Weddings

Mark Leo In Bangladeshi Weddings, International, Weddings

A Bangladeshi Wedding: Nabil & Maisha’s Walima

The final post from Nabil & Maisha’s wedding – the walima. It’s the event where the men come dressed in their best suits, guests dine and enjoy each other’s company.

When you have such beautiful weather (I love the cool weather!) and out in the open, the entire place decked with gorgeous decoration and my absolute favourite, fairy lights, a seemingly normal venue is turned into one that is just beautiful and magical. Nabil and Maisha did such a great job with the wedding. I did say that the weather was cold, because Andrew was really freezing through the night. But me, I just love the weather and the idea of having little pits of fire burning where guests could just go and stand by them to keep warm.

So much attention was paid to the little details, the decorations for each place setting for guests, the cut out pieces of butterflies, the colour scheme of the tents, the waterfall behind the bride and the groom and all down to the choices of flowers and stage decorations. It was truly a sight to behold.

Check out the customized tag on the Giorgio Armani suit.

Grace Tan In Bangladeshi Weddings, International, Weddings

A Bangladeshi Wedding: Nabil & Maisha

Photographers: Mark & Andrew
Bride’s Wedding Outfit: Ritu Kumar
Make Up: Lopa, Farzana Shakil and Dreams
Location: Shenakunjo, Dhaka, Bangladesh

They’ve been childhood sweethearts since the 5th grade. Nabil used to walk past Maisha’s class just to look at her. She knew. Whenever he came by, she would glance his way. Phone conversations after phone conversations led to the start of a deep friendship. A friendship that lasted through the years. Their love blossomed which eventually led to a surprise midnight proposal to Maisha at the Bashundhara lakeside. Nabil presented her a carton full of love letters, gifts and memoirs from their childhood. It’s like a fairy tale come true.

And on the 8th of January 2011, Nabil and Maisha sealed their love for each other in a grand wedding ceremony.

Grace Tan In Bangladeshi Weddings, International, Weddings

A Bangladeshi Wedding: Maisha’s Mehndi

Photographers: Mark and Andrew

It’s time I continued this series on Nabil and Maisha’s wedding. There’s just so much to share from their wedding that I have to put it in a few blog posts!

By the time Maisha’s mehndi rolled around, Alex and I had to travel back to Malaysia to cover another wedding. It was a really hectic week for me! I was just recuperating from my food poisoning and all that traveling made me a little tired. But it was really wonderful getting to know Nabil and Maisha, and experiencing the hospitality they extended to us. We were treated so well, like family. Not to be left out, Alex, Andrew and I participated in their holudh too… And our final photo with Nabil and Maisha before we left Dhaka.

The day we flew off, Mark landed in Dhaka. A new chapter began… so the following blog posts and images were entirely taken by Mark and Andrew.

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Weddings

A Majestic Affair: Vincent & Jen’s wedding

Photographers: Mark & Johan
Location: The Majestic, Malacca

How it all began…

Jen: We met through the AIESEC traineeship programme back in 2003 when I left Malaysia for Belgium. Vincent was the person in charge of my traineeship integration in Belgium. He was the one who helped me throughout the beginning with all the required paperwork. Over time, we got closer to each other and started dating 3 months later.

Vincent is an intelligent, calm and composed person. I sometimes get impatient more easily than him, as my behaviour is quite the opposite! I believe that I learnt to be calmer over time because of him. I never felt that we are from different parts of the world. It feels like we belong together and managed to complement each other in every way. And the most important thing of all… he always makes me laugh and feel secure.

Vincent: My first impression about Jen was that she is a serious girl, but also very beautiful. I never saw any difference between her Malaysian and my Belgian’s stomach. We have always been able to eat each other’s food and complement each other. It’s a thing we do on every aspect of our lives… I made the right move!

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Grace Tan In Bangladeshi Weddings, International, Weddings

A Bangladeshi Wedding: Nabil’s Holudh

Photographers: Grace, Andrew & Alex

I am blessed to have such a great team with me during this shoot. A day before Nabil’s holudh, I came down with food poisoning. It was really difficult to look cheerful during the shoot and the next minute, run to the toilet while trying to make sure I don’t drop my camera with all my stomach spasms. Thank God I made it through… goes to show that photographers never ‘really’ get a break during shoots, even if you are ill! So I thank God for Alex and Andrew who was there for me.

Nabil’s holudh was held at a completely different location this time round – it was at the Army Golf Club in Dhaka. As always, I am awed at the way a simple hall was made into a beautiful location with these gorgeous lights.