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Wedding at St Joseph’s Church Sentul: Nicolas & Cassandra

We make each other laugh even during the hardest moments.

Nicolas and Cassandra’s motto is something that every married couple needs to adopt. Laughter is definitely a key ingredient to a happy relationship. On the wedding day, it is easy to laugh, enjoy every moment but the key to marriage longevity is to keep on laughing through the years. I have seen so many couples who allow the hardship and challenges of life rob them of their joy. Parenting is one major area where many couples focus so much on their children that they forget each other.

It is a good reminder to myself too to relax, loosen up and enjoy my 12 year marriage to Alex. Thank you, Nic and Cassandra for your laughter, friendship and wisdom.

If you haven’t read their story, you can do so here.

Grace Tan In Church Weddings, Indian + Punjabi Weddings, Wedding Films & Videos, Weddings

Wedding at Church of Divine Mercy: Nilshan & Praveena

From Melbourne to KL to Colombo and back…

It was on the beautiful grounds of Monash University that their love story started… Praveena was an undergraduate who recently transferred from Malaysia to Melbourne, Australia. Her friends were watching a match at the Farrer Hall common room and invited her to join them. Despite her lack of interest, she happily came down for the nachos, cheesecake, and other snacks.

Nilshan, on the other hand, had been living in Melbourne for over a year by then, and was also studying his undergraduate degree at Monash. Two of his friends lived at Farrer Hall and invited him to watch the match there. Little did the two love birds know that this would be the first time they laid eyes on each other.

Praveena and Nilshan continued to bump into each other through mutual friends, whether it was a restaurant outing, group trip, night out or Sunday mass. Two years later, Nilshan asked Praveena out on their first date. Their romance unfolded over dinner and a mutual love of spicy food… until the rest was history.

Want to hear more about their story? Watch their highlight video below or check out their pre-wedding photos.

Grace Tan In Church Weddings, Indian + Punjabi Weddings, Wedding Films & Videos, Weddings

Wedding Video Highlight, Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Alex & Lenny

We filmed Alex & Lenny’s #SagoGulaMelakaWedding at the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Crystal Crown Hotel Petaling Jaya recently. We loved how it was full of laughter, made even more colourful by their fun friends who performed at the wedding. There were heartfelt moments when Lenny’s mom teared as she walked her down the aisle at the church. We felt truly honoured to be part of this beautiful occasion.

Alex & Lenny’s Story

It all started in 2010. At a fitness outfit called Original Bootcamp Malaysia (OBC). Training was at 5.45am, 3 times a week at Padang Astaka. Sometimes after the training, the recruits as they were called, often hung out for breakfast and also went on hikes together at various locations within the Klang Valley. It was through this activities that Alex and Lenny became good friends.

Interestingly, they were also ‘technically’ colleagues. Alex worked at BMW Malaysia based in Cyberjaya while Lenny worked at BMW Financial Services Malaysia. So they often met when there were company events. Then one day in October 2012, Lenny got offered a position at BMW Financial Services Australia, based in Melbourne. Alex was devastated – and he didn’t know why. It then clicked that he’d miss her more than he would miss a good friend who got a transfer overseas.

Lenny was scheduled leave and start her new role in Melbourne on 16 December 2012 (a significant date since it was also the date of the wedding). So Lenny and Alex increased the frequency of their OBC activities, hiking excursions and happy hour sessions. There was just something there and they just wanted to make the most out of their remaining time together.

As the days came closer towards Lenny’s departure, Lenny and Alex grew closer too (movie dates and teddy bears involved). And then the day of Lenny’s departure came, and despite the impending separation, they finally spoke to each other about being together and…that was the conversation that sealed it in for them.

Embarking on a long distance relationship (LDR) is no easy feat. But they survived. In August 2016, Alex made the move to Australia and planned to pop the proposal question at the Coldplay concert on 9 December 2016. The stage was ‘literally’ now set. After weeks of memorising the order of the setlist, Alex picked ‘Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall’ to be the song where he pops the question. The song came. She said yes! Everything after was Magic. An Amazing Day it was with a Sky Full of Stars. Again, literally.

