Andrew and Desiree are one of those couples who instantly make the ‘friend’ list the moment you meet them. They’re friendly, warm, and thoughtful. After our pre-wedding shoot, they even gave us a box of chocolates and a hand-written card, which really made our day! We photographed their wedding at Pulai Springs Resort, JB recently but before we share those images, here are some of the photos from their pre-wedding shoot.
Last week, we had 12 very special visitors to the Stories studio. It was an unusual day for us as we never had a group of teenagers visit us in this manner before. These teenagers were chatty, fun, cheeky and ambitious. You wouldn’t have thought that they came from underprivileged backgrounds or hold a refugee status here in Malaysia.
But thank God for amazing individuals who have volunteered their time and energy in order to give back to society. And especially so for the people behind Dignity for Children, a one stop community learning centre for the urban poor and underprivileged children. Their vision is to empower these children to break the cycle of poverty through quality education, which leads to a positive life transformation.
We were pleased to share our journey as photographers / videographers and to encourage these students to see that this is a viable career path. It was a good exposure for most of them and they even got to have their portraits photographed by our team! It was really worth it to see their smiles knowing that we made a small impact in their lives, even if it was only for 2 hours. We really pray for the best for these kids, and hope that they will lead successful lives as they make carve their path into adulthood.
Some time back, I photographed some portraits of Joanne for her 30th birthday and it was on that shoot that I met Si Howe. He struck me as a really fun loving, supportive guy who was ever willing to give Joanne a hoist to entertain her ideas of climbing trees for pictures. As we got to know each other more later, it struck me that they were two opposite personalities totally in love with each other. Si Howe, an obvious extrovert, was telling me all about his Ipoh wedding at his family courtyard home (where EVERYONE in their family holds a wedding!) and enticing Nigel and I with stories about giant Tanjung Tualang prawns served during the luncheon.
Needless to say, we were definitely looking forward to this wedding!
We were really smitten with the wonderful classic family home that we had the privilege of shooting in. Since Si Howe’s family was a large one, the tea ceremony took quite a while, serving approximately 180 people! One of the biggest challenges we had was doing a huge family photo that could accommodate everyone. At the entrance of the home (image below), it was hot in the midday sun, so to get everyone to stand / sit there even for 15 minutes would be really challenging. But the worst thing is that everyone would be squinting as they had to look towards the direction of the sun. So we moved everyone to the back of the house instead for the photos. Though it was very warm still, at least people weren’t squinting as much!
I love this marital bed that symbolises their union. Si Howe told me how he and another cousin had to painstakingly take the bed apart from another cousin’s home and transport it to this place. And then he had to put it together again, pretty much like a jigsaw puzzle. If you look carefully, you will see his yellow sticker notes on the bed frame which we ‘conveniently’ left in the shot. Tells a story!
From personal experience, I can say with utmost conviction that having the right make up artist can ‘make’ or ‘break’ you. I have gone through good and bad experiences, and I know for certain that this art is never to be taken lightly. I have known Michelle for years now, and every time I see the work that she has done, it is truly amazing. She has transformed brides and also made those who are already beautiful even more beautiful.
Amazingly, this woman looks really youthful, and you can hardly tell that she has been in the industry for over 20 years! When she was in Form 2 in Secondary school, Michelle started to learn how to apply make up over her school holidays. And when she was in Form 5, she already started training others how to do it! Naturally, through the years, Michelle has built a strong team of make up artists who are also excellent at their craft.
The rate for their wedding make up & hair services starts from RM1,000 (senior). Pre-wedding rates start from RM500 onwards.
Here’s some tips and interesting facts that Michelle has given to me in our conversation together. Continue Reading
Steven and Marilyn are such bubbly, fun characters, it’s no wonder they chose a bright yellow, sunflower theme for their wedding. We love how the bright blue pops in relation to the yellow too. Everything from the wedding invite, to the flowers, decorations and even Marilyn’s custom made cheongsam adhered to the theme colours!
Some of their friends also came dressed according to theme. From Day1 of the proposal, both Marilyn and Steven were really involved in the whole wedding planning process. Steven’s one of those grooms who actually ENJOY planning a wedding (not like some other grooms we have encountered who prefer to just pay and let the bride plan the wedding!). He is a meticulous guy, always looking at details whereas Marilyn’s a big picture person. So they complement each other in so many ways.
By the way, a bit of interesting info about Marilyn… her dad used to own the one and only ‘go-to’ photo studio in PJ called Photo Beauty Light. Apparently, everyone used to go there for graduation and family photos from the 70s onwards!
My friendship with Marilyn has gone back quite a few years as we have traveled together spiritually as Christian sisters through our DUMC cell group. I am really happy to have met Steven when they first started dating, and now to see her get married. Congratulations to the both of you, we love you very much!
Here are the beautiful photos taken by Weiming and Jamie.
