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Chinese Weddings

Greetings from beautiful Santorini, Greece!

Every single postcard image I have seen of Santorini promised clear blue skies matching the blue of the famous domes and breathtaking sunsets over the caldera. I packed in my bikini (and warm clothing) since the weather forecast said it was going to be around 15 degrees Celcius for my travel duration. When I arrived, I was in for a shock. The wind was bitterly cold, it rained for the first few days we were here and I definitely could not do any swimming in my bikini! Even the locals said that it was cold for them and this was winter weather!

But the village of Oia was as charming as the travel guides describe it. I love the little paths that led to nowhere, and then suddenly, opened to a gorgeous view of the Aegean sea. You can’t help but feel your heart skip a beat as you take in the breathtaking views that Santorini has to offer. I was there to photograph the wedding of John and Hazel, shoot portraits for my sister-in-law Sarah and her husband Terence and have a holiday at the same time.

Thank God the weather cleared up after the initial first few days and then we had sunshine! Though it was still very cold when the wind blew (I was wearing 4 layers, and Sarah only had her wedding gown!), we had a great time.

The official photos will be up sometime in the future, but in the meantime, here are some of my travel photos and sneak peak images from the shoots.

07-Oia-webWe wandered around the romantic village of Oia for photos with Terence and Sarah. While we were doing so, we kept bumping into other couples on their pre-wedding photo shoots!

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Church Wedding, Luther Centre: Siu Fai & Chia Wen

20141220_WEDDING_SIUFAI_CHIAWEN_073420141220_WEDDING_SIUFAI_CHIAWEN_0597Just recently, Siu Fai and Chia Wen celebrated the 100th day since they were wed. It was so lovely to see on Siu Fai’s Facebook page this note to his dear wife Chia Wen.

A hundred days from the day, dear Wen,
Everyday as blissful as we felt back then,
I promise my promise to you is true, 
A commitment to love, just me and you.

“Matrimony came from paradise, and leads to it. I never was half so happy before I was a married man as I am now. When you are married, your bliss begins. Let the husband love his wife as he loves himself, and a little better, for she is his better half. He should feel,”If there’s only one good wife in the whole world, I’ve got her.” – Charles Spurgeon

Though the wedding happened some time back, it felt fresh in my mind, as if it were just a few weeks ago. I feel privileged to have been given the honour to photograph this wonderful couple alongside my photographer sidekick, Jamie.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting this couple know that they are dynamic, passionate about the things of God, love people and through their actions, put their love into practice. As church leaders in DUMC, their lives have made such an impact to many around them. Just look at the number of people who attended their church wedding!

 

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Chinese Ancestral Home Ipoh Wedding: Si Howe & Joanne

Some time back, I photographed some portraits of Joanne for her 30th birthday and it was on that shoot that I met Si Howe. He struck me as a really fun loving, supportive guy who was ever willing to give Joanne a hoist to entertain her ideas of climbing trees for pictures. As we got to know each other more later, it struck me that they were two opposite personalities totally in love with each other. Si Howe, an obvious extrovert, was telling me all about his Ipoh wedding at his family courtyard home (where EVERYONE in their family holds a wedding!) and enticing Nigel and I with stories about giant Tanjung Tualang prawns served during the luncheon.

Needless to say, we were definitely looking forward to this wedding!

We were really smitten with the wonderful classic family home that we had the privilege of shooting in. Since Si Howe’s family was a large one, the tea ceremony took quite a while, serving approximately 180 people! One of the biggest challenges we had was doing a huge family photo that could accommodate everyone. At the entrance of the home (image below), it was hot in the midday sun, so to get everyone to stand / sit there even for 15 minutes would be really challenging. But the worst thing is that everyone would be squinting as they had to look towards the direction of the sun. So we moved everyone to the back of the house instead for the photos. Though it was very warm still, at least people weren’t squinting as much!

20141213_WEDDING_SIHOWE_JOANNE_0743I love this marital bed that symbolises their union. Si Howe told me how he and another cousin  had to painstakingly take the bed apart from another cousin’s home and transport it to this place. And then he had to put it together again, pretty much like a jigsaw puzzle. If you look carefully, you will see his yellow sticker notes on the bed frame which we ‘conveniently’ left in the shot. Tells a story!

