beach

Garden wedding at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang, Penang: Greta & Mohit (part1)

Garden Ceremony & Dinner Reception: Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort, Penang, Malaysia
Photographers: Grace & Johan
Videographer: Wedding Story

Months ago, I received an enquiry from Greta, who resides in the UK. We exchanged a couple of emails, and then she booked us to cover her wedding. I met Greta for the first time on her wedding day, but the moment I started talking to her, it felt as if we have known each other for months. She is really bubbly and fun, and I found out that she used to go to the same primary school as I did, in Malacca! The similarities end there, however… since I don’t have a black belt in martial arts, as Greta does!

Mohit is more subdued, but he enjoys things like climbing mountains and diving. Their family and friends flew from UK, Australia and many other parts of the world to be in Penang for their wedding ceremony.

Greta’s wedding dress is really unique. I love the detail on her gown.

And her wedding invite is superb too! Red is one of my favourite colours.

And of course, Greta looks really amazing!

Of course, Mohit looks pretty good himself!

The gorgeous bridal party.

I loooove garden & beach weddings. The garden at Rasa Sayang Resort combines the best of both worlds – you can have a garden ceremony and portraits by the beach!

More images coming up soon in Part 2! [updated: View part 2 here]

Grace Tan In For Photographers, Musings

RedNinja.tv got Mojo? camp

After a few months of planning, our first RedNinja.tv event has finally taken off the ground! The got Mojo? seminar and camp was a huge success. We had a lot of fun with so many talented photographers in the country, some who are thinking of making the leap into full time wedding photography. Many photographers said they learnt a lot from Wiki Lee and his wife Ilona, who shared their hearts to everyone. On top of that, they felt the personal mentoring sessions by the team mentors (Jon Low, Mark Leo, Jenny Sun and I) were really beneficial.

I hope that after this camp, a lot of these photographers will put what they learnt into practice – whether it is regarding honing their style in photography, posing a couple, or about how they run their business. Here are a few behind the scenes shots taken at the camp in Corus, Port Dickson.This is Wiki doing some ninja impersonation with Ilona by his side.

Thanks to Canon, we had a few prizes to give away.

Things you learn at camp: As a ninja photographer, you need to be agile. Very agile – like being in this squatting position for hours.

Wiki giving tips to the photographers during the model shooting session.

I managed to take a few snaps as well even though I was there to mentor the team. Here’s Sonia & Reyhan looking really good! All model make up was done by Shinny Ong, who did an amazing job. The beautiful gowns are sponsored by Pretty in White.

The following photos were taken by Mark. He recently made the switch from Nikon to Canon. (yay!) Here’s a photo of Mark looking like he’s doing the macarena. On the right, Jon Low, who was one of the key organizers for the event and on the left, Ian Chong, who surprised us by showing up at the camp unannounced. Ian is one of the other photographers who I have worked with closely over the past few years.

These are Mark’s shots. Models are Rachel & Ser Young.

Shu Wan, Stories’ amazing digital artist was there at the camp as well. This time, she took up the camera and was shooting away instead of touching up images! Here she is in blue (her favourite colour!)

And these are Shu Wan’s shots.

And finally, a group photo of the team I was mentoring. I had fun with all of you!

Grace Tan In Life, Musings

On the road towards Santa Cruz

A few days ago, we started our first day down the coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Together with Jenny & Ju, we rented a car for our coastal road trip. The rental of the car costs about RM1,500 for about 5 days. Each driver you register incurs extra cost. I suppose it’s because of insurance coverage. So Ju and Alex were the designated drivers for the trip. Firstly, it’s important to get your orientation right. It takes a while to adjust to driving on the right side of the road. So Ju made some little reminders, just in case…

The coast on the way to Santa Cruz was just beautiful. We had excellent weather even though it was a little chilly with the breeze.

Alex clowning around as usual.

Alex showing off…

According to this sign, not every American knows how to spell properly.

One of our other stops was at this picturesque lighthouse. I can’t recall the name of this lighthouse. It’s so nice that it deserved a vintage treatment. :)

How amazing it would be if I had a bride and groom to photograph here.

The waves in California are huge and intimidating!

The view at Santa Cruz. The weather was a little gloomy when we arrived.

The seagulls here are so bold. They don’t really bother too much with people around. Caught this one stealing someone’s leftover food!

In the States, equality for all is a big thing.

I guess these doggies know where to go to have a good time.

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits, Weddings

Mong Ling & Hai Liang: Four Seasons, Langkawi part 2

Ceremony Location: Four Seasons Resort, Langkawi
Dinner Location: Tapaz
Wedding Planner: Touching Hearts Wedding Concepts
Wedding Gown: That Special Occasion
Evening Gown: Keith Kee
Suit & Shirt: Ian Chang from Bespoked
Make Up: Michelle Touche
Wedding favours: Wicked Wax
Photographers: Stories: Grace & Mark
Wedding Film: Wedding Story

After the wedding & tea ceremony ended, we had to take some photos around Four Seasons Resort. After all, it is a beautiful location! I love this feature wall.

And this funky stone wall…

I love this orange Mediterranean wall as well.

Look at the detailing in this gown. Lovely gown from That Special Occasion.

In the evening, we set off sail on a yacht to see the sunset, and for a grand entrance to the dinner reception area!

While we were out at sea, the dinner location, Tapaz, was being decorated. I love the look of the cake!

And then just before it got too dark, Mong Ling & Hai Liang appeared at the harbour on the yacht.

There were lots of dancing and partying that night.

Evening gown by Keith Kee.

The speeches by friends and family were really funny and revealing!

Thanks, Mong Ling & Hai Liang, for making our shoot so fun and memorable. You have treated us like family and are really welcoming. We appreciate that.

View part 1 of the wedding here.

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Mong Ling & Hai Liang: Four Seasons, Langkawi part1

Ceremony Location: Four Seasons Resort, Langkawi
Dinner Location: Tapaz
Wedding Planner: Touching Hearts Wedding Concepts
Wedding Gown: That Special Occasion
Evening Gown: Keith Kee
Suit & Shirt: Ian Chang from Bespoked
Make Up: Michelle Touche
Photographers: Stories: Grace & Mark
Wedding Film: Wedding Story

Her laughter is so contagious, you can’t help but laugh along with her. It’s obvious that they have a deep love for each other. And a sense of adventure! After all, they decided to get married in Langkawi, at the beach in noonday sun, tea ceremony on a swing, and make a grand entrance to their dinner location by yacht. It was definitely a wedding to remember.

Langkawi is quickly becoming one of my favourite places to shoot in Malaysia. Not only does it have beautiful beaches, but it has lots of lovely paddy fields and quaint ‘kampung‘ or village houses all over the island. This was my first shoot at Four Seasons, and the moment I laid eyes on the place, I fell in love with it. The beaches were absolutely white.

I found it so hard to choose which photos to show here on the blog. Here are some of my personal favourites.