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Grace Tan

That Indon Boy: Wedding Video Highlights of Rondy & Elaine

Lots of tears were shed at this wedding. Generous amounts of warm hugs given, kind words exchanged but most importantly of all, love was present. It was the kind of wedding that focuses on a long term event…the marriage, and not just that one day affair, which is the wedding.

A wedding that reminds you love triumphs over everything.

A wedding that reflects a 10 year commitment that will carry on till ‘death do us part’.

And so, that Indon boy met that Malaysian girl and made a commitment to each other in marriage. Read their wonderful story as written by Rondy below.

Fell in love with that good friend who was so beautiful on the inside

Our story was not one of those love at first sight story. I knew Elaine ever since my high school days. We both went to Garden International School; I joined in year 7, and she joined in year 5. However, I only knew of her existence during year 10, when both of us had some unstreamed classes together; they were Economics, Accounting and our Science subjects. That was actually equivalent to about 16 hours of classes each week! As for the rest of the classes that were ranked, Elaine was just too smart for me. She was undisputedly the smartest student in my year. She would be in all the top classes while I would be somewhere in the middle! So during school, my recollection of Elaine was that she was a nerd with specs and braces who liked to study and hated sports (this is so wrong now!) but at the same time, a very nice girl.

It was only until college that I got to know her better. As the norm in college life, you tend to first make friends with the people you knew back in school. We were no different. Together with other guys from GIS, we went out for lunch, played foosball and pool together, studied together and I even carpooled with Elaine on the way back as well.

We then became friends and I started to really like hanging out with Elaine. I found her to be an extremely pleasant and fun girl to be with. I remembered that I used to get ignored because my jokes didn’t make sense, or people just couldn’t understand me (probably due to my Indonesian accent). However I came to notice that Elaine was always there to respond to me! I also found her to have such a tender and kind heart, someone who loved to help friends, random strangers and animals. She used to feed hungry cats and stray dogs, felt pity towards peacocks that had their wings clipped, and homeless men on the street amongst many others. Do you know that up to this day Elaine has never killed a mosquito!? She just shoos them away! Unbelievable!

So then I started to really like hanging out with Elaine – I loved chatting on the phone with her, and was excited every time she came online on MSN messenger and every time I bumped into her at church on Sundays because I got to see her on a weekend. I loved sharing a laugh with her, playing games with her, but most of all, I loved her smile. She became a really good friend. I was attracted to her inner beauty and how her personality matched mine. One day, I found out that a few other college guys were also chasing after Elaine and I felt a tinge of jealousy! I knew that wasn’t normal and this was indeed a special girl to me. Perhaps she could be my dream girl, the one!

Over time, my feelings grew and so I asked Elaine who had become a good friend to be my college prom date. It was then that I asked her out to be my girlfriend for the first time. But, she rejected me. I guess the feeling wasn’t mutual then. That was a very sad and painful memory for me.

Fortunately for us, I decided not to give up and kept a close relationship while keeping my fingers crossed that she would somehow give me a chance. And so, 3 months after Elaine rejected me during the prom, she decided to give our relationship a chance. We moved to the next level and the rest, as they say, is history!

That moment was nearly 10 years ago now. Elaine and I had since gone through so much together. We grew with each other. I can’t even remember clearly my life before her anymore. She had always been a constant in my life for the past 10 years and will be there forevermore.

She was there when someone called me “sir” for the first time.
She was there when I first shaved my non-existent facial hair.
She was there when I went for my first ever interview with Genting Group.
She was there when I was captained by my football team in uni.
She was there when I graduated.
She was there when I was excited to have seen snow for the first time in China.
She was there when I got my first real paycheck, and my promotion.
She was there during a lot of other first time moments in my life.

She was also there when I was diagnosed with high cholestrol at 18 and helped to bring it down.
She was there when I was down cause I didn’t know what the future hold for me.
She was always there when I was sick, bought me hot lemon tea when I had real bad sore throat and was constantly with me in hospital when I dislocated my ankle.
She was there to comfort me when I was feeling angry and sad and disappointed at the world.

Needless to say more, Elaine had always been there through it all.

So, we had grown together, bringing the best out of each other, be it good times or bad times. We had the best times together, and became a better person individually. My mom realized that I became a more gentle and sensitive person because of her, and I believed she became a more relaxed and less kan-cheong person because of me.

10 years ago, I fell in love with a nerdy, skinny, smart, Godly, tender and kind-hearted girl. She was a friend, which became a good friend, and eventually my best friend. My best friend is now my soulmate. My wife. I am married to my childhood sweetheart, my dream girl. She was my first love and my last.

