Chinese Weddings

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Wedding Films & Videos, Weddings

Wedding Video Highlight: Alex & Nicole

Love Across the Globe by Nicole

Alex and I met during our internship in KL over summer 2009. Contrary to what you’d expect, we did not hit it off immediately. Subsequently we went back to Australia to complete our final semester in our undergraduate studies. He was studying in Canberra, whereas I was in the Sunshine State. What started with an innocent “Hey, it’s been ages, how have you been?” on Facebook (initiated by me *shy*), led to long hours chatting on MSN.

Little did we know, distance would be a constant factor for us. Alex is from Miri whereas I am a KL girl; and he is now working in the South Pacific. When we were studying in Australia, like any lovestruck kids who dot their i’s with hearts and celebrate an anniversary every month, one of us would commute 595 air miles to be with the other every 10 days or so. In between our fortnightly rendezvous, we constantly wrote to each other. Yes, those were the good ol’ days where “you’ve got mail” was in tangible form.

Alex, well, he’s got a head for numbers, and he’s very analytical. Who on earth keeps an IQ puzzle book by his bed anyways? It comes as no surprise that Alex is always deep in thought and may appear to be reserved. Do ask him, “What’s the probability of the sun rising?” FYI, Alex graduated with an Actuarial degree; his best friends in university were Mathematics, Calculus and Probability. I, on the other hand, am right-brain dominant. You may call me Miss Scatterbrain. I tend to think or shift from one thought to another so fast that I confuse the person I am speaking to. Although that sometimes gets to Alex, I have to give it to him, he reads me like a book. Sometimes, I find the most ordinary and common things to be extraordinarily funny, which really puzzles Alex. But I’d like to think that I enjoy the lighter side of life. Another point in my favour- I am definitely better at reading maps and navigating my way around; Alex would be hopeless without me in that respect!

Despite our difference, Alex and I balance each other out. Alex is the anchor that keeps me on the ground, while I lighten up his heart.

The Wedding Shoot

The videography team from Stories traveled to Miri, Sarawak for Alex and Nicole’s wedding day. It was the first time our team had shot in Miri! The day started bright and early at 6am. What was special about the day were the heartfelt messages that were exchanged between Alex and Nicole on their wedding day, and also the notes on embroidered handkerchiefs that Nicole wrote to her parents. We also love the little details that went into the wedding, like the badges Alex had to wear as he went through the challenges to get his bride.

Credits:

Videographers & SDE: Stories.my (Joshua, Nick & Carl)
Photographers: Kid Chan Studio
Dinner Reception: Imperial Hotel, Miri, Sarawak
Wedding Gown: Lasposa Bridal Gallery
Groom’s Attire: Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Mohan Executive Tailor
Make-up: Michelle Song, Perfect Stage Make Up Miri
Bridal Bouquet: Wishing Tree

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Testimonials, Wedding Films & Videos, Weddings

A blend of cultures: Roy & Pek Yee

It was an epic wedding – full of wonderful moments that will be etched in my mind forever. Roy’s humour brightens the day and keeps us entertained while Pek Yee’s infectious (loud) laughter reminds me of my childhood friends who are equally boisterous. The wedding was split to 2 days… the first half was the Chinese wedding ceremony in KL, followed by a beach wedding at the colonial-looking Danna, Langkawi. Seriously, I consider this a 6-star wedding…not just because of the gorgeous location and beautiful decorations that adorned the venue, but because it had all the elements that made it special – a superb couple that was so easy to click with, really fun guests who made the party happening, and family members who treated us like… family. Most of the decorations were done by Roy and Pek’s friends and family members… amazing flower decorations by Pek’s aunt June and stationery by her friend Hooi Yee.

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Through out my stay at The Danna, my team were treated so well by the staff there. I appreciate it that they didn’t see us as merely vendors, and saw to our every need, making sure we had water to drink all the time, made sure we had a decent place to have our meals, brought us cutlery and even offered us home made butter when it wasn’t necessary! Needless to say, the team ate well and slept really really well the night before and after the wedding, which made us really happy campers!

I love it how Roy and Pek Yee blend so easily into each other’s culture. Swiss and Malaysian cultures are worlds apart, yet, they seem so at home with each other, and even speaking a little of each other’s language. Roy’s Mandarin is definitely better than mine, since I am a pure ‘banana’ as how Malaysians would put it (yellow on the outside, white on the inside – someone whose first language is English).

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So, they met in Shanghai, China about 3 years ago… and here’s how the story goes…

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From tears to laughter: Philip & Su Lin

The best weddings are those that cause you to either burst into tears or hysterical laughter. Just the energy of the day is enough to turn any sleep-deprived bride into one that is running purely on adrenaline. I love weddings like these. Weddings that exude so much joy and feeling, it makes me smile like a silly girl behind her camera. I loved Philip and Su Lin’s wedding because it just made me feel so alive (despite that silly flu I was suffering from!).

