Weddings

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

A Majestic Wedding: Andrew & Katrina

So let’s kick off the first blog post of 2016 with an epic wedding! We’ve been through a lot together. A pre-wedding shoot in KL & Singapore, two weekends of weddings in KL and a wedding in Phuket. What a journey! Definitely one of the most memorable weddings for me in 2015… Andrew & Katrina’s energy and laughter is infectious. I love just being around them, you can’t help but feel as if you have to laugh a little louder, dance a little more, and hug another person. I am also so grateful to have built a friendship with this amazing couple.

Their wedding was truly a majestic affair. Please be warned, I am terrible at cutting down the number of images for a blog post, so it might take a while to load! Here are some of the images from the first two wedding events in KL… their ROM, church wedding ceremony at St Thomas More and dinner reception at The Majestic. Even the haze was not a deterrent to the couple (we got shots like the one below thanks to it!). It was all beautifully decorated and planned by the Mint Events & Soirées’ team. One other amazing detail is that Katrina designed her wedding and evening gown herself! Check out her Facebook page, Wilka.

20151003_ROM_ANDREW_KATRINA_314 Here’s what Katrina had to say about the wedding planning process:

Stories.my & Mint Events made my wedding dream come true. Inspirations and ideas that came in the wedding planning process appeared as and when I thought of something, which was a constant thing throughout the year. I was doing a lot of research, surfing the net looking at so many images and references. Pinterest was my best friend. Do manage yours and everyone’s expectations… it’s YOUR wedding, not THEIRS. Trust your photography and video team (ahem…Stories)… have fun, let go, respect our elders.

The Stories team have been amazeballs from the get go. Somehow, when we were shopping for a vendor, Stories was the first one we met with, and though we had other companies to check out, I knew I wanted them to be the officials to capture the most important moments of our lives. Grace and her team have been very accommodating, professional, efficient, understanding, considerate and reasonable. But most important of all, they were able to capture the brief accurately, and brought our wedding to life that went way beyond my expectations. We are in awe and till today cannot believe how beautifully done all our photos, videos and sideshows are. Makes us tear every time we look at them. We always felt comfortable and relaxed with the Stories team. Like we were family. We laughed and had fun together. We love Stories!

Watch their fusion photo and video slideshow here. It was presented on the night of the dinner reception itself.

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

Wedding of Wei Zhen & Jaclyn

Sumo. That just about sums up the fun session Wei Zhen and his heng tais had while getting to Jaclyn at her residence. I was just so tickled at this giant ‘blow-up’ sumo outfit that the guys had to use and dance to! (You HAVE to watch the video above). It was lots of great fun. Jaclyn looked stunning in her Vera Wang gown and Christian Louboutin shoes. Her attention to detail was just amazing at this wedding. Lots of little finishing touches, including the Lego representative of the both of them in front of the Sydney Opera House. Here’s a glimpse into their lives as they share their story with us.

Their Story

Jaclyn’s Account: The first time I met Wei Zhen was in primary school. We were in the same school and tuition class for 3 years but unfortunately due to Wei Zhen’s short memory span, he doesn’t remember anything. We briefly met again at a dinner with a group of friends right after we graduated from university (with pictures as proof) and again Wei Zhen doesn’t remember either. He finally realises the presence of his soon-to-be wife 16 years later in a ‘lovely’ (notice my sarcasm here) suburb of Sydney known as Woolloomooloo (it is Sydney’s Red Light District btw). He claimed that he had been trying to go after me for a year but I didn’t notice (revenge for not remembering me for more than 16 years). So now I am stuck with him for the next 16 years (or more) of my life haha!

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Wei Zhen’s Account: It was love at first sight when I first met Jaclyn at my “lovely” apartment at Woolloomooloo. We were introduced by two of our very close friends, Chun Yang and Siau Yun. Going after Jaclyn requires careful and meticulous planning. Winning Jaclyn’s heart is a gradual process. I asked Jaclyn out for dinner, but the response was neutral. I tried the “what about us going for coffee together” trick, the response was also neutral. OK, I have to up my game on this, as I’m going nowhere. I bought an ice cream maker and decided to “test” it at Jaclyn’s place. She said yes, and invited me over to her place. My initial thoughts: YES LA, SCORED. Turned out, as soon as I entered Jaclyn’s apartment, her best friend emerged from behind and went, HI GUYS! Nevertheless, 1 year later, I succeeded. I finally sealed the deal by buying her 2 chocolate tarts from her favourite bakery. Everything else is history, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with the woman I love: Jaclyn Goh.

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Grace Tan In Indian + Punjabi Weddings, Wedding Films & Videos, Weddings

A Ceylonese & Malayalee Wedding: Vijay & Anuja

20150829_WEDDING_VIJAY_ANUJA_0864 It was Vijay’s tall frame with his broad shoulders that caught Anuja’s attention. They were studying their A-levels at the Methodist College Kuala Lumpur, and it was somehow fate that connected Vijay and Anuja together. Fate that came through the hands of Thanuja, Anuja’s twin sister. She was the best of friends with Vijay, and through her, Anuja got to know Vijay. According to Vijay, “Somehow, Anuja caught my attention as she was the lesser evil, quiet and quite shy!” (insert cheeky emoticon!)

