When we walked into the Lacour family home, we were so amazed at their antique furniture collection! I found out that Justine and Cyrille had shipped all these furniture from Singapore where they used to live. It was quite a task moving some of the heavy Buddhas around to make space for the newborn shoot. What amazed me more was that Justine was helping to move the dining table herself, just 7 days after her C-sec! Where does this woman get her strength from?
Diane photographed their maternity portraits at our studio and I shot Timothée’s newborn shots at their home. What a handsome little chap!
I admit. It was my first ear piercing ceremony coverage, but that didn’t damper my excitement! I love doing things that challenge my own photography status-quo, and quite truthfully, I was also stoked that I get to wear my under-utilised Punjabi Suit!
Having known the very chatty and bright-eyed Tanusya when the family came to our studio for a photo session, I know I am in for good, lively company. The family enjoyed the studio session so much that Tanusya’s mom, Sri, decided to have me photograph the event. What great honour! So I jumped right into my research about ear piercing ceremonies and prepared myself for what was to come.
And true enough, it is was really quite a grand event. The temple hall was quickly occupied by teachers, friends and family. I can tell they how much they love Tanusya just by seeing the amount of gifts they have given her.
Red is the colour of passion… love… strength and beauty. I just love how much red there is in this wedding! If there’s one person whom you’d trust to style your wedding, it’d be Kim. She not only has good taste, but is great at making ideas come alive. From Kim’s unconventional wedding gown and red veil to her striking red Lewre shoes, everything is so perfectly colour coordinated. There’s also a different touch to Kim’s styling with a traditional hair piece added to the look. Not only that, there’s hot pink umbrellas and a gorgeous bouquet too! The colours just pop off the screen!
I remember my conversation with Kim during the wedding, and she told me, if she had to do something, she’d go all the way!
During the dinner, their Old Shanghai themed stage and photobooth blew me away. I love the details that went into the planning of this wedding. One week later, Jason and Kim had a totally different wedding altogether… it was a rustic themed wedding at Tanarimba! It wasn’t just the creativity at this wedding that fueled my energy to be creative too, I really felt the excitement from the both of them, including all the friends who were present that day.
I appreciate how Jason and Kim have extended their friendship to us and that in just a short time, I felt as if I’ve known them for years. Some people just make you feel so loved!
Shaun and Jochebed have waited a long time for Eden to arrive. Way too long for any longing parent-to-be. In fact, the waiting was the cause of many heartaches, tears and prayers to her Lord Jesus Christ. Their hearts longed to see that test kit prove positive, but time and again, they were disappointed. She desired to conceive and prayed earnestly for more than 3 years. Every time she hears a story of a parent who doesn’t ‘want’ a child that they have conceived, she was heartbroken. To her, every child is precious, especially the autistic children at the centre she works at. The doctors suggested IVF but they decided to try IUI instead. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful.
One of the breakthroughs she experienced was when she really delved into the word of the Lord to see what it had to say about women and pregnancy. God caused many miracles to happen and every barren women who loved God in the bible conceived. Childbirth is really in God’s original plan, and He is totally into expanding the next generation! (just check out those old testament family trees… wow!). Jochebed was led to google stories about miracle conceptions and it really increased her faith to believe.
One month after they tried IUI, Jochebed conceived naturally. Precious little Eden came into the world and turned their lives upside down. As I chatted with Jochebed about her story, we both unanimously agreed about how many women feel ashamed to discuss issues about infertility. Especially in Asian culture where you have to ‘endure’ comments from well-meaning family members who ask year after year… “When are you having children?”
For me, I waited 6 years to have Krysta, but that was a personal choice. However, with irregular periods like mine, it was a miracle that I too, conceived Krysta, and subsequently, Kyle. It occurred to me that every conception is really a gift from God. While we can try many treatments, in the end, it is the Lord who gives. But we really do not have to feel ashamed to talk about such things. There are many women out there who have shared similar experiences.
It was a match that was meant to be. Mary, in her fun, loud and expressive manner, added lots of colour to Ka-Meng’s palette. The fact that she also spoke non-stop added lots of flavour to this unique partnership. On the other hand, Ka-Meng, in his secure manner, made Mary stay put in one country and gave a lot of security to the relationship. The 8 year age gap they share is hardly an issue but of course there were times when their age gap became apparent. Especially when Ka-Meng recalled going to work in a pink mini bus and doing audits using a blue/yellow marker pen instead of the laptop!
They could have met in university but they didn’t. He was studying his Masters of Business Systems and she was doing a degree back then. In fact, he was tutoring some of the subjects she studied, but their paths never crossed.
Ten years later…
They got to meet each other at work, even though Mary was in the Singapore office and Ka-Meng was in Melbourne. In her words…
“It was purely work matter back then (wink wink), although I thought Ka-Meng was quite a cute guy…and I was the prettiest lady he ever met! We got really close when I moved to Melbourne. He helped me with my house move, chose my first bed, gave me iMac 101 lessons and made sure I was not left out in the office social events. That… created a lot of rumours in the office.”
Well it all worked out well professionally and in the romance department too, because here they are, married at last!
The wedding was held in a gorgeous chapel at the Ayana Resort & Spa, Bali. Their friends and family members traveled to experience a ‘wedliday’ as they coined it… a combination of a wedding and holiday! The mood was really relaxed and despite the rain over the past few days in Bali. Planning an outdoor wedding overseas is pretty stressful, and because of the weather forecast, Ka-Meng and Mary decided to hold their dinner indoors. Thank God it didn’t rain during the ceremony! Ka-Meng and Mary were really hands-on with their wedding and Mary even created the wedding invite and photobooth props themselves!