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Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Pre-Wedding: Noel & Hui Yi

Photographer: Grace
Hair & make up: Doris
Wedding gown: Pretty In White
White lacy umbrella: Crafio
Location: Pullman Hotel, Putrajaya

It was 4am in the morning. Hui Yi woke up to discover her eyes were red, puffy and swollen. It wasn’t because of the lack of sleep the night before. It wasn’t normal. But with the courage to carry on, and under the talented hands of Doris, the make up artist, Hui Yi was transformed. When I rolled around to Pullman Hotel at 7am, I didn’t even realize her eyes were swollen.

Thank God for amazing make up artists, and for clients who have faith in them and also their photographer.

Hui Yi told me before the shoot that Noel is quite camera shy. I reassured her that 80% of my brides tell me their grooms are camera shy or don’t really like taking photos. Most times I meet my clients before our photography session, but when they live overseas or time does not permit, I only get to meet them on the shoot day. In a short span of time, I have to build a rapport with my clients and get them to feel comfortable with me. It’s definitely a challenge but I do enjoy the process!

Noel travels a lot for work and so this meant that a long distance relationship was necessary. I do respect couples who despite the distance, manage to make the relationship work. It takes resilience, patience, and also lots and lots of love!

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 Church Weddings, International, Weddings

Singapore Art Museum Wedding: Ben & Jun

Photographers: Grace & Ian Chong
Wedding Gown, Groom’s Attire & Make Up: Blush Blush Singapore
Decorations: Defloral Gallery, Singapore
Church Ceremony: Singapore Art Museum (SAM)
Dinner Reception: Carlton Hotel Singapore

When Jun first contacted me about her wedding shoot in Singapore, I was ecstatic. I had never shot an actual day wedding in Singapore prior to this wedding. And then when she told me that her wedding was to be held at the Singapore Art Museum, I was squealing like a little girl (of course outwardly, I appeared all calm and professional). Anything with the words “artsy and colonial” definitely gained 200 brownie points in my book.

After a little crisis two days before Ben and Jun’s wedding, I was glad to have landed safely on Singaporean soil. Since Ben and Jun live in Perth, I did not have the chance to meet up with them until the day before the wedding. Instantly, I knew I could connect with them. Hearing their funny stories about each other made me laugh too. It’s so good I have to share it here…

Ben’s Story:

We met in a “safe” environment in church. The first impression that I got was: “this girl is bubbly and she can talk.” What attracted me was her outgoing nature and her ability to talk. This was the second time I met her in the company of 10 people. We went into a discussion about food in Malaysia and other random bits. The amazing thing was throughout the conversation, I was attentive to her, and found myself participating in that conversation in spite of having eight others talking in the background.

Growing up in a family that loves food, I come to realise soon enough is that she is a keen lover of food too and many of your dates were based on food tasting which was pretty cool but those dates certainly did not help my waist line.

One thing that never fails to amaze me is her beautiful voice. I can still remember the first time when I heard her sing in church. Words just don’t do justice to the sweet voice I heard that day. Mesmerise might be a good enough word to use and since, I have never allowed an opportunity to slip by to listen to her singing.

After knowing Jun for almost three years, I am still amazed at how thoughtful and caring she can be. The way she treats her family, her friends, “wow” is the word I use to describe it. Of course that caring nature does flow on into our relationship. Those times when I needed assistance, tender loving care, she has always been there for me. I am truly thankful to have found someone to spend my rest of my life with.

If there was an analogy that I could use to describe Jun, It would be a piece of onion with many layers. She has showed me different aspects from the sweet loving “Everything is fine” to the “This is not going to work”, Gung-ho attitude. All I can conclude is the more I get to know her, the more loveable she becomes.

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Weddings

Hun Young & Ju Yee’s wedding

Photographers: Grace & Mark
Wedding Highlight Videography: Alex
Hair & Make Up: Remy Ngon
Wedding Gown Boutique: Neoromantic
Cheongsam: Jason Yek
Guy’s Suit: Lord’s Tailor
Wedding Planner: James Kon
Dinner Reception: Crowne Plaza Mutiara Hotel, KL
Decoration: Favors Essence

Since they were teenagers, Hun Young had his eyes on Ju Yee. She’s that pretty girl in school whose smile and laughter captivated him. In that school hall, as Ju Yee played table tennis with her friends, Hun Young could not stop thinking about how she stood out in that crowd. She thought he was cute, but as with all teenagers, the definition of cute is rather ugly but adorable.

Luckily for Hun Young, Ju Yee’s perception of him changed over time and soon, they started going out. His first impression of her as a tomboy was quickly crushed…and now, many years later… they are married!

In my eyes, Ju Yee looks gorgeous. I cannot imagine her in short hair and behaving like a tomboy! I had the privilege of shooting their pre-wedding photos as well in Dusun Garden Fairies, so if you’d like to have a look at the photos, click here.

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Jack & Sze Hwa Marries!

Photographer: Grace
Make Up & Hair: Charlie from Michelle Touche team
Wedding gown (Princess cut with sash) & Evening shoes: Pretty in White
Wedding gown (Mermaid cut) & Evening Gown: That Special Occasion
White lacy shoes: Tang’s Studio
Jack’s suit: The Lord’s Tailor
Flowers: My Bridal Florist
Location: Dusun Garden Fairies & Pullman Hotel, Putrajaya

But not yet… not till January 2011 when they vow to be true to each other in good times or in bad, in sickness and in health. The title of this post was taken from their wedding website, designed beautifully to look like the New York Times report. I love it when I see websites like these because it shows how creative the couple is and how much they care about the little details that go into their wedding day.

And so it was natural that during the pre-wedding session with Jack and Sze Hwa, there were lots of yummy details that went into the shoot. Hwa said she wanted a picnic theme… and so she brought an amazing array of props to the shoot! The picnic basket was even prepared and sewn by Jack’s mother! Talk about dedication.

Jack & Hwa have both known each other since secondary school but they were just acquaintances back then. In school, she thought he was a bit of a geek and he thought she was just another (annoying) junior in his school!

This is their story…

Well…. Years went by and we lost contact. She went to Ireland to continue her studies and he on the other hand, left for Australia. However, during one of our summer holidays back in June 2003, we bumped into each other while we were dining with our parents in Overseas Restaurant, PJ! That day changed everything! We started to keep in touch and this continued on even when she was back in Ireland and he, in Australia! We talked on the phone EVERYDAY and would wake each other every morning (possible then due to different time zones!). So this continued on for 7 years. Yes, we have been doing the much dreaded long-distance relationship for that long. This has improved tremendously since she moved to Singapore ‘coz at least we now were at the same time zone.

We guess the thing that kept us both together for so long despite the distance was that we have always been able to talk about everything and anything and our passion for travelling (here, there and everywhere!), food (you have to see our collection of food pictures) and Moleskines =) !