Weddings

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

Hindu wedding at Shree Lakshmi Temple: Sunil & Belinda

20140906_WEDDING_SUNIL_BELINDA_MSIA_0282 You’ve seen their Singaporean Chinese wedding ceremony and pre-wedding photos, now, presenting part 2 of their wedding celebration held in KL. The wedding celebration carried on in KL with a sangeet, a prayer & oil ceremony called the santh, and culminated with a colourful Hindu wedding ceremony at Shree Lakshmi temple in KL. This wedding video highlight is one of my favourites this year – I enjoy hearing their stories and seeing two different cultures combine through marriage. With the world becoming more connected globally, inter-racial marriages are the norm.

This wedding is unique for me, because in one day, I get to witness:

A Hindu wedding ceremony that resembles a Punjabi wedding
A Chinese tea ceremony where most of the people being served tea are not Chinese
Families speaking Mandarin in typical Indian wear
A dragon dance during the wedding dinner

Oh, and for the record, it was my last wedding shoot before I took a break to deliver my 2nd child!

Photographers: Grace, Nigel & Diane (wedding day), Weiming & Nigel (sangeet and santh)
Videographers: Nick, Chi Yin & Felicia

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Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, International, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Wedding at North Border, Singapore: Sunil & Belinda

20140830_WEDDING_SUNIL_BELINDA_SINGAPORE_475 It was a rainy evening, and Belinda had just dropped off her brother at the airport in Singapore. As part of her habit, she headed over to her favourite bar of 10 years… Wala Wala, with her best friend Samantha. The bar was crowded as usual, but by chance, Sunil and his friends had 2 seats at their table, and so, out of courtesy (and maybe because these girls were cute!), they offered those seats to them. Striking a conversation was natural, and by the end of the night, Sunil and Belinda had hit it off and even arranged a first date for the next day.

Love at first sight does exist. For Sunil, anyway. During that date, they discovered they both love the same kind of music and band. Belinda bought Sunil 2 double shot Macallan 15 after losing some bets, which totally impressed him! Needless to say, Sunil gave Belinda a lot of attention that evening.

For their second date the very next day, Sunil brought Belinda to Prive (a romantic restaurant by the water), and they had a great time chatting for a good 3 hours. The relationship grew, and soon, they had already dated for 7 months as a couple.

20140830_WEDDING_SUNIL_BELINDA_SINGAPORE_525 Sunil ALWAYS makes Belinda laugh, he always smells good and he can cook. They say, food is a way to a man’s stomach, but it also works for women! Sunil is always feeding Belinda, which she doesn’t complain about! What she loves most about him is that he is extremely filial, calls home everyday and truly cares for his family and friends. He’s always optimistic, genuine and independent. According to Belinda… “I know he will willingly go hungry just so I can be filled! (a metaphor of course)”. Ultimately, he always wants to make her happy.

Sunil proposed to Belinda in Spain early Feb this year, in the oldest restaurant in the world – Botin, after many jugs of Sangria. He took out the ring from his pocket and asked “yes or no?”

Belinda told us… “Would have said no since there’s no kneeling down or flowers or proper question. But I saw the size of the diamond. =) (just kidding)!”

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

Wedding Video Highlight, G Hotel, Penang: Desmond & Elizabeth

You know the saying, “You mess with the bull, you get the horns!”. That, apparently, is Elizabeth’s life’s mantra. I wouldn’t want to get on her blacklist! But as a lawyer of 11 years, I would definitely want her on my team. Realistic and sometimes cynical, she said she can’t help but sometimes be a smart-ass! Elizabeth was born and raised in Indiana, USA. To give her credit, she has a really soft side to her tough exterior… she is an old-fashioned romantic…an extroverted person who loves to make people feel comfortable and at ease. She loves to travel, eat and is totally into sports… more than most guys!

Which are all of Desmond’s favourite activities! Traveling, eating and sports! (Tennis, specifically!). The only other thing in his list is that he adores shopping, but mostly for other people! He is an introvert with extroverted tendencies (not too sure how that works!), is kind, caring, thoughtful and a romantic at heart. Born and bred in Penang, Malaysia, Desmond moved to California when he was 19 for college and medical school.

It was there in the States that they met one night through a mutual friend. It was trivia night, and he came with some colleagues from the hospital. His first impression was that she was easy going and fun to talk to, though he thought that she was a smarty-pants through out the whole night!

Her favorite memory about that evening was when the question “What does the ‘A’ in DNA stand for?” came up and how all the doctors at the table looked at each other and said “acid?”. It made her concerned that the lawyer knew it was “acid” but the doctors were not so sure! Elizabeth is bad with names, so she had ‘labels’ for everyone to help her remember better – there was a ‘guy leaving early’, ‘guy with no sleeves’, ‘Yoba’, and Desmond was apparently the ‘hottie doctor’.

Despite the smarty-pants label, Elizabeth made an impression on Desmond, and so to enlarge his social circle, he asked for her number before leaving (which made her think that he was trying to pick her up!). But I guess she gave him a chance because they started hanging out more often, and the interest kept on growing…and the rest, is history.

Desmond & Elizabeth: Wedding Video Highlights from Stories on Vimeo.

Credits:

Videographers: Nick, Delvin & Ivan
Location: G Hotel, Penang
Photographer: Alex Tan
Wedding Gown: M.H. Pomander’s Bridal, Indianapolis, USA (Designer: Lea-Ann Belter)
Groom’s Attire: Blaine’s Mens Apparel, Ohio, USA (Designer: Canali)
Shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo (Groom) & Nina (Bride)
Make up & hair: Stella Inn International (Leslie Hong)

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Beach Wedding, Avillion, Port Dickson: Nickson & Angel

A beautiful wedding like Nickson and Angel’s deserves to be featured on this blog! (Unfortunately it took us a while to do it!). While I wasn’t there personally to witness the wedding, I do sense the joy on that day by just seeing the images taken by Weiming, Ben and Jamie below. Despite Malaysia’s humid weather, the team loves covering beach weddings, I guess because everyone is in such a relaxed mood when they are next to the sea with the sand beneath their feet. And from what I know, the ais kacang at Avillion Port Dickson is really yummy and diabetes-inducing!

Nickson and Angel are both doctors serving in Kapit Hospital, located in the interiors of Sarawak. I have to admit, I had to google where Kapit was, really! It amazed me that to get to this location, you have to take a 2 hour express boat ride from Sibu along the Rajang river. But their story didn’t actually start from the interiors of Sarawak. Here’s their love story as told by Angel…

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Grace Tan In Indian + Punjabi Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Garden Hindu Wedding, Rasa Sayang, Penang: David & Nandini

Amidst lush, majestic and mature trees just alongside the Batu Feringgi beach, David and Nandini were wed at the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort, Penang. The garden was beautifully decorated for their Hindu wedding ceremony, and all their guests came in traditional Indian attire. It was a tropical treat for David and Nandini’s guests from Ireland, who basked in the sun, witnessed a meaningful wedding ceremony, and enjoyed delicious Indian cuisine. Both Weiming and I were really blessed to have such thoughtful clients who really looked out for our best interests. Even Nandini’s mum made sure I was well fed since I was well into my 2nd trimester of pregnancy by then!

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