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Grace Tan In Church Weddings, International, Life, Musings, Weddings

Myanmar Wedding: Bobo and Catherine

Catherine and Bobo are in their twenties and in love. They are youthful, enjoy life, love the Lord, and dream of a future together. Pretty much with the same dreams as any average young adult Malaysian. The only difference is that they are living in Malaysia as refugees. When Catherine traveled thousands of kilometres by land from her Myanmar home to Malaysia years ago, she had to face many uncertainties, fears and hardships as she made the journey here.

She moved to Malaysia because she wanted to help her parents who are pastors in Myanmar to support their younger siblings through school. Even though she didn’t know anyone in Malaysia then, she left the comforts of her home to a foreign land, alone. Somehow, God connected her to some other Myanmar nationals who were also seeking refuge in Malaysia. And it was there that she found a church to belong to – a church that spoke her language and were filled with her own countryfolk.

Interestingly, Catherine got to know Bobo at church, but only got to know him better at another Myanmar refugee wedding we photographed 2 years ago. When I asked Catherine what attracted her to Bobo… she answered without hesitating… “I love how he loves the Lord.”

Since most of their friends (including them) work at restaurants or boutiques in shopping malls that close after 10pm, it’s natural that the only time they can conduct a wedding is at midnight.

How our paths crossed
One day, I got a FB message from a girl named Sheryl asking if I could recommend a place where Catherine could get a wedding gown for under RM400. This girl Catherine also had in mind to send the gown back to Myanmar to her father’s church after her wedding so that it could help other girls who couldn’t really afford a gown. After a few messages, I told her that I had my old wedding gown which I could give to her if she was keen on having it (since we were both petite at XS size). I met her in church one day, and gave her 2 of my wedding gowns to choose from. It fit her to a T! It was really special to see that my gown went to someone who appreciated it so muchI also want to thank the team of people who came together to make this wedding memorable for Catherine and Bobo. They include:

Make up & hair for bride: Michelle Touche
Make up & hair for bridesmaids: Shinny Ong
Photographers & Videographers: Stories.my (Ben, Diane, Grace, Wee Liem and Johan)
Wedding Cake & Catering: Makanlah Now
Church: DUMC

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

Wedding Video Highlight: Jeffrey & May

We love it when our clients share their life stories so candidly and freely with us. It just makes us feel as if we’ve known them for years! So much detail went into the planning for Jeffrey and May’s wedding… everything was executed beautifully by the vendors that came together for this wedding. Through the emotions shared on their wedding day, you can tell that they are very very much in love. :)

Jeffrey and May’s Story (and all the personalization that went into their wedding!):

Jeffrey and I have known each other for a long, long time. We met through a mutual family friend, who introduced us on the pretext of introducing me to someone who did his postgraduate studies in Oxford and was in a position to advise me on the same, as I was also going to pursue my postgraduate studies then. Little did I know then that it was a match-making event! While we hit it off almost immediately, I was totally oblivious to all these until much later!

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

Parisian Themed Wedding: Jun Ven & Adelene

It’s been a few months since Jun Ven and Adelene’s wedding, but I’d still like to share some of the images and video that were taken on their wedding day by our team – photography by Johan and Weiming, and videography by Joshua and Wee Liem. Some of you might have seen their pre-wedding photos that I took some time back with the same Parisian theme. You can read about their story by clicking on the link above.

It was a beautiful day in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, and the skies were blue… unusually gorgeous, unlike most hazy days in the city. Before arriving at the church, Jun Ven and Adelene had already gone through the traditional chinese chip san leong events, and appreciated families through a meaningful tea ceremony. Friends and family members gathered from all over the world for their wedding. In the capable hands of their wedding planner, Mun Tzin of Milestones, everything came together beautifully.

It was a day to remember.

Johan Sopiee In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Weddings

Music Themed Wedding: Kuan Kiat & Mabel

He was the talented musician at church and at the Overseas Christian Fellowship (OCF) in Australia. She was the young, international student who had just arrived at the Australian National University. It was Mabel’s friend, Shu Yi that somehow brought them together. Shu Yi had told Mabel that she had a friend in ANU who would be able to look out for her.

So Shu Yi said to Kuan Kiat, also known as KK… “My friend Mabel is coming to ANU, you must look after her!”. So during the 2004 international orientation, KK set up the Overseas Christian Fellowship booth, and met Mabel there. They didn’t quite hit the ground running romantically.

It was a very innocent meet up. Mabel signed up for OCF and got KK’s details to keep her abreast of upcoming events. She initially got his name wrong and called him Kiat Kuan in her first email to him. KK very kindly replied, “Its Kuan Kiat, not Kiat Kuan.” So began a good friendship and weekly encounters at the Overseas Christian Fellowship.

Despite his friendly nature, Mabel felt that he always had a façade. Like, there was something about him that she couldn’t quite figure out. They got closer as friends and shared a lot about their lives at home and their love of music and Malaysian food. Initially, she also struggled a bit at university and KK, the ever conscientious, overly meticulous student strategically gave her a lesson in planning and it was then that she realized, “I think I like this guy.”

So the intrigue began. Bit by bit, she began to peel the proverbial onion that was KK and discovered that the more she thought she had him figured out, the more she realised she didn’t. They are poles apart personality wise, (Mabel’s verbose, opinionated and very noisy. KK is the strong silent type with hidden talents no one would’ve known he was capable of and has a knack for surprising you when you least expect it.) but they have very similar upbringings and backgrounds – which was odd.

Then came the (Australian!) summer holiday of 2005, and they were home for Christmas and met each other’s families for the first time. Of course her dad was watching KK’s every move when he came to JB to visit, but her mom absolutely LOVED KK. About a month before they were due to return to Canberra to commence another year of university, KK messaged her on the phone and told her he misses her.

And which girl’s heart wouldn’t melt upon hearing those words. Naturally her heart hit the roof and thus began a relationship that has spanned almost 7 years.

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Weddings

Church Wedding: Jake & Elaine

As a wedding photographer, I get to meet all sorts of couples… those who are complete opposites of each other, those who have been dating for 10 years, not married yet and have been nagged to death by their grandmother, and also, those who decided to tie the knot just after a short period of dating. While some people think that you shouldn’t decide on a life partner without first dating for a minimum of 1 year, I personally think it’s alright to decide on marrying someone within a short period of time, if that’s what you’re certain of.

Jake and Elaine had been dating for 8 months before Jake proposed. Before they started dating, they used to get on each other’s nerves (apparently, I was told that they still do!)…but on their 2nd date, after one fateful day at the cinema watching the most romantic of all movies… Avatar (coincidentally the lead character’s name was Jake too!)…they decided that this was a relationship worth considering. From that day onwards, they never looked back. I wonder what transpired during this date to make them change their minds!

These set of images were taken by Ben and Weiming. I love all the heartwarming moments caught on camera!