I sat on the ground in the middle of the road, trying to sort out and arrange Scrabble letters for Kenneth and Kimberley. Good thing the roads were pretty clear. There’s benefit in choosing a new housing estate as a shoot location. It felt almost random. And totally cool. Kenneth and Kimberley, though it took us a while to organize this portrait shoot, I do hope you’ll like these images!
Photographer: Grace
Make up & hair: Wedding Isle
Wedding Gown: Pretty in White
Location: Pullman Hotel & Botanical Gardens, Putrajaya
Sometimes life gives you a few interesting surprises along the way. Chance encounters that were fated. Especially when you’ve communicated with the person in the first place, but never met each other.
In 2005, Eng Wah’s company had a job vacancy. Penny’s housemate was his ex-colleague, so she got in touch with Eng Wah through MSN and sent him a resume. Unfortunately she did not get called in for an interview and as luck would have it, she never got to meet Eng Wah.
Two years later, they met each other in an IT event. She came with her colleague and he was there with his housemate. They sat together, had lunch but did not talk to each other.
Fast forward to 2009. Somehow his contact was still in Penny’s MSN list, so one day, she noticed his status had changed to include an IQ test. Penny answered and it was right. That was the first time they started a conversation online. Everyday, Penny and Eng Wah looked forward to their online chats. “Good morning” was the keyword to trigger the conversation of the day. Gradually, they found their similarities… same college, favorite restaurant, favorite food, favorite song, pasar malam, travelling…
Eventually, they started going out for dinner, movies, pasar malam every Wednesday…
When Eng Wah cooks, she tests his food. When Penny goes out for photo shoots, Eng Wah becomes her model (which is unusual, as most girls tend to be the model instead!). Their friendship grew, until one day, he finally mustered the courage to hold her hand while shopping at Isetan.
Which led to… 2011.
One day, Eng Wah picked Penny up from a company event and they went home together. When she arrived home, she found that he had used her color pencils to write “I LOVE YOU” on the ground. On top of that, there was a delicious looking jelly inside the fridge with the words “Would you marry me?”on top. And she said yes!
There are days when you see a cute baby and think… gosh, I think I am ready for kids, like now! Aaron is one such kid. He’s got such a great personality and a beautiful smile. A smile that can melt your heart instantaneously. I kid you not. James and Dea live overseas and I am glad I managed to meet their tight schedule for a little photo shoot in KL. Thanks Anna for recommending them to me!
Since I am heading off for a newborn portrait shoot soon, I thought I’d share a few from another session I did some time back. I met Joanne and Anderson at our Stories booth in a Pitter Patter event and within a few minutes of chatting with them, they booked our services. I had the pleasure of getting acquainted with their son Joshua too… he’s super adorable (and talented too… he can play the guitar and drums at such a young age!).
Here are some of my favourites from their session.
Love. I love the idea of love, being in love and seeing other people in love. (Yes Alex, I know I used the words love too many times in the same sentence, but I can’t help it!). Love is this basic need that we all have as humans. In marriage, love to me means a deep sense of commitment between two individuals – a love that never gives up even though times are difficult. Love also equates trust… because to give yourself fully to someone like that requires a huge amount of risk and trust.
I had the privilege of witnessing and recording the marriage proposal of my friends Ivan and Mi Ghent a few days ago. I’ve known the both of them for years – individually and then together as a couple. I am so glad they’ve taken the plunge into this whole realm of trusting each other’s hearts with full commitment to one another.
Ivan had this ingenious idea of creating ‘additional’ Monopoly Deal cards for the proposal. It’s one of Mi Ghent’s favourite game and the idea was so apt! After a few rounds, Ivan played his “Marry Me” card, followed by the “Just Say Yes” card, specially designed by our friend Monica.
She was stunned for a while, and then asked, “Are you on your knees?”
Needless to say, she said YES!
It was especially meaningful too that the engagement ring was a family heirloom handed down by Ivan’s mum. I am so happy for the both of you! Thank you for inviting Alex and I to be part of this beautiful occasion. And of course, thanks for the yummy Ipoh food too! Now, on to wedding planning!
