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Grace Tan
In Portraits,

Pre-Wedding at The Banjaran Hot Springs, Ipoh: Shao Xuan & Li Li

After our tummies were filled with yummy Ipoh chicken rice, the Stories team headed to the exclusive The Banjaran Hotsprings & Retreat, where we were to meet Shao Xuan and Li Li for their pre-wedding shoot. When we arrived, we were greeted warmly by the staff and the pitter-patter sounds of rain. The skies looked gloomy and we were worried. Unfortunately, the drizzles turned into large droplets of rain, and soon, we felt the full force of a tropical rain forest storm.

But Shao Xuan and Li Li remained calm, and were so open to following our lead. We headed indoors into some really cool caves (some were really really dark!) and did some photos there. After a while, the rain stopped a little, enough for us to take some photos outdoors. I kind of like the wet look on the trees, it makes the venue look so lush. Thank you Shao Xuan and Li Li for giving us the privilege of photographing the both of you and for remaining calm despite the torrential rain!

20150430_PRE_WEDDING_SHAOXUAN_LILI_01 20150430_PRE_WEDDING_SHAOXUAN_LILI_02 20150430_PRE_WEDDING_SHAOXUAN_LILI_03 Continue Reading

Grace Tan
In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits, Studio

Newborn portraits with Nico & Muriel

Just barely a month after her birth, Yasmine had her first official shoot at our studio. It was really lovely to get to know this gorgeous little girl and her equally beautiful parents, Nico and Muriel. She looks so alert and attentive to the camera, quite different from a lot of newborn babies I know who are usually sleeping. I love photographing real connections like these, more so than the posed photos of newborn babies in baskets (though I have also done a few of those). I also love seeing the connection of the baby with her parents… skin to skin… the most beautiful texture on earth.

20150429_FAMILY_NICO_MURIEL_YASMIN_2720150429_FAMILY_NICO_MURIEL_YASMIN_12 Continue Reading

Grace Tan
In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, International, Weddings

Catholic Wedding in Brunei: Ben & Michelle

“Ben is probably the most kind and caring person that I have met. He is such a softie that he often feeds strays on the roads or on our travels with our food packed in our bags and will go to great lengths to make sure they are doing ok before we leave.” – Michelle about Ben –

“Michelle is a great storyteller and always recounts her experiences in great detail to anyone who would listen! She is quite acute to people’s emotions and feelings often anticipating what they need and acting on it . She’s content with spending evenings in with a good movie or a good book and  often cries too easily during soppy parts  and hates horror movies (no zombies for her!).” – Ben about Michelle –

20150125_WEDDING_BEN_MICHELLE_01 20150125_WEDDING_BEN_MICHELLE_02Two high school sweethearts

They were quintessentially your typical high school sweethearts. Having grown up in rival schools (Michelle from Catholic school and Ben from the Chinese school next door), they grew closer through participation in church youth activities and ever since Secondary 3, Michelle has had a crush on Ben! Perhaps it was a guy thing, but Ben was totally oblivious to her feelings! :) She  always thought Ben was a pretty cool guy, with an amazing smile and very funny personality.

So for 13 long years, they went through a couple of rough patches as they dated. For 3 years, they went through a long distance relationship (UK & Australia) during their university days. The reality is that, when you date for so long, break ups are bound to happen. They went through 2 heartbreaking years of an ‘on and off’ relationship, but in 2011, felt a real renewed commitment and resurgence in their relationship with both of them working through their individual issues and ultimately coming back together to bring out the best in each other.

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Diane
In Family + Children Portraits, Life, Musings, Portraits, Studio

Family Portraits: Rayson, Yee See & Lisa

I blew the candles on the cake of my 28th birthday last 10th June, and commemorated 4 years working in Stories on 14th June. As I took some time off on my birthday week to contemplate on the intricacies of life- my experiences and journey thus far, needless to say, I can’t help feeling overwhelmed with gratefulness. Having grown these past 4 years photographing weddings and then family portraits, I see our clients move on with life as well- from their wedding day to having a child. Truly, time passes by really quickly, even more so in this fast-paced life where everything is somewhat instant. If we don’t stop and savour the moments, it’ll all be gone.

Rayson & Yee See‘s family has grown, with Lisa as their latest addition. Here’s Lisa’s first few wobbly steps, which I have had the honour to photograph.

20150131_Family_Portraits_Rayson_YeeSee_Lisa_074It is moments like these I live to capture as a photographer. Seriously.

20150131_Family_Portraits_Rayson_YeeSee_Lisa_059 Continue Reading

Diane
In Musings, Tips + Ideas

Vendor Highlight: Milestones

VendorHighlight-milestones

Preparing for a wedding can be a daunting task- sourcing for a venue, food tasting, hiring the various vendors, planning the schedule and, well, you get it, it’s really a whole lot of things to do! While we may have a huge headache trying to figure out how to navigate through this seemingly intimidating long list of tasks, there are people who are gifted and finds delight in helping you with these tasks (thank God!).

The person I know who is perfect for the job is Mun Tzin from Milestones. Her meticulous and detail-oriented personality is exactly what is needed as the wedding planner to make your wedding a memorable feat, without the headache on your end.Mun Tzin’s interest in weddings started off during her university days helping out at friends’ weddings, contrary to the belief of others who thought she picked it up while planning her own wedding. She likes the role of planning, organising and conceptualising things. Seeing it materialise gives her great joy and satisfaction. Mun Tzin helps couples plan their wedding from A-Z – from sourcing vendors to bringing them to see gown designers, as well as delivering the stationeries to hotels. A wedding planner is not just there to plan your wedding. Mun Tzin has occasionally worn different hats, like being friend, a counsellor, seamstress and make up artist.

Take time to enjoy your day
When asked what are some advice she would give to couples who are planning their wedding, Mun Tzin recommends that couples allocate time to take time to enjoy the wedding day. The saying that goes ‘time flies when one is having fun’ is especially true for weddings, therefore it is important that the couple live in the moment and spend some quiet time together.

Trust is key
Only in a perfect world will you find things running flawlessly. The same can be said about weddings in this fallen world. Things will go wrong, like a slight delay on the delivery of the wedding cake. With that, trust the wedding planner to help sort these minor problems for you and don’t fret over it. Focus on the big picture, whereby everyone is enjoying themselves and after all, no one will notice that the wedding cake is missing for a short while.

Credits:
Photographer: Weiming

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