Wedding Films & Videos

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits, Wedding Films & Videos

Styled Modern & Minimalist Post-Wedding Shoot: Faisal & Aggie

“Fill my heart with song, and let me sing for ever more; you are all I long for, all I worship and adore”
― Frank Sinatra

The inspiration for the shoot came from the location itself, Glamz at Genting. As a new venue with interesting dome like structures and glamping facilities surrounded by scenic mountain views, we were excited to create this styled shoot after the contest with Stories.my & The Wedding Scoop ended. Together with Pretty Little Things, we came up with the idea of a modern, simple styled shoot with a tinge of boho. We wanted to combine glamour with the outdoors. Simplicity with a touch of rawness. The flowers were beautifully designed by Bloom2u. We especially love the bouquet with the unique protea cynaroides flower decorated with eucalyptus silver dollar, eucalyptus baby blue, silver leaves, eucalyptus tetragonia, eryngium, leucospermum and foliages. Pretty Little Things worked together with Bloom2u to come up with a complete styled look for the shoot.

The elegant wedding gown was provided by That White Dress and the look was made complete with hair & make up from SuyenPang Artistry. The end result was inspiring, and made our job as photographers and videographers easy! When we contacted the winning couple, Faisal and Aggie and got to know them better, we realised that they fit the whole theme perfectly. The both of them work in the creative industry, with Faisal owning his own video production company and Aggie as a copywriter in an advertising agency. Individually, they are uniquely different – Aggie is a fitness junkie (she is a part time boxing instructor!), a meticulous planner and is a bit more cautious in making decisions. Faisal, on the other hand, is more of a risk-taker (For example, Faisal rented a motorcycle in Bali with no licence and minimal experience, something Aggie wouldn’t do), has zero interest in fitness but willingly plays the role of Instagram cameraman to Aggie.

Together, they fit like a glove, despite coming from culturally different families. They have such a chill vibe about them, brought together by their love of music, cats, travel and all things creative.

After spending 11 years together, they eventually tied the knot in August 2018. So our shoot together was a pretty relaxing one for them, since they had just returned from their honeymoon in the Maldives!

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

The Simple Guide to Hindu Wedding Traditions

Hindu weddings are some of the most vibrant, colourful and interesting weddings around. There are a host of events, each filled with sacred tradition and meaning where not just two souls are joined together, but it is also the union of two families. For the uninitiated, it is easy to get lost in the rituals but since our team has experienced quite a few Hindu weddings, we’re here to help you find your way around if you’re ever invited to one!

There are a few important stages, which are the key elements of the Hindu wedding ceremony. The whole thing usually takes place under a canopy called a mandap. It is always beautifully decorated.

To have a smooth wedding ceremony, Ganesh Poojan is performed a few days before the wedding or even the night before. This is when the priest offers a prayer to Lord Ganesha (the elephant headed god) to remove any obstacles so the ceremony can proceed without hindrances.

The groom is welcomed as he makes his entrance during the Jayamaala or Vara Yatra ceremony, amidst much singing and dancing. In fact, music is a key component throughout the Hindu wedding! The bride’s parents, family and friends greet the groom and his party while blessing the groom with rice, applying tilak on his forehead and placing a garland over his head. He is then led to the mandap to await his bride-to-be.

The bride is then offered in marriage to the groom in a solemn ritual called Kanyadan, which means “gift of a maiden”. It is often accompanied by the giving of a dowry. In this ritual, the father places his daughter’s hands into the groom’s, signifying that she is separated from her family and incorporated into the family of her husband’s. Speaking of hands, the bride’s hands are usually decorated with intricate henna designs.

The groom takes his bride’s hands in his to signify his acceptance of the bride as his lawfully wedded wife and ties the first knot of the mangalsutra around the bride’s neck. His sister ties the other two knots symbolizing acceptance into the family. The mangalsutra is a holy thread with gold pendant, a symbol of marriage and the sacred bond between a husband and his wife. This is considered one of the most important rituals of a Hindu wedding.

