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Grace Tan
In Life, Musings, Relationships

Our Home

350 square feet. That’s about the amount of space I have for myself since Alex and I moved out of our home last August. It was stressful looking for a new house when you have to move out of your old place by a certain date. Well, we’ve purchased a new place, and started the renovations end of last year. After going through a few hurdles like waiting for ages for MBPJ to approve our renovation plans, things finally picked up beginning of this year.

My 350 square feet of space is Alex’s old bedroom in his parent’s home. I am not complaining, because I completely enjoy having home cooked meals waiting for me when I get home from work daily! Yup, totally spoilt by my wonderful in-laws.

According to my contractor, the home should be ready by May. Frankly, I don’t completely enjoy looking through the details of what needs to be done for the home, how many lights to buy, what kind of roof profile we should have, how many inches should the switch be from the door… I am not a very meticulous person by nature. Combined with my short term memory (we have to call the termites guy to do the treatment… what? you mean he’s already done the treatment? when?!!! *alex rolls eyes*), it becomes a recipe for disaster – especially for my relationship.

Alex and I have gone through many tense moments while planning for the house. Today, I went to the tile shop to purchase tiles, proud that I had brought all the measurements with me… only to find out that I didn’t bring the designs from our ID! Alex wasn’t overly pleased. My puppy dog look didn’t help at all. So, people, if you want to test your relationship, go buy and renovate a house together.

Luckily for me, Alex is a rather forgiving person. And I’ve learnt to say sorry… many many times.

Grace Tan
In International, Portraits,

Nabil & Maisha’s Portraits

Photographers: Grace, Andrew & Alex

We continue this series of images from Nabil & Maisha’s wedding with a few portraits. This session at Ahsan Manzil in Dhaka was memorable for me because we went to great lengths to do the portraits here, including fighting Dhaka traffic. The location chosen by Maisha is absolutely gorgeous. I wish we had more time there before the sun set. But I am rather pleased with what we managed to get in just 2 hours.

Maisha said she wanted dramatic shots, so we created the following images for her. For photographers who are interested, we used a combination of natural light, speedlight, and even video light to create these images.

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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.

Just a few of the many gifts Nabil received.

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Grace Tan
In Malay Weddings, Weddings

Adam & Dalilah’s Engagement

Photographer: Grace
Make Up: Khir Khalid
Dalilah’s Gown: Syaiful Baharim
Decorations & Flowers: Flora Etc

They have known each other since they were 12. From Form 1 till Form 3, Adam and Dalilah were in the same class at Methodist College Kuala Lumpur. They were never really close friends but they always had a thing for each other throughout secondary school. Their relationship became official at the end of Form 5. And with all teenage romances, there were some difficult moments. A few months into their relationship, Dalilah had to leave Malaysia for boarding school in England to pursue her A Levels.

But love perseveres. They survived the long distance relationship, and a few years later, Adam followed Dalilah to England to complete their undergraduate degrees in University of Nottingham.

Now, they are engaged.

The ‘secret’ room where Dalilah would wait for her future mother-in-law to sarung cincin (place the engagement ring) on her.

The beautifully decorated hantaran (gifts). You can’t tell by looking at these photos, but the cake in the middle is REALLY heavy! And it’s not just the silver tray that is heavy! Dalilah’s friends who were the dulang bearers tried lifting it…and so did I… it was at least 5-6kg I think! Oh, and don’t you love the colourful macaroons on the right?

Congratulations, Adam and Dalilah! Looking forward to your wedding in a few month’s time!

Grace Tan
In Bangladeshi Weddings, International, Weddings

A Bangladeshi Wedding: Maisha’s Holudh

Photographers: Grace, Andrew & Alex

Finally, these set of images are making its way to the blog. The wedding of Nabil & Maisha in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is a massive week long event, planned a year in advance, and executed so well. Maisha loves planning, and she aspires to be a wedding planner one day. Our team flew to Bangladesh to cover only 5 out of the 9 events for Nabil & Maisha’s wedding. When we arrived at the Dhaka airport, I was surprised to be greeted by Nabil and an army escort as we exited the plane ramp. Maisha’s dad is the Major General in the Bangladesh army – that explains the army escort!

The first event was the Bride’s Holudh, held at Maisha’s residence. Don’t you just love the way the house was decorated? It’s an awesome idea and looks so amazing!

My jaw dropped when I saw these table ‘tents’ too!

Maisha just looks so gorgeous, waiting on the palki before making her grand entrance. Earlier that day, Nabil’s family were busy packing and organizing the gifts for Maisha’s holudh. These are just a few of the many different gifts that were there that day!

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