Grace Tan

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Pre-Wedding: Ken & Cynthia

Cynthia has been an old school friend of mine since I was like 3 feet high. (Ok not that it makes much difference, since I’m only 5 feet tall right now). We have been really good friends since school and have gone through so much together. I knew Ken when I came to KL to work – the first time I met him, I was in the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) children’s church. He was there to volunteer. I remember him wearing a earring on one side, looking tough and macho, definitely not a person I’d imagine to have a soft heart for children. But ever since then, I’ve gotten to know him a lot better, and I can safely say that Ken is definitely a caring, thoughtful man. Perfect match for Cynthia, who’s always fun and exciting to be with.

So we headed back to Malacca (where Cyn and I are from) for this photo shoot. Ken is from Penang, but, sorry, it’s going to be a one-sided story for this pre-wedding shoot. We had loads of fun doing silly things together. Congratulations on your wedding, and am looking forward to shooting it this 8th of November!

When we were taking this shot below, a young-ish girl passed by us and said that her brother did the graffiti on the wall. She was a tour guide and along with her were a group of French tourists. Perhaps we should have told her that her brother spelt Malacca wrongly!

Ken trying to do the ‘Bruce’.

I absolutely love this little mini. Alex and I found it when we came to Malacca for a recce a few weeks ago, and were so delighted when we spotted it parked in the same location again on our shoot day!

Both Ken and Cyn love the water – a year back, Cyn surprised Ken underwater on a dive trip by unveiling a little banner that she had made for him. It was his birthday and boy, was he surprised!

Thanks for being silly with me!

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Wedding of Jojo & Craig

This was the first wedding that I shot with Kee Sitt after the partnership between Wedding Story and Integricity Visuals was formed. It was held in Shangri-La’s beautiful Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa, Penang. I had never been to that resort before this, and I must say, my jaw dropped when I saw the beautiful gardens and beach. Craig and Jojo flew over from the States to hold their wedding ceremony here. Jojo was originally from Penang and the small intimate ceremony was mostly for family and close friends. Here are a few photos from their wedding. We had a wonderful team at this wedding – photos were taken by myself, Alex and Jonathan. Video by Kee Sitt and Sharon.

The cake looks absolutely delicious. I love chocolate!!

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Wedding of Ronnie & Ivy

I am really excited to write this blog post. Ronnie & Ivy are my closest friends, and it was really special to have photographed their wedding recently in September. I am constantly touched by their friendship – they are always there to lend support, trustworthy, and always willing to do silly things together with Alex and I.

They even got married at the same place I said “I do” 2 years ago; at Palace of the Golden Horses, at the very same garden! A year back, Alex and I also had the priviledge of planning Ronnie’s surprise proposal to Ivy, during a cruise in Putrajaya. He made fortune cookies for all our friends and hid the ring in the cookie! What a creative guy! We really love the both of you, Ronnie & Ivy. There’s so many photos to share, but here are just a few from that day, with more to come!

The games are hilarious! Here are just some of the things that the guys had to do… Ronnie looks like he enjoys dressing up…

After going through all those obstacles, Ronnie finally gets his bride, and we head off to Tmn Tun park for a quick portraiture session.

We put the red bra to good use…

After all that fun running about in the sun, we headed back to their homes for the tea ceremony, and then in the afternoon to Palace for the church ceremony on the garden.

Ronnie was surprised towards the end of the ceremony when Ivy picked up the microphone and said that she had prepared a song for him! Look at his face… can you see the awe oozing out of him?

Since both Ronnie & Ivy are futsal fans, I couldn’t miss this opportunity to take a few more shots with them, this time with a ball!

Dinner was held at the ballroom after that. God granted them beautiful weather that day – the very next day, it stormed! Congratulations Ronnie & Ivy!

