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Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Grace Tan
In Portraits,

Pre-Wedding: Eddie & Ming Ee

Photographer: Grace, assisted by Alex
Wedding Gown / Cheongsam / Shoes: Pretty in White
Make up and hair: Mel Chew

When a gentleman opens the car door for you (a rare breed nowadays!) and buys flowers for you on your first date, you have confidence that he knows how to treat a woman well. That was Ming Ee’s experience as she went on her first date with Eddie. Their first encounter was at the college where she was studying. He was a counselor then, and she was helping out at the college during her semester break. Soon, Eddie left for another organization, but it was the days when ICQ and Friendster ruled the world. And so they kept in touch. One thing led to another, and then they became an item.

Three years later, Eddie left for the UK and Ming Ee went to Singapore. Two years of long distance relationship soon made them realize that they wanted to spend their years together, not apart. It was during their holiday in Barcelona that Eddie decided to pop the question…

And the rest, they say, is history.

Or rather, shall I rephrase, the beginning of history. Eddie and Ming Ee tied the knot recently and I had the privilege of shooting their pre-wedding photos.

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Grace Tan
In Portraits,

Nathan & Ayu: Berlulut

Photographers: Grace & Mark
Location: The Westin, Langkawi

This has got to be the wedding of the year! I have so many beautiful photos to show from this wedding that it has to span across 3 blog posts! This is the 2nd part to Nathan and Ayu’s wedding. After the akad nikah in KL, we headed for the sandy white beaches of Langkawi. Specifically, the Westin, Langkawi. When I first found out that Nathan and Ayu wanted a berlulut event, I wasn’t quite sure what it was! Later, I discovered that it just meant ‘changing of outfits’. In other words, we had a portrait session with beautiful costumes!

Ayu’s mother had requested that they did this, and boy, was I happy! Don’t you think The Westin at Langkawi made a gorgeous backdrop for these images? The image below was taken from the 5 bedroom villa (with its own private pool!).

We started off with the traditional Iban costume from East Malaysia. This is so apt for Ayu as she is from Kuching. Even though Ayu does not have an Iban heritage, she used to dance the traditional Iban dance when she was in school. By the way, I never realized how tough it was to make the headgear stay!

This is what happens when East meets West… it’s a dance of two cultures.

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Grace Tan
In Portraits,

Portraits: Kelvin & Corvy

Photographer: Grace
Make Up & Hair: Charlie from Michelle Touche team
Location: KL Hilton & Lake Gardens

What do you get from you combine a hot mom, a cool dad and a really cute kid?

Amazing images!

Corvy has a presence that is just so magnetic; when she is in a room, you can’t help but look at her. She carries herself well, has amazing poise, grace and exudes charm. I am sure that was what attracted Kelvin to Corvy in the first place. Kelvin is a man with style as well. Corvy’s charm and Kelvin’s calm demeanour and soothing voice make them such an alluring couple. Meeting after meeting at the KL Hilton for drinks and long chats soon turned to romance.

This December, they will be having an intimate reception to celebrate their love. I love it that even after a pregnancy and childbirth, Kelvin and Corvy makes the time to shoot some portraits! And here are the photos from the shoot…

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Grace Tan
In Musings, Portraits, , Tips + Ideas

Why shoot a pre-wedding?

Some couples tell me that they are into candid shots and don’t really want to do a pre-wedding shoot. All they want are candid shots that show how people are having a great time in their wedding. While that is absolutely important, I do think that it’s equally important to shoot pre-wedding photos. Or post-wedding. Or set aside time on your wedding day, (if only for an hour!) for portraits.

Ok, I am not trying to sell you more of my services (though of course, I’d LOVE to shoot more pre-weddings!).

What’s my reasoning for portraits? Well, how often in your life, have you done a professional photo shoot? And what’s the best time for that than your wedding… when you have most probably slaved at the gym for months to be in your best shape, gone for beauty treatments and spent a thousand dollars or more on your gorgeous gown?

To be honest, I never had a pre-wedding shoot for my wedding, but I set aside some time on the wedding day for portraits. I did realize though that I was constantly chasing after time, (hurry, we gotta get from my house to your parent’s place, or we gotta head to the hotel like NOW!!). On hindsight, I think I would have enjoyed a pre-wedding shoot, done on another day, at a more leisurely pace. Sometimes, I still have crazy ideas like donning my wedding gown (which I haven’t tried on for 4 years, but still hangs in my cupboard, or is in a box?) and doing a post-wedding shoot!

Some of my clients come up with absolutely creative ideas for their pre-wedding shoot, and I love that. I think the first thing that people think of when wanting to shoot a pre-wedding is the question, “Where should we go?”. So here are some tips for brides and grooms who are planning on getting a pre-wedding shoot done.

1. What is your personality like?

Are you a bubbly person, an extrovert who loves to laugh a lot and chat nineteen to the dozen, or are you an introvert who prefers to sit with your books and enjoy quiet moments with just yourself and your hubby? Are you a hopeless romantic at heart? Your photos should reflect your personality. So if you’re a quirky, non-conforming kind of person, the type of location you choose would reflect that.

Simple and glamourous

Dramatic and moody

Classic

Just love to have fun!


Simple contentment

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Grace Tan
In Portraits,

Jack & Sze Hwa Marries!

Photographer: Grace
Make Up & Hair: Charlie from Michelle Touche team
Wedding gown (Princess cut with sash) & Evening shoes: Pretty in White
Wedding gown (Mermaid cut) & Evening Gown: That Special Occasion
White lacy shoes: Tang’s Studio
Jack’s suit: The Lord’s Tailor
Flowers: My Bridal Florist
Location: Dusun Garden Fairies & Pullman Hotel, Putrajaya

But not yet… not till January 2011 when they vow to be true to each other in good times or in bad, in sickness and in health. The title of this post was taken from their wedding website, designed beautifully to look like the New York Times report. I love it when I see websites like these because it shows how creative the couple is and how much they care about the little details that go into their wedding day.

And so it was natural that during the pre-wedding session with Jack and Sze Hwa, there were lots of yummy details that went into the shoot. Hwa said she wanted a picnic theme… and so she brought an amazing array of props to the shoot! The picnic basket was even prepared and sewn by Jack’s mother! Talk about dedication.

Jack & Hwa have both known each other since secondary school but they were just acquaintances back then. In school, she thought he was a bit of a geek and he thought she was just another (annoying) junior in his school!

This is their story…

Well…. Years went by and we lost contact.  She went to Ireland to continue her studies and he on the other hand, left for Australia.  However, during one of our summer holidays back in June 2003, we bumped into each other while we were dining with our parents in Overseas Restaurant, PJ! That day changed everything! We started to keep in touch and this continued on even when she was back in Ireland and he, in Australia! We talked on the phone EVERYDAY and would wake each other every morning (possible then due to different time zones!).  So this continued on for 7 years.  Yes, we have been doing the much dreaded long-distance relationship for that long.  This has improved tremendously since she moved to Singapore ‘coz at least we now were at the same time zone.

We guess the thing that kept us both together for so long despite the distance was that we have always been able to talk about everything and anything and our passion for travelling (here, there and everywhere!), food (you have to see our collection of food pictures) and Moleskines =) !

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