indonesia

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, International, Weddings

An Indonesian Wedding at Gran Mahakam, Jakarta: Eric & Jennie

Eric and Jennie’s wedding was epic. It was my first time in Jakarta, Indonesia, and I was stoked that they had chosen us over the many talented photographers out there. Eric himself is a photographer, so that was a huge compliment to us. A few months before their wedding day, we got acquainted properly through their pre-wedding shoot in KL. This is just one of the many reasons why I love photographing couples before their wedding day. We get to break the ice and feel comfortable with one another prior to the big event.

It was in spring of 2009 that Eric first laid his eyes on Jennie. While I am sure he was praying during the church rosary prayer at Bullsbrook, Western Australia, Eric might have been a little distracted. Perhaps. Jennie was not a familiar face…plus she is a gorgeous girl! Eric soon found out that she was there from Surabaya, visiting her sister Anne for a week or two.

Thanks to social media and Mark Zuckerberg, they started connecting by messaging each other on Facebook, Yahoo messenger and MSN. In Eric’s words, “geek mode on!”. After a lot of prayers asking God for signs, Eric finally plucked up the courage to visit Jennie in Surabaya where she was finishing her medicine degree. That month of February 2010 was a milestone, because Eric and Jennie became boyfriend and girlfriend then.

During Christmas of 2010, Eric visited Jennie’s family in Malang, Indonesia and brought with him a Tiffany engagement ring. Unfortunately, Jennie discovered the ring accidentally in his camera bag, but he was quick to pop the question. She blushed. And then she said yes.

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

Pre-Wedding in Nikoi Island, Indonesia: Kevin & Katherine

Photographers: Grace & Alex
Make Up & Hair: Cherry Au
Location: Nikoi Island (off Bintan Island, Indonesia)

Some months back, I blogged about my travel to Nikoi Island for a pre-wedding photo shoot. I met Kevin & Katherine (also known as Ruifeng & Peishan) about a year ago when they traveled from Singapore to KL just to meet up with me. Katherine is an avid supporter of my work which I am grateful for. :) She comments on so many of my Facebook updates which is really really nice! Kevin & Katherine flew me into Singapore for their wedding on the 22nd of October, and prior to that, their pre-wedding shoot in Nikoi island.

I must say, I have a weakness for beaches, the sea and islands. Over the next few weeks, you’ll find a number of postings on the blog related to beach weddings – we photographed so many over the past few months! Back to Kevin & Katherine’s pre-wedding shoot – this was a memorable event for me. Actually, the trip itself was an adventure. Alex and I had to fly to Singapore, catch a ferry to Bintan island, take a 45 minute taxi ride across Bintan to another jetty, hop onto another ferry for 30 minutes, and then we reached Nikoi island! Phew! But it was worth it! I love the seclusion of this island, plus I could walk around it in 20 minutes. Alex and I had a private chalet to ourselves, thanks to Kevin & Katherine’s generosity.

To be precise, the chalet looked like this:

Since Katherine loves details, she planned and transported all these items for her photo shoot in Nikoi.

Grace Tan In International, Musings, Outdoor Weddings, Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits, Running a Business, Weddings

Updates, thoughts on business and time

One of my clients recently asked me, how do I find the time to blog, especially when my days are filled with meeting potential clients, going for shoots, sorting photos, checking through album layouts and responding to enquiries? (and on top of that, move house, move office and actually have a social life?)

My response is simple… I make time for it.

When I think back about it, I am amazed as well. Of course, there are days when I am overwhelmed with the workload. Since I started running my own business 3-4 years ago, I discovered that time is such an important asset. Everyday is a rush to complete the backlog of work that somehow manages to miraculously pile itself on my desk. Before I know it, a day has gone by, a week, a month, a year… where did the time go?

I am still learning the art of prioritizing my time. There are certain things I know I need to do, and those things are high on my priority list. Blogging is one of them. I feel it’s so important to have fresh content on the Stories blog, that no matter how busy I am, I must make time to blog. In my mind, blogging = marketing the Stories brand. How can I neglect something as important as marketing?

So yeah… I make time for it.

Here’s a simple update to what’s been happening the past one week:

Noel & Hui Yi’s pre-wedding shoot in Putrajaya

I love Pullman hotel for pre-wedding photography. The ambience is beautiful!

Kevin & Katherine’s pre-wedding shoot in Nikoi Island, off Bintan, Indonesia

With an amazing beach like this, you can’t help but feel soooo blessed at having a job that brings you places.

Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Portraits

Bali, Beautiful Bali!

During the Hari Raya holidays, a group of friends and I went away for a short trip to Bali. You can probably recognize some of these faces as I’ve blogged about a number of their weddings here on this blog! I am glad to have found such great friends such as these who are there to do every silly thing together with you. One of the things I suggested: A portrait shoot during our holiday! Since they LURRRVE to be photographed, everyone pretty much agreed to it! We even decided to colour coordinate our clothes.

This is my 2nd trip to Bali, and I hope that it won’t be the last one. I plan to go back one day for a pre-wedding shoot there some time. I have identified some really cool places to visit, and also made contacts with local Balinese there, so hopefully next year, I’ll be able to organize a pre-wedding shoot there. If you are interested in this idea, do leave a message here! In fact, the Wedding Story team would gladly fly to any part of the world to shoot your wedding. This year, we’ve had the privilege of shooting in Bangladesh and Holland.

Would like to share with you some of the many photos we took! Here’s my husband Alex and myself.