Grace Tan

Chen Hoe & Shirley’s Wedding

Photographers: Grace, Benjamin & Mark
Wedding Gown: Keith Kee
Make Up: Kres Kuang
Cake: Cake Art
Ceremony & first dinner location: Sime Darby Convention Centre
Second dinner location: Federal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Her first impression of him was that he was boring and too quiet. His first thought of her was that she talked waaay too much. But after spending some time getting to know each other, they realize that they enjoy each other’s company. The talkative girl became the supportive girlfriend who would always encourage him and make him happy. The quiet guy would soon learn how to make her laugh and bring her down to earth with his rational thoughts.

And soon, the companionship and friendship turned to love.

I had the privilege to get to know Chen Hoe and Shirley last year, when Shirley started attending my church. My thoughts of the both of them? Certainly opposites in terms of character! On the contrary, I don’t think Chen Hoe is really quiet. He can be pretty chatty after he gets to know you. :) He is the calm, collected person who can probably rationalize everything in the universe. She is the fiery person who is passionate about the things she believes in.

Chen Hoe & Shirley’s wedding celebration was spread over 2 events. The first was their ROM ceremony and dinner which was held at the Sime Darby Convention Centre. Photos taken by Grace & Ben.

Grace Tan In Life, Musings, Relationships

The 14th of February

Valentine’s Day. It brings back memories of childhood infatuations and dreams, wishing that that guy would somehow notice you and give you a rose. Even if it was only one rose. Or a little note. Or maybe even a phone call.

But of course those things never happened. And when you’re 15 in an all-girl’s school, seeing those other kids receiving roses from the boys in the school-next-door, you kind of feel… neglected. I tried to convince myself then that Valentine’s Day is nothing special. Roses are expensive anyway, and who cares whether you got one or not? But one day, I received roses. A dozen of them. And surprisingly, I was embarrassed. COMPLETELY.

I wanted the attention, and yet I didn’t. You see, I didn’t expect it from this guy!

Well, years later… I still can’t recall a good Valentine’s Day memory. The importance of Valentine’s Day faded and I didn’t really care whether my boyfriend and I celebrated it. Now that it’s my fifth year of marriage, I think about it even less. But little did I know that I was in for a surprise this year…

Grace Tan In Life, Musings, Running a Business

That “Corner”

It’s been my dream to own a little Stories studio and decorate it beautifully. Over the past one year, I’ve been meeting couples in 2 places – my office / studio in Centrepoint Bandar Utama and also my home. Because I share the office space in Centrepoint with my other Integricity colleagues (different companies under the same umbrella), I don’t have a specific room where I can meet couples, showcase my work and decorate it to my heart’s content. All I have is a little corner that is ‘somewhat’ decorated, but up till today, I am still dissatisfied with that space.

Over the past few months, my home has undergone a major renovation, and I’ve allocated a space that will be dedicated as a consultation studio. That’s when my excitement level increased. I am no Interior Designer, but I can look at inspiring images and plan. Pretty much like brides who start planning about how the decorations will look like on their wedding day, I am thinking about how my little consultation room will look like once it’s done. An excellent website that showcases lots of inspiring details is Style Me Pretty, where you can get lots of ideas for your wedding.

This was my thought process as I planned on how to decorate the room:

1. Colour theme – Brown, blue and white (Brown and blue because that’s the Stories’ colour!)

2. Words to describe what I want to portray – Chic, Stylish, Romance, Warmth, a hint of Vintage

3. List of items that I can display – photos on canvas, metal prints, albums, postcards, Save the Date cards, cool phrases, my dad’s old camera, my lomo cameras, my mum’s handmade blue seashell jewelry case, cookies, birdcages…

Since I have so many ideas in my head, I have to sometimes stop and ask myself if that really goes together… or does that idea clash? I don’t want to end up with a room that looks completely disjointed in terms of ideas! :)

Here’s a photo of my half completed home taken with Alex’s iPhone camera. The image on the right (the room behind the brick wall) is my consultation studio.

And here’s some images that I borrowed from various sources to illustrate the idea of what I want to create. What do you think? Any ideas?

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Weddings

#NicHil wedding

If you have your very own Twitter hashtag for your wedding, you are automatically in the ‘cool but geeky’ crowd. And if you have no idea what a hashtag is, then you’d better find out, so that you can be cool. But Nic immediately upped the cool factor by chartering a bus to transport his friends and family from Singapore to Malacca for his wedding.

Cheng Leng (also known as Hillary) and Nicholas are friends of mine. Cheng Leng and I have known each other for years, since we were both in school. Then in college, we saw each other almost every other day… had meals together, went to pasar malam together, hung out with the same friends… we had a great time. After we graduated, Cheng Leng worked in KL for a while, but then she moved to Singapore a few years ago. I felt sad to see her go, but thank God for social media networks like Facebook. We kept in touch through the years.

It was great that I could witness the wedding ceremony of Nicholas and Cheng Leng. I wasn’t meant to be there for the wedding, but due to some turn of events, I could be there as a guest! I managed to sneak a few shots during the wedding (all the time a little worried if I was being an ‘Uncle Bob’ to the official photographer).

Presenting, the gorgeous bride…

The one thing that immediately stands out about Cheng Leng – Her smile. She is such a warm and sincere person. I miss her hugs a lot. :)

So I had to give her a BIG hug.

Grace Tan In Musings, Relationships

Balloons Galore!

The Integricity office was transformed for a day. When we came back from lunch yesterday, the room was filled with 140 red balloons. The bad news? It wasn’t for me. The good news? It was for our Art Director, Ser Young, sent by his wife, Rachel. Talk about a loving Valentine’s surprise! Alex, please take note!

Rachel had handwritten notes and had it tied to every single one of the balloons. Well, Ser Young was suitably embarrassed, to say the least. The funny thing was that he said he actually went with Rachel to choose the balloons! She said it was for some company event… sly!

I have to thank Rachel too, because I borrowed a ‘bunch’ of balloons for my shoot yesterday evening. And when I left the office yesterday, some colleagues were posing and taking photos with the balloons. Thanks Rachel for making our day interesting too!