lah and Tun Jeanne graced the event.

The live band featured Raezal’s father on the drums.

Raezal’s brother, Reymee, belted out some numbers for the newlyweds.

Anuar Zain was there to perform as well.

What a unique wedding reception!