Ten years later, they tied the knot.

Anuja said, “We wanted a traditional Southern Indian wedding (I a Malayalee and him being Ceylonese) that was celebrated in private with close family and friends. For the temple decorations, I wanted jasmine and marigold with a peach and gold cream colour so we worked around that theme with my wedding planner. For the reception, it was dark red roses with white hues.

Ensure you do your research before hand. We did ours at least one year prior to our wedding and knew what we wanted and where we would and would NOT compromise in terms of cost. For eg ,we booked our wedding venues a year before the wedding as to avoid the GST that was to be implemented April 2015. We had friends and relatives all over the world that came for our wedding- London, Australia, Bali, USA, Spain, Mauritius, New Zealand – so ensure you spend quality time with your family and loved ones and enjoy every moment! It is, after all, once in a lifetime!

Practicing the Viennese waltz (first dance as husband -wife) from scratch one week before our wedding reception was the highlight of the wedding for me. We did a crash course but it was really fun and allowed the both of us some personal time and a breather from the crazy wedding preparations.”

20150829_WEDDING_VIJAY_ANUJA_0002 What a fun wedding it was. Have a look at their wedding video highlights and you’ll see what we mean!

Grace Tan In For Photographers, International, Life, Musings, Wedding Films & Videos, Weddings

Two Middle-Eastern Weddings

libyan-wedding01 Traditional Libyan wedding outfit

A few months ago, I was approached to photograph two very interesting weddings. Both were Middle Eastern weddings and required an all-female photography and videography team here in Kuala Lumpur. Since I love a challenge (despite not speaking Arabic) and have always been fascinated with Middle Eastern culture (I’ve read lots of biographies especially of women living in this region), I decided it would be wonderful if I could photograph these weddings! Somehow, I gained favour in the eyes of the couples, and my team was engaged to cover their events.

The first couple was from Yemen. They were originally meant to be wed in their home country, but because of the civil war that is still ongoing, they had to move their wedding to Malaysia. Up to one week before the wedding, they weren’t sure if their family could come for the wedding as the Yemen airport was closed due to unrest. Thankfully, the couple had already left Yemen by then, and were sure that at least they would be there to attend their own wedding! This couple have known each other for a few months before getting married.

yemeni-wedding03 The second couple was from Libya. I really had a tough time communicating in English for this wedding but thankfully, even though I couldn’t understand their verbal language, I understood universal body language! I found out that this couple have only known each other for 2 months and that the groom worked with the bride’s father.

One common theme during the two weddings were the separation of gender during the parties. I knew that it would happen, but I never understood how it would unfold on the wedding day. Interestingly, both cultures had different standings on how strict they were on allowing men to view them unveiled. I am not sure if it was specific to these families, or it was a cultural thing. The Yemeni family I photographed was particularly strict about this, so there were two grand entrances (one with the bride only to a roomful of unveiled women), and then the bride and groom to the same room of women who covered themselves again before the groom entered the room. There was a lot of cheering, clapping and singing as the couple made their entrance. Many of the women who were at the Yemeni party specifically told us not to photograph or film them, so it felt a little strange for me to mainly focus on the couple during the wedding. Naturally, I had to respect their wishes but it was not possible to completely ignore all guests! (one lady specifically made me delete her photo from my camera when she saw that I had photographed her). I found it challenging knowing who I could photograph and who I couldn’t.

However, at the Libyan wedding, the guests kept on asking for photos (repeatedly and in many different poses)! It was quite entertaining, really! Continue Reading

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Garden Wedding at Rasa Ria, Kota Kinabalu: Daniel & Evonne

We felt welcomed, just like family. Ever since the day I met Evonne, we just clicked. It’s one of those weddings that you’ll remember for a very long time. When I look at Daniel and Evonne, I am reminded that marriage is a covenant of love, strongly bonded together not just by their love for one another, but also by their love for God. I am reminded that kindness is a virtue we should always have… because it goes a long way in making other people feel like a friend and not just a vendor. I am also reminded that we sometimes have to make selfless decisions and think of others even though most people’s instinct would be to do everything their own way, just because it’s ‘their wedding’.

Daniel and Evonne’s wedding was held on the lush gardens of Shangri-la Rasa Ria Resort & Spa, Kota Kinabalu, overlooking the sea. Gorgeous floral arches and lots of little finishing touches by the Mint Events & Soirees’ team made this wedding so pretty to look at, and totally instagram-worthy. When Jamie and I flew over from KL to KK, we were worried about the haze, but thank God it was a great, clear day! (and I got sunburnt!).

This wedding was also quite emotional because Evonne made it a point to leave two empty seats for her sister Elaine and boyfriend Emiel who passed away in the MH17 crash over Ukraine last year. Daniel and Evonne, thank you for giving us this privilege of capturing moments for you. Lots of love and hugs from Jamie and I.

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