From the fun chip san leong games to the religious akad nikah ceremony, Zaha and Rachel’s fusion wedding was filled with laughter and tears. I love how the bride DIY-ed a tissue paper flower wall for her Chinese tea ceremony, which turned out gorgeous in the photos. The red contrasted so well with the white gown!
Christian and Sindee first met in Vienna years ago when she was a student there. After being together for 15 years (which is amazing on it’s own), they flew back to Malaysia in 2016 for their wedding. For both the tea ceremony and the evening reception they wanted to have simple, elegant and fresh décor. They had an oriental touch with Chinese elements, such as lanterns, the double happiness stand, and local flowers which matched very well with the 1930s chinese jazz music the band was playing. The best part of the evening was their grand entrance with a lion dance performance!
Personally, I love seeing a blend of different cultures coming together like this. It tickles me to see all these ‘mat salleh‘ in our local terms (or rather, foreigners) playing fun games and eating chicken feet to get to the bride. You can’t tell from these photos, but Chris was suffering from bad food poisoning the morning of the wedding. He was such a trooper, and didn’t allow the tummy aches from robbing his joy! It was a lovely day filled with wonderful moments and we are so glad to be part of this celebration.
It was April 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. The Overseas Christian Fellowship Easter Camp was starting soon, but Matthew was hesitant about going. But at the last minute, he changed his mind, and it was there that he met beautiful Wai San. Eventually, after the camp ended, they became friends and he plucked up enough courage to ask her out on an ice-cream date. It was a ‘hot’ date as they sat and chatted for more than 3 hours over ice-cream!
She thought, “He seems quite smart (something I like!). Maybe a little too skinny but overall, ok lah!”
Well, Matt couldn’t get pretty and cute Wai San out of his mind since that first date. Four months later, he decided to take things further and asked her to be his girlfriend before he took her to a musical and presented a nice necklace to her.
For 3 years and 11 months, they shared a lot of things in common, like their love for board games, traveling and food. In that first 12 months of dating, Matt changed from a skinny guy to a more chubby man as he put on 12kg that year! I guess love makes you ‘fuller’!
So in 2016, Matthew and Wai San are married! Their wedding was held at St Peter’s Parish, Bangsar and their dinner at Sheraton Imperial, KL. She had always dreamed of a fairytale wedding (as a princess to a dashing groom) surrounded with lots and lots of pretty flowers and bunny rabbits! (you’ll see what I mean later).
Unfortunately, due to an unexpected turn of events, Wai San’s father passed away before their wedding. I had the good fortune of getting to know him months earlier at Wai San’s sister’s wedding, which I also photographed. I felt really emotional at Wai San’s wedding, knowing that she would very much have loved to have him there, but honoured at the same time to have created beautiful images of their family at Wai Wai’s wedding earlier.
Wai San, seeing how your family held together through that difficult time with the support of your loved ones was truly inspirational for me. At your wedding, you were truly the princess your dad would have been proud to see. Matthew was indeed the most supportive and dashing prince who knew how to lift you off your feet, and into his arms. Have a beautiful marriage, you two.
Last year, we had the privilege of photographing many amazing couples – many of whom have ended up as friends. One of the greatest satisfactions we get as a photographer is being that connection – we help people connect with their emotions as they recall their joyous wedding occasion. So much love is present at all the weddings we have photographed – last year, we photographed all sorts of cultural weddings – from the traditional Chinese wedding to a modern beach wedding and even two middle eastern weddings.
Personally, today, I celebrate 10 years of marriage to my husband Alex Lam, who have been such an amazing pillar of support. It’s hard work to make a marriage flourish, but I thank God who helped nudge me in the right direction when I needed to change an attitude or swallow my pride at times. You can be in love with someone even more than the day you say your vows!
As you listen to the vows of all our clients, may you be touched and reminded that love is the greatest emotion of all.
Matthew and Sophia’s pre-wedding was a blend of eastern influence meeting western culture. Since they both met and currently live in the UK, it was quite nice that their pre-wedding shoot was done in Malaysia when they came home for a short break. In such a short time, Sophia managed to buy a fitting red cheongsam for the shoot. We organized the make up artist Michelle for her and arranged for the gown from That Special Occasion. We discussed locations over email, made all arrangements remotely, and then met for the first time on the shoot day!
Wishing you an amazing future together – I am sure your kids will be blessed with good looks!
