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!

Grace Tan In International, Musings, Outdoor Weddings, Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits, Running a Business, Weddings

Updates, thoughts on business and time

One of my clients recently asked me, how do I find the time to blog, especially when my days are filled with meeting potential clients, going for shoots, sorting photos, checking through album layouts and responding to enquiries? (and on top of that, move house, move office and actually have a social life?)

My response is simple… I make time for it.

When I think back about it, I am amazed as well. Of course, there are days when I am overwhelmed with the workload. Since I started running my own business 3-4 years ago, I discovered that time is such an important asset. Everyday is a rush to complete the backlog of work that somehow manages to miraculously pile itself on my desk. Before I know it, a day has gone by, a week, a month, a year… where did the time go?

I am still learning the art of prioritizing my time. There are certain things I know I need to do, and those things are high on my priority list. Blogging is one of them. I feel it’s so important to have fresh content on the Stories blog, that no matter how busy I am, I must make time to blog. In my mind, blogging = marketing the Stories brand. How can I neglect something as important as marketing?

So yeah… I make time for it.

Here’s a simple update to what’s been happening the past one week:

Noel & Hui Yi’s pre-wedding shoot in Putrajaya

I love Pullman hotel for pre-wedding photography. The ambience is beautiful!

Kevin & Katherine’s pre-wedding shoot in Nikoi Island, off Bintan, Indonesia

With an amazing beach like this, you can’t help but feel soooo blessed at having a job that brings you places.

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Malay Weddings, Weddings

May Weddings

May has been a busy month for the Stories team. There’s just so much to share but I haven’t had time to organize my thoughts into a blog post! So here’s a quick summary of the most recent weddings that we photographed in May. Congratulations to all of you!

20th May – Fahrizal & Shirah

21st May – Fun & Dong Liang

28th May – Ben & Angela (by the way, this is one of the largest group photos I’ve ever photographed)

This week and part of next week, I’ll be away in Singapore, Nikoi Island (an island near Bintan, Indonesia) and Kuching, Sarawak. Do keep in touch via Facebook or Twitter!

Mark Leo In Chinese Weddings, Weddings

The Wedding of Gary & Mun Hin

Photographers: Mark & Johan
Hair, Make Up, Wedding Gown & Groom’s Attire: Just Married
Decorations: Memories DeWedding
Videography: Istudio Productions
Dinner Entertainment: Happy Fish Productions
Dinner Reception: HGH Convention Centre, KL

While Grace was in Australia shooting Jamie & Ann’s wedding, Johan and I were in Malaysia at Gary & Mun Hin’s wedding. Shooting weddings brings a lot of blessings because as photographers we get to know our couples and this time it was a great blessing knowing both Gary and Mun Hin. As doctors (yes they are both doctors), I initially felt intimidated by two professionals but after meeting them, everything seemed to turned better than fine, it was amazing!

Gary met Mun Hin while they were studying and things just blossomed. Here’s their story from Mun Hin’s perspective…

We met each other during 1st year of medical school. During the orientation, my mom was the one to introduce me to him! Of course, we didn’t jump straight into the bandwagon, we became friends at first and then it got quite lonely when you’re away from family (haha!) and one thing led to another and we started dating. When i first saw him i thought he he was quite handsome and got attracted to him.

One thing interesting that happened when we were studying in India was that me and my housemate bought a scooter because EVERYONE owned a bike, and he tried to bring me one day on the scooter but instead got into an accident which required stitches at some places and after that, I was the one to bring him all around town on the bike for 2 ½ years.

We then went on to graduate together and also worked in the same hospital for about a year. So, altogether we’ve been in a relationship for about 7 years. Fast forward, to 2011, we are now getting hitched!

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

DIY Wedding, Sails on the Bay, Melbourne: Jamie & Ann

Photographers: Grace & Alex
Location: Sails on the Bay, Melbourne
Decorations: Ann, Jamie, friends and family who laboriously worked on it

One week after Jamie & Ann’s beautiful chapel wedding in the Gold Coast, Alex and I traveled to Melbourne for her next wedding celebration. It was held at Sails on the Bay, very near Brighton beach (which I later managed to have a peek at… and did some of my own posing in front of those famous colourful Brighton beach houses). The amazing thing about this wedding in Melbourne was that everything was DIY – well, everything except the food and cake. So be prepared for a huge post on details!

Look at this gorgeous venue. I love it how the pre-wedding, wedding in Gold Coast and now Melbourne had a beach theme running through it. Sigh, I wish Malaysian skies looked this good!

Do these flowers and vases look familiar? They were used during the pre-wedding too! All the decorations you see at this wedding were a labour of love. Even Ann’s parents had a hand in it, cutting fresh flowers to put into the vases that Ann purchased before the wedding.