Credits:

Videographers: Chi Yin, Joel & Jemsen
Church Ceremony Location: Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, KL
Dinner Reception: Crystal Crown Hotel Petaling Jaya
Groom’s Attire: Ken’s Tailor (church), Surya Amitbals Trading (dinner)
Wedding Gown: Luv Bridal & Formal Melbourne
Evening Gown: Surya Amitbals Trading
Make up & Hair: Jenny Fan
Decorations: Sophia (church), Crystal Crown (dinner)
Cake: Accidental Bakers
Dinner Entertainment: Colour of Voices, Soraya Barakbah
Photographer: James Lew

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

Wedding in Brunei: Brandon & Alison

Brandon, being an avid photographer, naturally was very involved in the selection process of a wedding photographer for his big day. We chatted over Skype months before the wedding, and I got to know that he and Alison had been together for 7 years, but they were currently living in two different countries – he in Hong Kong and Alison in China, her home country. Brandon’s family moved from Sarawak to Brunei years ago and this was where he grew up. It was my first time to Brunei, and it reminded me of Malaysia years ago… the wealth of the country doesn’t seem to reflect in its architecture. Jamie and I spent the night before the wedding going to the local night market and tasting red durian for the very first time.

Brandon’s wedding was held at the famous Church of Our Lady of Assumption in Brunei. The dinner was held at this location which I was told, is one of the best in Brunei – The Empire Hotel & Country Club. I was blown away at the grandeur of the decorations at their wedding. It was just so breathtaking. There were royalty VIPs present at the wedding, and from his dad’s speech, it was obvious that he was proud of all Brandon had achieved in life so far, including being listed under Forbe’s 30 under 30 list.

Thank you, Brandon for your hospitality and for making us feel so at home. I wish the both of you years of happiness and joy!

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Wedding Films & Videos, Weddings

A Majestic Wedding: Andrew & Katrina

So let’s kick off the first blog post of 2016 with an epic wedding! We’ve been through a lot together. A pre-wedding shoot in KL & Singapore, two weekends of weddings in KL and a wedding in Phuket. What a journey! Definitely one of the most memorable weddings for me in 2015… Andrew & Katrina’s energy and laughter is infectious. I love just being around them, you can’t help but feel as if you have to laugh a little louder, dance a little more, and hug another person. I am also so grateful to have built a friendship with this amazing couple.

Their wedding was truly a majestic affair. Please be warned, I am terrible at cutting down the number of images for a blog post, so it might take a while to load! Here are some of the images from the first two wedding events in KL… their ROM, church wedding ceremony at St Thomas More and dinner reception at The Majestic. Even the haze was not a deterrent to the couple (we got shots like the one below thanks to it!). It was all beautifully decorated and planned by the Mint Events & Soirées’ team. One other amazing detail is that Katrina designed her wedding and evening gown herself! Check out her Facebook page, Wilka.

20151003_ROM_ANDREW_KATRINA_314 Here’s what Katrina had to say about the wedding planning process:

Stories.my & Mint Events made my wedding dream come true. Inspirations and ideas that came in the wedding planning process appeared as and when I thought of something, which was a constant thing throughout the year. I was doing a lot of research, surfing the net looking at so many images and references. Pinterest was my best friend. Do manage yours and everyone’s expectations… it’s YOUR wedding, not THEIRS. Trust your photography and video team (ahem…Stories)… have fun, let go, respect our elders.

The Stories team have been amazeballs from the get go. Somehow, when we were shopping for a vendor, Stories was the first one we met with, and though we had other companies to check out, I knew I wanted them to be the officials to capture the most important moments of our lives. Grace and her team have been very accommodating, professional, efficient, understanding, considerate and reasonable. But most important of all, they were able to capture the brief accurately, and brought our wedding to life that went way beyond my expectations. We are in awe and till today cannot believe how beautifully done all our photos, videos and sideshows are. Makes us tear every time we look at them. We always felt comfortable and relaxed with the Stories team. Like we were family. We laughed and had fun together. We love Stories!

Watch their fusion photo and video slideshow here. It was presented on the night of the dinner reception itself.

20151003_ROM_ANDREW_KATRINA_095 Continue Reading