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Grace Tan

Grace Tan
In Portraits, , Testimonials

Pre-wedding at The Danna, Langkawi: Derrick & Fanny

Derrick & Fanny:

It was very early morning at 8am that we reached Langkawi.  Grace and Alex were very kind to wake up so early in the morning (after a full day shoot they had a day before) to pick us up from airport to the hotel.  I wouldn’t say the weather was great but good enough for us as it wasn’t raining heavily in Langkawi as it was in KL.  We started the shoot after lunch and went on all the way till sunset.  It was really fun and both Alex and Grace were so accommodating and patient.  We were a bit uneasy at first, not getting used to “showing our love” in front of the camera, but they guided us through all the way.It was a long and tiring day until nearly at the end when I was chit-chating with Grace and Alex that I found out the lovely couple are expecting a new family member!  Grace was so energetic and dedicated to her work and Fanny and I were feeling bad to have made her work so long!  The Stories team made our day and Diane has been very helpful in connecting things up for us from Day 1 when we started to engage them and got me hooked on chosing Stories as our photographer.  The video clip was wonderful! We can’t stop repeating it again and again, how great would it be if there is one song that could fit all the photos in! =D

Fanny and I knew each other since we were kids.  We were classmates when we were 10 in our primary school, little did she know that I was already admiring her back then!  Fate brought us back again together 10 years ago and we had been through loads of highs and lows, we are gladly thankful to have found each other and for being able to start our own family.

The proposal was really a spontaneous thing I did last June 2011 and I forgot about the previous few plans which I was cracking head on. We were both busy with work after our ROM in August last year. Needless to say, when it is the right time, you know what you ought to do.

Once again, a very big thank you to Stories, for making it work and capturing the once in a lifetime memorable moments for us.

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Grace Tan
In Portraits,

Pre-wedding in Langkawi: Sam & Kathy

I almost fell off my chair when I read Kathy’s email some time back. Their trip to Malaysia was going to a whirlwind one, as they only had a short break before flying back to Australia again. The main purpose was to attend a friend’s wedding, but of course, why not squeeze in time for a pre-wedding shoot? Best of all, why not fly in to Langkawi for a day trip, just for the shoot?

I tried to convince her to spend at least 1 night in Langkawi (you won’t regret it!) but time really wasn’t on their side. So our shoot became a little adventure. They arrived in Langkawi by noon, did their make up & hair, had lunch, and by 3pm off we went! I prayed so hard for great weather because we only had that short window of opportunity to shoot. God smiled on us, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous.

By the way, don’t you think Kathy’s short dress is just gorgeous!? I love how everything looks really simple and casual. She had also brought some props for the shoot, all the way from Australia!

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Grace Tan
In Life, Musings, Relationships

Moving to the next stage of life…

In some ways, I can’t believe it’s happened. We were open to it, but the odds were against us, and yet, God made it happen.

I’ll officially be able to wear a “I’m a mum t-shirt” this December 2012.


Our little one’s 2nd baby photo ever! Even if it was taken with an iPhone camera. 

As of today (11 weeks), the foetus is only 4.31cm long. I’ve learnt so much these past few weeks. Like, did you know, at just 10 weeks old (about 3cm), the little baby has developed all of his/her vital organs like the kidneys, intestines, brain, liver, and other things like fuzzy hair is beginning to grow on the skin – even tiny fingers, toes and NAILS are being formed! At only 3cm long too! Some grapes are longer than that. I am just amazed at how wonderful this fact is, and how God truly creates miracles.

Truthfully, when I discovered about the pregnancy, there was joy mixed with anxiety. I couldn’t help but think about all my clients whose weddings I am due to shoot for 2012. What will they think? Will they be really upset with me? I suppose there’s a part of me that wants to please people all the time, though I know that you can never make everyone happy. I began to feel a little sad for the weddings I knew I just couldn’t shoot. At the same time, I knew that I have to let my life run its course. I can’t just put my life on hold for the sake of my clients. If it doesn’t happen this year, it might be next year.

When I told my close friends and family members about the pregnancy, they started to worry, “You need to slow down, don’t do too many shoots. Do you know it’s easy to get a miscarriage in the first trimester?”

Call me ambitious, but I still hope to shoot till the end of November.

Of course, I don’t do it foolishly, so I’ve made some plans. With much fear and trembling, I emailed all my clients to tell them about the news. I made sure I assigned a 3rd photographer for each wedding, at no extra cost to my clients, as a backup in case I only have the energy for half a day’s shoot. I gave them the option to have my other photographers shoot their wedding instead, in case they prefer to not have a pregnant woman prancing around on their wedding day.

Amazingly, almost everyone reacted positively to my email. I am blessed with great clients. They were totally understanding (though some were a little upset, but they said that my safety is top priority).

So I guess I’ll learn to adapt and life goes on.

I am excited! And yes, I have started thinking of baby names (though I don’t know the gender of the child yet!). The next few months will be challenging and yet, exciting. All I can say right now is, Thank God I don’t have morning sickness!

Grace Tan
In Chinese Weddings, Weddings

The Wedding of Paul Tan & Jenny Phang

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!

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