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From the word go, everything went beautifully. Philip and Su Lin, you are so loved by your friends and family. I can just see it. The word fun just exudes from the relationships you share with the people around you. Thank you for being so caring and thoughtful, especially when I couldn’t shoot the dinner event because I was too ill to continue.

May you enjoy years of cherished moments together as a couple and with the people that mean the most to you in life.

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Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Beach Wedding, Andaman: John & Tiffany

He was there to attend his ex-roommate’s birthday party. She was fashionably late. A stranger to John. But the moment she walked through that door, his heart literally dropped. John had no idea who she was, how she was related to the birthday girl or what ethnicity she was, but all he knew was that he HAD to meet this girl. Throughout the night, he tried to be as close as possible to her so he could initiate conversation with this mystery girl. That was all he needed to motivate himself to ask her out on a date the next morning, at 6am when he got home!

Over the next few months, they went on numerous dates, but though they were really comfortable with each other, John never worked up the nerve to hold her hand till 4 months later. But after he started, he knew, from that day onwards, he could never let go of her hands.

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I only met John and Tiffany on the day of their wedding. They had flown all the way from the US to be wed at The Andaman, Langkawi. Some of their family members came from Hong Kong to witness the ceremony. When I walked into the room, Tiffany said to me, “Tell us if you need anything…Do whatever you need to get the shots.”

Yes! To me, that was like a free ticket to move furniture in order to get better photos, and the freedom to control timing so that I can give them the best possible coverage in the time we have together.

That day, I witnessed one of the most amazing sunsets I had ever seen in Langkawi. John and Tiffany, the day couldn’t have gone any better. Enjoy the wedding video highlight below, and the photos in this post!

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Weddings

Church Wedding: Rayson & Yee See

I do wish we could feature every single wedding or portrait that we have ever photographed or filmed on this blog, but I know that it’s just feasibly not possible! In between shoots, managing enquiries, meeting potential clients and replying emails, there’s just so little time left. Throw into that equation, work-life balance – trying to bring my little 6 month old for swimming classes, shopping for groceries, going to church, and actually having a life… I suddenly realize that half a year has passed! Recently, the Integricity family (FYI to those who are not aware, Stories is part of a larger group of companies) went on a company holiday to Phuket! More on that later!

So phew, back to Rayson and Yee See. I first met Rayson years ago when we were working on a corporate project together that required our animation services. That was the vague image that I have in my mind. I could have met him through another friend, but that’s how most friendships are… after a while, it takes a bit of memory-jogging to try and recall the finer details.

So Rayson and Yee See were married this February. Their wedding was photographed by Johan and Weiming (I was on maternity leave then!). Though it’s been a few months since their wedding, I’d like to share these images from their church wedding and their story with you.

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Excerpt from their wedding blog:

He says…

It was only 4 years ago that I met Yee See. It was not love at first sight as most tend to believe. We met at my ex-college mate’ bridal party meeting. I remembered the first time I saw her… it wasn’t a very flattering picture, oily skin, messy hair, runny nose and not to mention the weird dressing.

Totally not my type.

We were paired up pretty quickly for the wedding dance practices. I remembered the awkward moments when we held hands. I thought,

“This girl… dunno how to hold hands… never had a boy friend before issit? -_-”

It wasn’t until a couple of more dance practices that she opened up a bit. I could see that she was starting to feel a lot more comfortable, but still, we didn’t talk much. I thought the epic age gap was to be blamed as there wasn’t anything much that we could talk about. If you’re looking for any chemistry at this point in time, there’s zero. Besides, I wasn’t interested in her romantically. Well, not yet at least.

I thought to myself, there’s no way am I going to go out with this girl even if there was any slight interest. It’s just impossible and of course, not practical. We’re talking about a 7 years age gap here. Pretty scandalous to date a college kid, won’t you say?

Who knew that God had an awesome plan for the both of us.

After the wedding, we kept in touch through Skype, Facebook and Twitter. It wasn’t until she followed me on Twitter that I got interested. I mean, back there not many people heard of Twitter.

That piqued my interest a little.

I also got to know how close she is with her dad and the amazing relationship they have.

That piqued my interest a little more.

Off and on we’ll be in contact over the phone, SMS, Skype … but most of the time she would be the one initiating them. Well, I was only interested in being friends, nothing more.

There was this one occasion that I was driving out for a meeting and I got an SMS from her saying that she had prayed for me. That action was all it took for me to decide that this girl was worth pursuing.

God really opened by eyes. I began to see her differently. I think she prayed very hard hahahahaha … Seriously, everything about her suddenly became attractive. Things that I’ve never noticed, I’ve began to notice. Everything that I had secretly prayed for in a life partner was in front of me all along.

We’ve had our ups and downs, but every experience was worth it. Looking back, I could had missed this girl, glad I didn’t.

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