Weddings

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Weddings

The Wedding of Han How + Lydia

Photographers: Grace & Johan
Location: Trinity Methodist Church, PJ & Renaissance Hotel, KL
Wedding Gown: Pretty in White (white gown) & Love Vision (dinner gown)
Hair & Make up: Shinny Ong
Flowers & Decorations: Elshan Cas Sdn Bhd (church) & Rennaisance Hotel (dinner)
Videography: Nigel Sia

There’s a verse in the Bible that says…

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

If you ever get to know Han How & Lydia, you’ll know that this is one relationship that is strong. It’s strong not just because of the bond of love that glues them together, but because Christ is in the centre of all they do. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Han How and Lydia’s wedding was filled with lots of love, laughter and warmth. The worship session in church was so uplifting and spirit filled, I could not help but sing along as I pressed the shutter button on my camera. Even Johan said that there was something different about this church wedding.

Han How & Lydia, I am so blessed to have been there at your wedding, photographing the both of you. I am always happy to be photographing weddings, but more so when the couple are personal friends of mine. Keep this strand strong between the both of you and God. All the best for the future!

Here are a selection of my favourite images from their wedding.

The heng tais looking pweetty.

They had to go to a coffee shop near Lydia’s home and ask strangers to stick little heart-shaped stickers on their faces…

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Phong & Laura’s Garden Wedding, Kuching

Photographers: Grace & Mark
Wedding Gown: Vera Wang
Make Up: Shu Uemura
Groom’s Attire: Hugo Boss
Flowers & Decorations: Murloch (house) & Four Points Sheraton Hotel (for reception)
Stationery: Banana Greetings
Cake: Amy
Reception: Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Kuching, Sarawak

Phong & Laura’s story felt as if it came directly from a romantic screenplay. The setting: San Francisco.

Laura had traveled to San Francisco to be with her sister, Lisa who worked there. It was during this two month visit that she met Phong, who was Lisa’s colleague. Laura thought he was rather fun to hang out with and so they exchanged contact details and communicated via MSN. Fast forward a few months later, Phong had the opportunity to fly to Indonesia for work.

Perfect timing, as Laura needed another break from work too… and so she flew to Indonesia to visit him. From there, love blossomed and it was the most interesting weekend for her. As fate would have it, one week after he returned to San Francisco, he found out that the company he was working for was relocating to Singapore!

From then on, everything was history – and according to Laura, Phong loves to tell their friends that he flew halfway across the world to be with her.

During the wedding, Phong’s family flew in from Australia & Vietnam – and he was even reunited with family he hadn’t seen in years! I was really excited when Laura told me about this story… and also when she mentioned that her wedding would be held in her family home garden! It’s so meaningful when you say your vows in such a personal environment. There were so many elements that made this wedding a memorable one for me. From the Vietnamese car decorations, to the personalized popcorn box, to the massive trees in the awesomely pink ballroom… everything was just detailed so beautifully.

The other thing that made my heart skip a beat too was Laura’s Vera Wang gown. I instantly thought of the line from the movie Bride Wars… “You don’t alter a Vera Wang to fit you, you alter yourself to fit into a Vera Wang” (something to that effect).

I don’t know how much alteration Laura had to do, but she looked absolutely amazing in that gown that day.

Grace Tan In Church Weddings, Weddings

A Delicious Wedding: Ben & Angela

Photographers: Grace & Johan
Wedding Gown & Shoes: Pretty in White
Groom’s Attire: Jason’s Men Shop
Hair & Make Up: Kim Cheng
Location: Zion Lutheran Church, Brickfields & Delicious, Marc Residence
Decorations: Spring Cottage
Stationery: By bride & groom
Cake: Lim Siew Ee
Entertainment: Isaac Ravi & Debra Nita

29th April 2009…Where it all began…

Ben: We met on April 29^th 2009, when I was asked by a friend to help Angela move her furniture. After moving her out, she offered me a coke and we sat on her empty room floor talking about all sorts of things that you only talk about to long-time friends. She was in home shorts, had her hair tied up, glasses on (and contacts out), non-make-upped, and had a great smile right from the start. Love at first sight! And we were dating 2 months later.

