Protecting nature is not ONE person’s responsibility. It is OURS. So tie the knot with a sustainable wedding! For yourself, and for our future generations. Here are some ways to make your wedding a sustainable one for our planet.
In March & April 2019, we raised funds for Make-A-Wish, whose mission is to create life changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. As the result of this fund raising, we managed to sponsor Ammar’s wish to go to a water park with his family. Ammar, 11 has acute lymphoblastic leukemia since 2017 and travels from Port Dickson to HUKM Cheras twice a month for his treatment. The doctors in public hospitals usually work with Make-A-Wish to identify families whose children are critically ill and come from a lower income group as part of the wish-fulfilment criteria.
A few of us from the Stories team managed to head over to A Famosa Water Theme Park to meet the family. Ammar’s dad is the sole bread winner of the family with 6 children (1 was away studying), and the last time he came to A Famosa Water Park was during his honeymoon! There were 3 volunteers from Make-A-Wish who made the whole event go so smoothly. We presented gifts from Make-A-Wish to the family and had a good chat getting to know them. After a day of fun in the sun, we headed to Malacca town (Grace’s hometown!) to walk down Jonker Street and eat delicious food!
We’re glad to be part of such a meaningful event with Make-A-Wish.
It took me a while to decide whether I wanted to have a birthday party for myself to celebrate this huge milestone – reaching 40. I’ve been planning my kid’s birthday parties, so organizing one for myself seemed like another tiring task on the plate. In the end, I contacted Rachel of Pretty Little Things to assist with the decorations for the party and she did an amazing job setting everything up. Alex helped to source and sandpaper all the wooden pallets you see here. And I added stress to myself thinking about my guests and what I could do to make it really fun for everyone, yet filled with things that were meaningful to me. So this was what I came up with:
1. A 15 minute massage station for guests
2. A personalised photo frame with all my guests’ names calligraphed by a friend, Cherbreena
3. A photo corner where my dedicated photographer, Chi Yin, took photos of all my guests who walked in and then Abel printed it out and placed it in the personalised frame
4. A pre-loved book section for my guests to adopt some of my personal book collection for their reading pleasure
5. A corner where guests could choose an air plant or succulent to bring home as gifts
6. A station where people could buy Naam.asia products (a social enterprise) and essential oils from Oilees (a business started by a friend, Michelle)
7. A soap making workshop corner, made possible by Esther & Elizabeth
Honestly, halfway through planning this party, I was wondering whether having a birthday party to celebrate yourself seems very narcissistic! I had to remind myself that it is ok to pamper yourself once in a while and to just enjoy the process. In the end, I truly had a blast on that day with all my precious friends. Seeing them happy made me truly happy too.
Over the past 11 years since we opened our doors, we have been privileged to meet so many different people, from all walks of life. It also gives us such pleasure to see the family grow, photographing milestones from their wedding day to their first pregnancy and 2nd child! Here are just some of our ‘before and now’ collections taken through the years. Enjoy!
En Ruey & Jas Min, 2016 & 2018
Nasimuddin family, 2016 and 2018
We are excited to be part of this fundraising campaign for Make-A-Wish Malaysia. Critically ill children hold a special place in my heart and we are glad that our little efforts will go towards making a child’s dream a reality. Rayyan, 6, wishes to be a policeman, so he received an experience spending the day with real sergeants in a police patrol car. Sya’irah, 7 years and diagnosed with brain tumour, wishes to see and feed giraffes. It also breaks my heart to hear from Irene, the CEO of Make-A-Wish Malaysia, that another child’s wish was merely have a KFC meal with his family. These children come from lower income families and your contribution will go towards the children from these families. Please partner with us as we support this worthy cause, to make more life changing wishes a reality for critically sick children.
Love, Grace
About Make-A-Wish Malaysia
Their mission is to create life changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. They are on a quest to bring every eligible child’s wish to life because a wish sparks imagination, inspiration and renewed strength to help a critically sick child and family to battle the illness.
When a child is diagnosed with a critical illness, the whole family’s lives are turned upside down. Families from lower income is further burdened with the cost of medicine and treatment which are available only in select hospitals. The sick child and parent are required to make frequent trips to these hospitals or remain long term patients to minimise cost and risk of travelling. Such long separation adds to the sick child’s despair and loneliness.
At Make-A-Wish Malaysia, they strongly believe in the life-changing Power of a Wish. A wish is not merely something nice to have, but a wondrous journey of anticipation and empowerment. The powerful wish journey creates amazing memories that continue to inspire confidence and strength long after the wish has been granted, enabling the child and family to better cope with fear and pain associated with their fight.
As a self-supported non-government organization, they rely on fundraising and donations from corporations and individuals to enable them continue their mission. Up to 2018, over 500 wishes have been granted with the help of donors and volunteers.
How you can help
Book any of our special, discounted sessions between the months of March – April 2019 and utilize it for your personal profile, maternity or family portrait session anytime within 2019. 25% of the proceeds will be donated to Make-A-Wish Malaysia. You will receive a receipt from both parties to ensure that your donation has gone through.
If you are a previous client and would like to still be part of this campaign but have just completed a recent shoot, you can also be part of this campaign when you purchase any prints, albums or full set of high resolution images from us or if you just want to make a donation, contact us directly. Thank you for your generosity!