garden

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Phong & Laura’s Garden Wedding, Kuching

Photographers: Grace & Mark
Wedding Gown: Vera Wang
Make Up: Shu Uemura
Groom’s Attire: Hugo Boss
Flowers & Decorations: Murloch (house) & Four Points Sheraton Hotel (for reception)
Stationery: Banana Greetings
Cake: Amy
Reception: Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Kuching, Sarawak

Phong & Laura’s story felt as if it came directly from a romantic screenplay. The setting: San Francisco.

Laura had traveled to San Francisco to be with her sister, Lisa who worked there. It was during this two month visit that she met Phong, who was Lisa’s colleague. Laura thought he was rather fun to hang out with and so they exchanged contact details and communicated via MSN. Fast forward a few months later, Phong had the opportunity to fly to Indonesia for work.

Perfect timing, as Laura needed another break from work too… and so she flew to Indonesia to visit him. From there, love blossomed and it was the most interesting weekend for her. As fate would have it, one week after he returned to San Francisco, he found out that the company he was working for was relocating to Singapore!

From then on, everything was history – and according to Laura, Phong loves to tell their friends that he flew halfway across the world to be with her.

During the wedding, Phong’s family flew in from Australia & Vietnam – and he was even reunited with family he hadn’t seen in years! I was really excited when Laura told me about this story… and also when she mentioned that her wedding would be held in her family home garden! It’s so meaningful when you say your vows in such a personal environment. There were so many elements that made this wedding a memorable one for me. From the Vietnamese car decorations, to the personalized popcorn box, to the massive trees in the awesomely pink ballroom… everything was just detailed so beautifully.

The other thing that made my heart skip a beat too was Laura’s Vera Wang gown. I instantly thought of the line from the movie Bride Wars… “You don’t alter a Vera Wang to fit you, you alter yourself to fit into a Vera Wang” (something to that effect).

I don’t know how much alteration Laura had to do, but she looked absolutely amazing in that gown that day.

Grace Tan In International, Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Pre-Wedding at Marina Bay Sands: Istvan & Shirley

Photographer: Grace, assisted by Alex
Locations: Marina Bay Sands & Southern Ridges, Singapore

Years ago, there was a possibility of me moving to Singapore. Other than the relationship pull factor (my ex was Singaporean!) plus the thought of earning a higher income… Singapore seemed like a decent place to live. Not surprising that Istvan and Shirley decided to hop over the causeway to work some time back. I met Istvan and Shirley for the first time on their pre-wedding shoot day. They were so easy to get along with. I am really thankful for clients like these because it just makes my work so much easier!

I was excited to shoot at Marina Bay Sands. The view is amazing! Thanks Istvan and Shirley for your generosity in putting us up for one night at Marina Bay Sands. Alex and I enjoyed the pool very very much. :) Hope you’ll like these images… I can still remember the heat from the deck! The both of you are amazingly sporting for doing all sorts of things under the hot sun.

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Ben, Kat & Aaron

Since Chinese New Year is just around the corner, and it’s the season for families to get together and celebrate life and love… it’s appropriate that I put up some family portraits today!

If you have spent even 10 minutes with this particular family, you will know instantly how warm and friendly they can be. Ben and Katherine are sincere, caring and absolutely trustworthy people. I got to know Ben and Katherine more than a year ago, and it’s been months since they’ve made the move to Singapore. Some time back, I photographed their maternity portraits, and now, little Aaron is one!

When I was in Singapore last December, we went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens for a family shoot. It was my first time there and I absolutely loved it! The place was just so pretty and definitely worth a visit again. Especially if I want to go somewhere nice to chill in Singapore (that is not a mall).

So here are some photos taken during our time together at the park.

Grace Tan In International, Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Beach to Garden Pre-Wedding: Eric & Mun Wai

Photographer: Grace
Location: Singapore and Dusun Garden Fairies, Malaysia

It was in a little restaurant in Suntec city that I met Eric and Mun Wai for the first time. We chatted, had tea, and laughed over various travel stories. I found out that these two are an adventurous couple. They are full of life and love to laugh! In Dec, I came back to Singapore for part 1 of their pre-wedding shoot. We ended up on a somewhat secluded beach near Changi (it wasn’t completely secluded, I just cropped the rest of the people out!). Would like to thank Eulyn too, who came to assist me on the shoot in Singapore.

Yes every now and then we would see a plane flying overhead us.

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Calvin + Audrey’s Indoor Garden Wedding: Part 2

Ceremony & Dinner location: Royale Chulan Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Wedding gown: Neoromantic
Evening gown: Sophia Bridal
Cheong sam: Emerald Brilliant
Make Up: Hebe Leng
Cake: Wong Li Lian
Flowers: Lee Wah florist
Photographers: Grace & Mark

As a follow up from Part 1 of Calvin & Audrey’s wedding… here are the portraits that we took after the wedding ceremony ended. I always encourage couples to set aside at least 45 minutes to an hour for these sort of portraits. After all that excitement, it’s always nice to get away from the crowd for a little while and spend some time together… with the photographer, of course! :)