Credits:

Videographers: Delvin, Wee Liem, Felicia and Chi Yin
Wedding Ceremony: Glad Tidings, PJ
Dinner Reception: Grand Hyatt, KL
Wedding Gown: Pretty in White
Evening Gown: Wedding Isle Gallery
Groom’s Attire: Bespoked
Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Make up & Hair: Remy Ngan (Mimi Make Up Studio)
Decorations: Wishing Tree & Grand Hyatt
Stationery: Million Yellow Invitation, Jakarta, Others: Kexsh
Cake: Wondermilk
Flowers: Bridemaid’s posies (Kexsh), Dinner Guests Tables (Grand Hyatt), Others (Wishing Tree)
Photography: Dennis Yap
Dinner Entertainment: The Raw Note
Wedding Planner: Chic Occasions

Hindu wedding at Shree Lakshmi Temple: Sunil & Belinda

20140906_WEDDING_SUNIL_BELINDA_MSIA_0282You’ve seen their Singaporean Chinese wedding ceremony and pre-wedding photos, now, presenting part 2 of their wedding celebration held in KL. The wedding celebration carried on in KL with a sangeet, a prayer & oil ceremony called the santh, and culminated with a colourful Hindu wedding ceremony at Shree Lakshmi temple in KL. This wedding video highlight is one of my favourites this year – I enjoy hearing their stories and seeing two different cultures combine through marriage. With the world becoming more connected globally, inter-racial marriages are the norm.

This wedding is unique for me, because in one day, I get to witness:

A Hindu wedding ceremony that resembles a Punjabi wedding
A Chinese tea ceremony where most of the people being served tea are not Chinese
Families speaking Mandarin in typical Indian wear
A dragon dance during the wedding dinner

Oh, and for the record, it was my last wedding shoot before I took a break to deliver my 2nd child!

Photographers: Grace, Nigel & Diane (wedding day), Weiming & Nigel (sangeet and santh)
Videographers: Nick, Chi Yin & Felicia

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Wedding at North Border, Singapore: Sunil & Belinda

20140830_WEDDING_SUNIL_BELINDA_SINGAPORE_475It was a rainy evening, and Belinda had just dropped off her brother at the airport in Singapore. As part of her habit, she headed over to her favourite bar of 10 years… Wala Wala, with her best friend Samantha. The bar was crowded as usual, but by chance, Sunil and his friends had 2 seats at their table, and so, out of courtesy (and maybe because these girls were cute!), they offered those seats to them. Striking a conversation was natural, and by the end of the night, Sunil and Belinda had hit it off and even arranged a first date for the next day.

Love at first sight does exist. For Sunil, anyway. During that date, they discovered they both love the same kind of music and band. Belinda bought Sunil 2 double shot Macallan 15 after losing some bets, which totally impressed him! Needless to say, Sunil gave Belinda a lot of attention that evening.

For their second date the very next day, Sunil brought Belinda to Prive (a romantic restaurant by the water), and they had a great time chatting for a good 3 hours. The relationship grew, and soon, they had already dated for 7 months as a couple.

20140830_WEDDING_SUNIL_BELINDA_SINGAPORE_525Sunil ALWAYS makes Belinda laugh, he always smells good and he can cook. They say, food is a way to a man’s stomach, but it also works for women! Sunil is always feeding Belinda, which she doesn’t complain about! What she loves most about him is that he is extremely filial, calls home everyday and truly cares for his family and friends. He’s always optimistic, genuine and independent. According to Belinda… “I know he will willingly go hungry just so I can be filled! (a metaphor of course)”. Ultimately, he always wants to make her happy.

Sunil proposed to Belinda in Spain early Feb this year, in the oldest restaurant in the world – Botin, after many jugs of Sangria. He took out the ring from his pocket and asked “yes or no?”

Belinda told us… “Would have said no since there’s no kneeling down or flowers or proper question. But I saw the size of the diamond. =) (just kidding)!”

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Family Portraits: Shirah, Fahrizal & Ara

Three years ago, I was privileged to have photographed Fahrizal and Shirah’s royal wedding at Shangri-La Hotel in KL. It was one of the first few times I photographed a royal wedding alongside with all the formalities and protocol. I can’t believe how time has flown, because now, Fahrizal and Shirah has a sweet little princess of their own. I love what Shirah did to dress up this little photo shoot ‘set’. In her own words, “I’m a wannabe party planner!”.

Little Ara enjoyed rocking on her horse, spending time with her parents, but as with all toddlers, the tide can turn at any time! Halfway through the shoot, she decided she didn’t want to take any more photos! Temper tantrums make my job a lot more interesting! :) (By the way, it is really normal to have toddlers rolling on the ground halfway through a shoot).

Hope you’ll enjoy this set of images as much as I did creating them.

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Pre-Wedding: Sunil & Belinda

After spending many hours with Sunil and Belinda for their various wedding events, it’s obvious that these two fun-loving souls are completely and deeply in love with each other. Never mind the fact that she’s into shopping and he’s into football and sports – two completely different hobbies altogether. What matters are their hearts – joined together over a common love of music, drinking, socialising and the love of adventure. I just love Belinda’s feisty character and quick tongue. She’s really funny. Sunil too, has the personality to warm up a room the moment he is in it. Together, they rock!

Soon, we’ll be sharing photos from their epic wedding celebration – the Chinese ceremony in Singapore and the Hindu wedding in KL. For now, enjoy some of these favourite pre-wedding images, photographed by Weiming and Nigel.

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