Angela: A young ‘ang-moh’ guy who wore a properly-ironed black shirt and black jeans with a pair of Havaianas flip flops to move a heap of furniture… who does that?! But our friendship clicked instantly. I love talking about life – and he understands the depth of life. I love expressing myself in writing – and his passion is writing. I love knowing someone genuinely – and he allowed me to. That evening, we had Jon Schmidt playing Love Story Meets Viva la Vida (on repeat) in the background as we chatted for about an hour about everything. When he left, I thought, “wow, that was the best conversation I’ve had in years (literally, years!!)” After he left, I thought very much of him, yes!!

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Weddings

Fun & Dong Liang’s wedding

Photographers: Grace, Mark & Weiming
Wedding Kua: Wedding Isle
Evening Gown: Coast (London)
Groom’s chinese suit: Loh Tim Kee
Groom’s evening suit: Smart Master
Hair & Make Up: Lee Kuen
Flowers: Flora Etc
Dinner Banquet: Hee Lai Ton Restaurant

It was Fun’s older brother that brought them together. Dong Liang was young and had just graduated from college in the UK. She decided to work in KL but she didn’t know many people in KL at that time, other than Fun’s brother who was her coursemate. So one weekend while having coffee at KLCC, Dong Liang was introduced to Fun…

Fun’s story:

I was having tea with my friends in KLCC as well when my brother called me and asked me to join them. We then went to a karaoke as a group. I had a good time at the karaoke, and I had a good feeling about her. After the first meeting, I ‘made use’ of my brother’s friendship with her to intentionally meet up with her.

Luckily for Fun, Dong Liang had a good impression on him as well! After that karaoke session, they decided to exchange contact details and made plans to go out as a group again soon after.

Dong Liang’s story:

In the beginning, we were always bickering in front of others. But soon we started going out. And what happened in between is a little hazy, after all it has been almost 10 years! What really brought us together, i feel, was the 4 years we spent in London together. Because there was no family and not many friends there, it felt like all we had were each other. He has been such a great partner and always very supportive of whatever I do. It was then crystal clear to me that he is The One and I’m so lucky to have found him. And then, on my birthday in 2009, he proposed! We had a very long engagement….but now, we’re married!

Fun:

And yes, I love my wonderful wife with all my heart, and I wish to spend the rest of my life with her!

Grace Tan In Malay Weddings, Weddings

Fahrizal & Shirah’s Royal Wedding

Photographers: Grace, Johan, Weiming & Ben
Bride’s Wedding Gown (akad nikah): Wan Zakaria
Bride & Groom’s dinner attire: Calvin Thoo
Make Up: Eric (akad nikah) & Naseeb (dinner)
Cake (nikah): Truly Scrumptious
Videography: RF Media
Dinner Entertainment: Orkestra RTM
Dinner Reception: Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

When Shirah first approached me to enquire about our wedding photography services, it never crossed my mind that I would be photographing my first royalty group photo a few months later. We had a good conversation then… she told me she teaches French in Sri Cempaka school, which amazed me! It was only on her wedding day that I realized she had a YM in front of her name. :)

Fahrizal & Shirah’s story began during their university days in London 9 years ago. They were on different paths of their lives and even though they didn’t show any interest in each other at the time, there was always an underlying chemistry between them.

Here’s Fahrizal & Shirah’s story from her perspective:

After graduating and moving back to KL, we became closer and eventually started dating in 2006. Back and forth dating for over four years and at the end of 2010 we decided it was the right time to get married. Our families were eager for us to be married quickly hence only 5 months preparation till the wedding day in May 2011!

I couldn’t be more delighted with the way the wedding ceremony and reception went – a complete success despite the typical unplanned and last minute difficulties a wedding presents, such as rain! Grace, Johan and the rest of the Stories team were so great in accomodating all of these issues and were incredibly professional in dealing with all the formalities and protocol. The sneak peeks of the photos have been beautiful and I would highly recommend anyone looking for a fun, happy and eager photographer who knows what they’re doing to hire Grace and her team!