garden

Benjamin Lim In Chinese Weddings, International, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Morning Star Estate, Melbourne: The Wedding of Sam & Kathy

Sam and Kathy’s wedding has all the elements that make our hearts beat a little faster. Their wedding day started out traditionally with Chinese and Vietnamese influences, and then progressed to a beautiful outdoor, garden wedding at the Morning Star Estate in Melbourne, Australia. Dinner reception was held at The International of Brighton.

Sam and Kathy engaged us for a pre-wedding some months back, which was photographed by Grace. I’ve not personally met them till the day before their event in Melbourne, Australia. Sam seemed like a laid back, chill kind of guy but one who is particular about his coffee. Kathy is bubbly, cheerful & fun girl who’s into video games along with Sam. They are both really wonderful and easy to get along with.

This was my first time covering a semi-traditional Vietnamese wedding and it was pretty interesting to witness it. There were some similarities to the Chinese tradition like exchange of gifts, the games and negotiation prior to ‘picking up the bride’. The wedding day started beautifully though it was a little cold in the morning (both Alex and I were too used to Malaysian weather!). Blue skies and fluffy white clouds (plus vineyards!) were perfect ingredients for a beautiful garden wedding.

We love how Sam and Kathy personalized their wedding invitation with a wax seal and beautifully handwritten calligraphy by Sam (you’ll see a sample of that later!).

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Cyberview Lodge Garden Wedding: Chris & Anusha

She thought of her early conversations with him, and how he envisioned her in this gorgeous white wedding gown… and she felt sad. Not because they weren’t going to tie the knot, in fact, he had already proposed… but she felt sad that if she only had a Hindu temple wedding, his dream wouldn’t come to pass.

Though finances were tight, they went ahead and planned for a garden wedding ceremony too. And his dream of seeing her in a gorgeous white wedding gown came to pass.

Chris and Anusha, the both of you look stunning!

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Passion Road Wedding: Roger & Cheryl

It was truly a touching and memorable wedding for the team. It’s weddings like these that remind me why we are doing what we do. That behind all these images are two people who are absolutely in love with each other. It’s a celebration of love, hope and gratefulness. I think my grin matched Roger’s that day. Everyone was happy. It was perfect.

Roger and Cheryl first met in college during the induction session. They were course mates but initially, they didn’t interact as much. She was very much reserved and quiet – always very focused in discussions and lectures; she didn’t have much to say… or perhaps, not to Roger anyway. He was the geek in the bunch, mostly spending time in the library summarizing lecture notes and studying.

It was only after a year that Roger started taking an interest in Cheryl. Though she didn’t say much but it was the quietness that caught his attention. Life then became more interesting for him; he was able to know her better day to day. Somehow it gave him a reason to be closer to her.

Time soon flew by and it was their final year in university. Eventually, after much deliberation, Roger finally mustered the courage to ask her out – but it was only enough to do so through MSN! It certainly didn’t make a good impression of him, but she agreed to the first date. Not long after, they officially got together on 24^th June 2004, right after the first semester exams.

And that, was the start of an extraordinary journey for the both of them.

Johan Sopiee In Church Weddings, Indian + Punjabi Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Indoor Garden Wedding: Vinod & Pamela

LEO club and ‘berdating“?

This is how Vinod and Pamela described themselves:- “We first met at LEO club (those of you born in the 80s would know this). We coincidentally went to the same Maths tuition. We used to go “berdating” at the mamak near school and in Ravi’s Canai & Such and the USJ 4 padangs. We talked about anything and everything under the sun. It was quite obvious that we enjoyed each other’s company.”

On the actual wedding day, their theme was purple, and boy doesn’t that say a lot about their character.

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Blue & White Wedding: Wilson & Elaine

I was stoked when Wilson and Elaine said that they’d use our little Smurfette, the VW kombi as their wedding car. I was even more excited when I discovered that their theme colours matched Smurfette completely – white & blue! Elaine is a hands-on bride, she planned and sourced for some of the wedding decorations that you’ll see in this blog post, even created the signage for the back of the kombi herself!

Well, even from our initial meeting about a year ago, I knew that she’d be a detailed person. After all, she is a lawyer, and working for such a big organization like the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, you’d have to be meticulous. Needless to say, she pored over the T&C in my booking form prior to signing it. A little nerve-wracking to have to explain everything to a lawyer! Haha…

Wilson came across as someone who was really easy going, but completely supportive of Elaine. It’s a great combination to have as a couple. Wilson & Elaine, we had a blast at your wedding. Thank you for being so relaxed and letting me head off earlier, even before the dinner reception ended, since I was really quite tired from the pregnancy. I love how everything came together so beautifully, and how the morning Chinese theme blended in with the more western theme of the evening. All the best for the future!