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Blue & Yellow Sunflowery Goodness: Wedding of Steven & Marilyn

Steven and Marilyn are such bubbly, fun characters, it’s no wonder they chose a bright yellow, sunflower theme for their wedding. We love how the bright blue pops in relation to the yellow too. Everything from the wedding invite, to the flowers, decorations and even Marilyn’s custom made cheongsam adhered to the theme colours!

Some of their friends also came dressed according to theme. From Day1 of the proposal, both Marilyn and Steven were really involved in the whole wedding planning process. Steven’s one of those grooms who actually ENJOY planning a wedding (not like some other grooms we have encountered who prefer to just pay and let the bride plan the wedding!). He is a meticulous guy, always looking at details whereas Marilyn’s a big picture person. So they complement each other in so many ways.

By the way, a bit of interesting info about Marilyn… her dad used to own the one and only ‘go-to’ photo studio in PJ called Photo Beauty Light. Apparently, everyone used to go there for graduation and family photos from the 70s onwards!

My friendship with Marilyn has gone back quite a few years as we have traveled together spiritually as Christian sisters through our DUMC cell group. I am really happy to have met Steven when they first started dating, and now to see her get married. Congratulations to the both of you, we love you very much!

Here are the beautiful photos taken by Weiming and Jamie.

20141206_WEDDING_STEVEN_MARILYN_061720141206_WEDDING_STEVEN_MARILYN_0517 Continue Reading

Wedding Video Highlight: Jack & Krystal

It is not just on the wedding day that the team works really hard to shoot all the events. True, after 10 hours of shoot, most of us welcome the bed (and probably book a massage for the day after!). But the reality is, our work is far from complete. After every wedding, our post-production team works as hard, if not, sometimes, harder to create a masterpiece in the studio.

Having worked in the commercial film and TV industry for 6-7 years in the past, I know what it means to be anal about every single frame that goes into a cut. Fortunately for our clients, (but sometimes unfortunately for my editors), this quality of mine extends to our editing room. Every single video edit is checked and approved by myself before it gets sent to the client, even if I wasn’t there physically at that wedding. I believe that a good edit can ‘make or break’ a video. It’s these little hidden things that usually go unseen.

But in the case of Jack and Krystal, we’re really glad they truly appreciate and understand all the hard work that went into creating their wedding video highlight. We’re so pleased that you love our work! Thank you for giving us the opportunity to document these moments for you.

Jack & Krystal’s Story

We met through mutual friends during our time in Cardiff University in 2008 when we were studying for our Bar exams (which is a post-graduate qualifying course for law graduates).  We were course mates first, then friends before we took the final step of becoming a couple. In Law School, we were at the opposite ends of a spectrum. I was hardworking and neurotic about studying and Jack was fun loving and thought I was too bookish.

Through conversations, MSN chats and time spent together, we became friends and Jack developed an interest. I was not ready for a relationship but he earnestly and relentlessly pursued me and in the end, I was moved by his persistence, perseverance and sincerity.

We have been a couple for 4 years and have been through 2 rounds of long distance relationship – once for a period of one year when Jack stayed on to study for his Masters in Law in King’s College, London and another half a year when I was on a work secondment for half a year in Singapore.

As a couple, we have talked briefly about taking our relationship to the next step, but when Jack proposed during a trip home to his hometown in Alor Star, Kedah in the living room of the house he grew up in, I was truly surprised and very touched.

The engagement period and the wedding planning process is an extremely stressful period for any couple, and often this is the period that can make or break a relationship. For us, it was a stressful period, sometimes filled with tensions, tantrums and arguments, but we have always managed to resolve our differences and we have had very few hiccups. This period has forced us to listen, communicate better, find solutions that work and compromise.

We have fallen in love with each other countless times along the way since our first meet in Law School and more importantly, we have also grown in love. Our wedding planning journey has also been filled with many wedding planning breaks which have involved a few weekend trips to spend time together, to ensure that we do not lose sight of the most important part of the wedding and also so that we can return to the planning process with a fresh perspective.

We have had many happy adventures together, but getting married and embarking on a lifetime together will be the greatest and most exciting adventure yet. We cannot wait to spend the rest of our lives together.

Credits:
Videographers: Stories Team – Felicia, Eugene, Nick (day), Salman (night)
Dinner Reception: Intercontinental Hotel, KL
Shoes: White Label by Wedding Isle
Make up & Photography: Lasposa Bridal Gallery
Flowers: Spring Cottage