The Saptapadi is the main and legal part of the ceremony. A marriage knot is symbolized by tying the end of the groom’s scarf to the bride’s dress. The couple then takes seven steps around the fire, representing the seven vows exchanged between them – for nourishment, strength, prosperity, health, happiness, progeny and harmony – sealing their marriage forever. No ceremony is complete without this.

The wedding ceremony ends with a benediction by the elders and priests in the Ashirvada. The couple is blessed for a prosperous married life ahead of them.

When the rituals are over, then comes the food and more dancing and singing! Everyone really gets into the groove, whether young or old. That’s one of the reasons why it’s simply so fun! Of course, there are a few variations to the customs and some additional ceremonies. Each one is timeless. Each one presents a wonderful photo opportunity and we love being a part of it!

If you’d like to see the ceremony in action, have a look at Jason and Seetha’s wedding ceremony here:

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

Wedding at Church of Divine Mercy: Nilshan & Praveena

From Melbourne to KL to Colombo and back…

It was on the beautiful grounds of Monash University that their love story started… Praveena was an undergraduate who recently transferred from Malaysia to Melbourne, Australia. Her friends were watching a match at the Farrer Hall common room and invited her to join them. Despite her lack of interest, she happily came down for the nachos, cheesecake, and other snacks.

Nilshan, on the other hand, had been living in Melbourne for over a year by then, and was also studying his undergraduate degree at Monash. Two of his friends lived at Farrer Hall and invited him to watch the match there. Little did the two love birds know that this would be the first time they laid eyes on each other.

Praveena and Nilshan continued to bump into each other through mutual friends, whether it was a restaurant outing, group trip, night out or Sunday mass. Two years later, Nilshan asked Praveena out on their first date. Their romance unfolded over dinner and a mutual love of spicy food… until the rest was history.

Want to hear more about their story? Watch their highlight video below or check out their pre-wedding photos.

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

Wedding at Wesley Methodist Church, Seremban: Jonathan & Lyn Yen

On the day of Jonathan and Lyn Yen’s wedding, family and friends gathered in Seremban… all ready to dance right into Lyn’s family home and pick her up for church. Jonathan’s heng tai entourage consisted mostly of his female friends, and they were totally into the role… with their matching #sokhooyetsowong t-shirts, cool sunglasses and tough attitude. On the other hand, Lyn’s bridesmaids were in beautiful two toned blue dresses. Lyn’s gorgeous wedding gown was designed by one of our previous brides, Katrina who was totally emotional seeing Lyn in it!

There were a lot of interesting ‘drama’ happening on this wedding day… from Jon innocently leaving the bridal bouquet in the freezer before the wedding day, to discovering a broken button on his tux, to someone accidentally taking one of the groomsmen’s shoes leaving him stranded just before church…thank God there were solutions to everything!

Most importantly, thanks to Lyn’s grandmother and brother, they managed to find a spare button, sewed it onto Jon’s tux and rescued the day. In church, Jon was tearing as Lyn walked down the aisle… he was just so overcome with emotion…though Lyn and his friends broke out in laughter as a response to that. I just felt, “Aaw… this is really one soft, tender hearted man, just like a giant teddy bear!”

We had a great time in Seremban that day, and then also 2 weeks later in Sofitel, KL for the 2nd half of their wedding. If you would like to read more of their story and view their pre-wedding photos, please click here.

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

Wedding Video Highlight: Kingston & Delia

This was our first wedding for 2018, shot on the 1st of Jan! We were glad to have met Kingston and Delia, both very personable and friendly towards us as a team. The both of them live in Melbourne but came back to Malaysia for their wedding. We filmed their Chinese tea ceremony and banquet at the Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa. The games were pretty hilarious, with lots of great moves from the guys!

