Weddings

Weiming In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Testimonials, Wedding Films & Videos, Weddings

Church Wedding: Justin & Audrey

Years ago, when I was still a student at Multimedia University, Melaka, I heard about Justin from the MMU Christian Fellowship where he used to be president. Since I was in a band too at that time, I particularly noticed that Justin was in a band (named PG165) together with Vijay (whose wedding we also photographed!). I also heard about Audrey then, as she was the president of CF MMU, based in Cyberjaya.

So 2 presidents from 2 Christian Fellowships, from the same university ended up marrying each other. Despite it being a half day event, it was a big privilege that Johan and I got to document their wedding. I could feel the strong emotion and genuine love they have for each other on their wedding day. And that made it one of my favourite weddings by far.

The wedding was not entirely about themselves but also about their families whom they really love and care for, friends that spent the entire night lending them a helping hand to decorate the church and also about God. What touched me was that they honoured and gave thanks to God for He had handpicked and brought them together. I particularly love the part where Audrey said she sees God in her parents’ lives and wants to be like them.

On behalf of the Stories team we wish both of you much joy, happiness and excitement on your journey together!

– Weiming –

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits, Weddings

Stephen & Andrea: Portraits & A Wedding at Rasa Sayang Resort, Penang

Since most of our clients live overseas, it’s common for us to only meet the day before the wedding or on the wedding day itself. Sometimes, you don’t really know if you can jive with a client until you actually speak to them face to face. With Stephen (also known as Steve) and Andrea, we clicked the moment Mark and I met them for the first time that morning in E&O Hotel, Penang. They had dedicated the whole morning for portraits around Penang island which was an awesome idea to me! It was a pretty relaxing day as they had already said their vows in Australia before the Penang wedding.

Stephen and Andrea met in very exciting circumstances, at an accounting course in the University of Melbourne! After getting to know each other as friends, they took the plunge and started dating, and the rest as they say, is history. Having been together for 9 years before getting married, they took their time…but probably also because they were distracted with everything else.

Their love of food connected them together and the joy of trying new places and cooking delicious meals in the kitchen became a passion for the both of them. (seems like a typically Malaysian thing to do to me!) They also love traveling and make it a point to have a holiday at least once a year. So far, they have made their way through Spain, Morocco, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong, Hawaii, France, Thailand, with more to come. They are proud parents of a not-so-little cat called Chester who rules their house and often thinks he’s a dog child. He shows them affection by cuddling on their laps and curling up around their heads when they sleep. Anyone who loves food, traveling, and cats is definitely a friend of mine! :)

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Musings, Outdoor Weddings, Tips + Ideas, Weddings

Danny & Jennifer: A beach wedding in Avillion, Port Dickson

Distance.

That’s the key word to describe Danny and Jennifer’s first year together as a couple. It’s also a running theme for their wedding day, as we had to travel many kilometres to go from one location to another. Danny started the day at his home in KL, while Jennifer got ready in Seremban. Together with his heng dais, they traveled the distance to pick Jennifer up, and then headed back to KL for the tea ceremony. Immediately after, everyone departed KL and headed south again, this time to Port Dickson for their beach ceremony.

But that distance doesn’t compare to the one year they spent traveling back and forth from Malacca to KL. They were physically apart, with Jenn working in KL and him in Malacca, completing his final year as a student. It was a tough journey, as they each led separate lives (one working, the other studying), finding it difficult to spend time or even meet up with each other but they never gave up.

Back track 8 years ago… to when their story first began in 2003. They met on the very first day of uni in MMU, placed in the same orientation group. It was not a typical ‘love at first sight’ story.

Danny & Jenn’s story as written by Danny

In 2007, after Jenn graduated, we began writing our love story. How did we go on a first date? We both loved spaghetti carbonara, that’s why we had our first date to try out the delicious carbonara at The Noodle Bar, Melaka. That first year was a really tough year but once I graduated, I worked in KL which allowed us to grow our love and bring our relationship even further.

After 3 years together, we decided to take a big step in our life – to buy a house together. We wanted to spend the rest of our life together, build a beautiful home, and to have our own family. When she least expected it, I proposed. Jenn always wondered if I would ever propose because I was never a romantic person, and always say there’s no need to propose.

Buy house = no proposal = get married straight.