– Grace –

Grace Tan In Indian + Punjabi Weddings, Weddings

Engagement: Alfred & Geeta

Geeta is an old school mate of mine which I haven’t seen since I left high school yonkers ago (I feel old!). But with the wonders of the internet, we managed to get in touch again after all those years. I met Alfred for the first time about 1-2 weeks before their engagement on the 31st of August. What a lovely date to get engaged! Malaysia’s independence day, and now, Alfred and Geeta’s engagement day!

I am truly honoured that they chose me to shoot their engagement ceremony, and in Dec, their wedding. This is my first Hindu ceremony, and what a joy to shoot the event! Everything was just so colourful – which suits my personality just fine!

Thank you Alfred and Geeta for such opening your lives to me, and for being such a wonderful couple, but most of all, friend. There are so many wonderful photos from the ceremony, and it’s hard to choose my favourites, but here are a few (or rather, a lot!) of photos from that day. The rest will be uploaded onto the Wedding Story website soon!

Doesn’t Geeta look absolutely stunning!?

I love the flowers and how it’s all done up, I wonder if it’s heavy?

Aaaw, such a wonderful couple shot. Thanks to Alex who held the off camera flash for me.

The entire ‘stage’ where the ceremony was held. I didn’t know how grand it would look till I arrived at the temple!

The priest first performed some rites with both sides of the parents before Alfred and Geeta stepped up into the lime light.

She was absolutely joyful that day. And so was Alfred. I could just see the love radiating from them!

Blessings…

Looking forward to your wedding in December!

– Grace –

Grace Tan In Musings, Tips + Ideas

Investment of a Lifetime

Whenever I talk to a couple or friends about their upcoming wedding plans, the first thing they usually moan about is the cost of having a wedding. Yeah, no doubt you’ll be spending thousands of dollars on this one occasion, and though I don’t recommend any couples starting off their marriage in debt, I still think that it’s an event worth saving up for.

As one of my clients said to me recently, “It’s the biggest party I’ll ever get to throw in my lifetime! I MUST be interested in it.” He also said most of his friends commented that it’s usually the women who go shopping for vendors, who are interested in who the photographer is, want to plan the little details etc etc. Usually guys are the ones forking out the cash, and leave most of the decision making to their future brides.

His response?

“If I am going to spend that much money on an event, I’d better know where my money goes, and be assured that what I am spending on is worth it.”

How true. Usually when couples come to Wedding Story for a consultation, they need to take some time to think about whether to invest in our services. We don’t hurry a couple to make a decision on the spot because we understand that it is a big decision, and the couple may need time to think through things, move budgets around and talk about it. We even tell our couples to shop around until they are certain about what they want!

So when they return to us a 2nd time, we know that they are keen on our services because they like the quality of our work.

So here are some of our tips on how to manage your finances for your wedding:

1. Talk things through with your fiance and see how much you are willing to spend overall on the wedding. No point having big plans that cannot be achieved financially. Or worse still, arguing over money matters.

2. Start shopping around so that you know the market price for various necessities – eg photography, videography, flowers, gowns, etc. Best to set a realistic budget for each category so that you are not disappointed in the long run.

3. Determine what is your priority for each category. Are you willing to sacrifice RM1000 on the budget for a tailor made gown so that you can hire the photographer of your choice? What are the creative ways to save money? For example, maybe you can think of creative ways to make your own wedding favour instead of buying expensive gifts.

4. Set aside a wedding fund from the moment you are engaged. Better still, have a separate bank account from your normal savings account so that the both of you can bank in a set amount each month. That way, you’ll be forced to save for the wedding. And no withdrawals for any other usage other than wedding expenses!

5. Create a wedding blog or website and share with your friends and family about the kind of gifts they can give you (other than ang pow). Perhaps you might find a rich relative living in the UK who is willing to sponsor your videography costs!

6. Eat Maggi Mee at least three times a week till your big day to save money on normal food expenditure. *Haha, ok we’re kidding on this!*

Alright, if any of you has any other tips to share, do write a comment so that we can all learn from it. Happy shopping!

-Grace-