Here’s the story of how they met:

Delia: Kingston and I met in high school but it wasn’t until the last 2 years of high school that we finally got to know each other. This was probably because our paths finally crossed when he was appointed a prefect in the last 2 years. It was at a prefect’s camp at the beginning of the year that we started talking to each other as we were put in the same group. I remember thinking what a nice and funny person he was, always joking and making me laugh. Conversations were pretty superficial at that stage, but the unusual thing about it was the way he made me smile all the time and made me feel exceptionally comfortable around him. One day after camp, we were both put on prefect duty at the back of our school canteen. I remember that being the first time we got to talk to each other- just the 2 of us. I felt as if we had known each other for years. I think I told him my life story that day! Clearly we were not very good prefects.. we weren’t even paying attention to our duties the whole time! Since then, we would talk almost every single day.

Kingston: We became best friends. We would hang out every morning on roll call, see each other on breaks and the funny thing is, I always know that she’s looking at me when we happened to be nearby on our prefect duties. She laughs at most of my jokes (which doesn’t happen with a lot of people) and I always (and still do) get that warm fuzzy feeling when we are together.

Delia: Towards the end of college, it was time to decide what we wanted to study in University and where. Many of our friends had either already gone or were preparing to go overseas to complete tertiary studies. This was the time when I started to think about my future seriously and who the most important people in my life were. It was during this time in 2006 when I realised just how much I cannot imagine not having Kingston in my life. It really put things in perspective for me and I guess Kingston felt the same way too. So August 1st 2006, that’s when we decided to take our relationship further.

It was also the time I started Medical School in IMU and Kingston started studying Chemical Engineering at Monash. We spent the first 2 and half years together in this relationship and it was bliss. Beginning 2009, Kingston moved to Melbourne to continue his studies there and our long-distance relationship began. It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to go through and 6 months later, I then moved to Southampton, UK to continue my medical degree. The hardest part about being apart was, to me, meeting him once a year for no longer than 2 weeks and having to count down the days before we had to part again.

Kingston: Spending time together in that short stint was amazing. We appreciated every single ticking second in each other’s company and we would go on dates like how we used to when we were younger. Of course beautiful moments like those were never enough- and the reality of the situation would always set in towards the end of our holidays together. The hardest part is having to say goodbye every single time, and knowing that by sunrise the next day one of us would be leaving for another full year. These were extremely difficult moments for us, but we both know that they made us stronger individually. Although this phase of the relationship is the most difficult and challenging one, it made us grew not only as a person, but together as a couple.

Finally, Delia completed her stint in the UK in 2014 and made her move to Melbourne. I still remember waiting for her at the airport, full of excitement and happiness, knowing that we won’t have to endure the hardships of long distance relationship anymore. Fast forward to today, it still amazes me that we are still together in this 10+ years of relationship and have persisted so much in life. I always knew that I wanted to marry Delia and with us finally being together, I decided to propose at the end of 2016.

Delia: I waited for a long time! It was an amazing, romantic and well-planned proposal with the help of all our family and our friends. Kingston decided to put me on a treasure hunt for a whole day. My two best friends and one of his best friends drove me all around KL to pick up clues to the next stop from his friends who were all stationed at our most memorable ‘spots’ in the last 10 years. It was very nostalgic for me going back to these spots where memories were created and that meant so much to us like our high school, our favourite place to eat, my old house before my parents moved away… I was in tears most of the time. We ended up in Tamarind Springs where we spent our first 3 years celebrating our anniversaries, and he finally got down on one knee in front of our family and friends. That was truly one of the best days of my life.

Credits:
Videographers: Chi Yin, Choo Cherk & Delvin
Dinner reception location: Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa
Groom’s Attire: Adriano Carbone/ Tom Ford
Wedding Gown: Maggie Sottero/ Celest Thoi
Evening Gown: Andrea and Leo
Shoes: Manolo Blahnik/ Oscar De La Renta
Hair & Makeup: Agnes Yip
Decorations (Ceremony): Wishing Tree
Decorations (Dinner Banquet): Willow Events
Stationery: Akitiara Designs
Dinner Banquet Entertainment: Rhumbaa
Photography: MunKeat Photography