On 01/01/11, I surprised her with 99 red roses and a diamond ring. I got down on my knees to propose and of course, she agreed.

Grace Tan In Church Weddings, Testimonials, Weddings

Vijay & Stefanie’s Emotionally Charged Wedding

Most couples about to be married, fuss and fret over many details that organizing a wedding would bring. Fancy decorations and gorgeous gowns aside, all it takes to make a wedding absolutely memorable is the love shared between the couple, family & friends. I must say that this was one of the most touching weddings I have ever photographed. And it wasn’t only because Vijay and Stefanie committed to marry each other even with a mere RM1,000 in their bank account. Ultimately, it is a story of love and faith… faith in God that He would provide for their every need, down to the last detail.

Their story (as written by Stefanie):

Vijay and I first got to know each other in Multimedia University Christian Fellowship (MMUCF) in 2003. We started dating in 2005 and in December 2010, Vijay proposed to me. While all our friends and family had pretty much expected us to get married to each other at some point in our lives, few people truly realized what a big step this was for us. While most people would have been saving money for years with a house on the side, we started wedding planning with only RM1000 in our bank accounts with no other financial support. Crazy? You bet! However, we both believed and trusted in a loving Father God who gave us several promises that He would provide for our wedding and our married life.

In the course of our eleven months preparations, we faced several financial and personal obstacles but we kept praying and trusting in God to bring us through. Many times, we were challenged by God to give towards our church’s (Acts Church) building funds while maintaining our regular tithes to church. Yet, we always had enough to survive and contribute to our own wedding fund.

Despite the overwhelming odds, God’s faithfulness prevailed and 2011 proved to be a year of miracles and breakthroughs. I changed my job and my pay increased significantly. Vijay, who works as a pharmaceutical salesman, achieved every single quarterly sales during our entire engagement period. Our salaries and incentives, combined with several surprise gifts or opportunities enabled us to pay off our wedding. Amazingly, none of our wedding expenses were paid on credit but were always paid in cash. God always provided the money when it was most needed. God even provided a beautiful house at half the normal rental price and provided the furniture to furnish it. God’s faithfulness was evident in every part of our wedding!

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Testimonials, Weddings

The Wedding of Saw Wen & De Way

Happy Chinese New Year to all my friends and clients who have become like family! I am truly sorry for the lack of blog updates the past few weeks. Every time I think of starting a blog post, 5 million other things call out my name. Not to mention I am now a few months late in terms of blogging some weddings. I am rather tempted to just start afresh and share from the last wedding I shot… which I might do in the next few weeks. So don’t be surprised if the weddings are not in sequence.

I hope you are having a great time with your family members this Chinese New Year, and for those who are not celebrating, hope you are having a good holiday. I want to kick off the dragon year by sharing the wedding of Saw Wen & De Way.

Now, Saw Wen & De Way had come to enquire about our services more than a year before their wedding. At that time, my business was just starting to bloom, and I was stoked that someone wanted to book us that far ahead.

Saw Wen & De Way’s story started 11 years ago while they were still in school, meeting at the sweet ripe age of 16.

That girl in the Calvin & Hobbes t-shirt

De Way: I remember, 3 girls. That was in a tuition class for Bahasa Melayu when I was in Form 4. 3 fine looking girls from SMK Seafield, 1 tall, 1 pretty and 1 nerdy. Fast forward to SPM year, I noticed her. She was generally louder than other students during class, gave opinions when not asked for, irritatingly completed the teacher’s sentences every now and then etc. Oh yes, she wore a Calvin & Hobbes t-shirt to class, just like me.

Saw Wen: De Way was a perpetual sleepy head and seemed like the quiet type. At the beginning, we hardly spoke to each other until form 5. We got to know each other better during our after BM tuition yum cha sessions, went cycling and hung out in a nearby park together with a bunch of friends. As the months went by, I found De Way to be charming and had such “beautiful eyes”. He made me laugh (he still does) and I found myself to be falling for this guy.

De Way: She used to tell her stories when we met at a mamak for drinks after tuition. This went on for a while and it felt normal spending time with a girl, no special feelings I dare say. Then, one fateful rainy evening, I had to send her home with my bicycle, with her holding the umbrella. That was when something felt odd…good but odd. Since that day, I made it a point to accompany her home after our mamak session.