island

Wedding Anniversary at Rawa Island: Guillaume & Eve

Guillaume and Eve live in France. 15 years ago, they met during a hydrotherapy session when she was just 18. They were both there for skin treatment. Three years of living in separate locations didn’t divide them, it strengthened their love, and soon, they bought a house together just 5 minutes away from Disneyland Paris. Travel and adventure is in their DNA, and on August 15th, 2009, Guillaume and Eve decided to get married in Las Vegas, with just their photographer as their witness.

10 years later, they decided to renew their vows at Rawa Island, Malaysia with their 2 kids as witness. It was a really meaningful ceremony for them, as they had just gone through 2 years of challenges after discovering their son had ADHD and autism. Despite the initial rain, it was the perfect day for the 4 of them. It was a celebration of the love they share together, and the strength that they get from being one as family.

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits, Weddings

Special Promotion with Rawa Island Resort

Book a romantic holiday at Rawa Island Resort and have your love immortalised through a photography and videography session with Stories.my, inclusive of hair and make up services. Whether you are looking to do a pre-wedding session, celebrate a honeymoon or your 10th wedding anniversary, this is the perfect getaway for you. Situated within the archipelago of the Sultan Iskandar Marine Park, Rawa Island is accessible by a twenty-minute boat ride from Mersing, Johor. It is a private island near Tioman Island. As a resort, it has received the Trip Advisor certificate of excellence for the past 3 years since 2016.

For only RM11,070, you will receive:
3D2N accommodation at Waterfront room (1 double bed for 2 pax – couple only)
Inclusive of 3 daily meals per person, welcome drink and two way boat transfer to and fro Mersing
Accommodation costs for Stories team is waived
4 hours of photography and behind the scenes video coverage
Personalised hair & make up services
1 photographer & 1 videographer from the Stories team
3 minute edited video highlight
Approximately 200 high resolution digital images on USB
Online password protected gallery
12″ x 12″ Lush album (40 pages)

Terms & Conditions:
1. Promotion is valid for weekdays and non public holiday dates from 1st February 2019 to 30th November 2019.
2. Additional charges apply for these variations – to request for senior photographer Grace, add on wedding gown or extra prints and canvases.
3. Accommodation costs covers the couple only (2 pax). You do not need to add on extra travel or accommodation costs for the Stories team.
4. Tourism tax of RM10.00 per room per night applies to all foreigners staying at tourist accommodation premises. Payment is to be made during check-out at Rawa IslandResort.
5. All bookings are subject to availability.
6. Reservations are confirmed only upon full pre-payment of non-refundable deposit.
7. Booking dates may be changed once to another date within the promotional period, subject only to availability by giving 14 days’ notice in advance. Additional requests to amend your reservation details or change in the length or dates of your reservation may result in a rate change / additional charges.
8. In the event of “No show” or “Early check-out”, guest will still be charged for the entire stay.
9. No refund in full or in part will be made for un-utilized services included in the package.
10. We reserve the right to cancel or modify reservations where it appears that customer has engaged in fraudulent or inappropriate activity or under other circumstances where it appears that reservations contain or resulted from a mistake or error.
11. Bookings need to be made and paid to two individual parties – Integricity Visuals Sdn Bhd (Stories.my) and Rawa Island Resort Sdn Bhd.

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Beach Wedding Tips

Getting married by the beach is such a dreamy idea.

The beautiful bride in her long, flowy dress. The groom looking dashing in his three-piece suit. The waves lapping behind the floral arch where the couple says “I do”. Flowers line the path leading the bride to her groom. Guests with wind-blown hair sitting around, thinking it couldn’t be any more perfect than it already is… except, are they really thinking of that? More likely your guests are wishing that their makeup isn’t melting into mush, or that those pesky sandflies attack someone else for a change, and maybe everyone is a little concerned about their sweat-soaked suits and dresses!

We’re not saying one shouldn’t consider a beach wedding because let’s face it, it really is dreamy. So here’s what you should look into prior to planning your destination beach wedding so it doesn’t just look beautiful, but feels comfortable for everyone too.

1. A practical dress code

Think light, thin material. Suits should be a no-no (the groom and groomsmen will thank you!). Well, if you really want to, keep it to a minimum. Allow your guests to come in more casual and practical attire. Of course, it’s ok to set some rules too as you don’t want everyone coming in t-shirts and beach shorts to your wedding! Continue Reading

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Pre-Wedding at Taaras Resort, Redang: Jonathan & Vanilla

This is a love story that spans across two countries… Malaysia and China. It was Vanilla’s best friend’s wedding in Penang and the 7th time she became a bridesmaid. So Vanilla travelled from China to attend the wedding, not thinking that she would ever find love on this side of the ocean. For the past 6 weddings, she had always rushed to grab the bouquet but this time, the couple specially presented the bouquet to her as a gift. As fate would have it, during her trip to KL after the wedding, she met Jonathan, who was her friend’s younger brother. Her first thought was that this boy was cute! They didn’t really have much time to chat until the day she was due to travel to the airport. Jonathan was tasked to send her to the airport and it was during that loooong ride that they got to know each other.

Vanilla was surprised that at the end of that ride, he expressed his love at first sight to her. He immediately hooked her heart that day, and soon, they were messaging each other everyday. Their relationship blossomed despite their age difference with him being younger.

I was privileged to travel with them to The Taaras Beach & Spa Resort on Redang Island for their pre-wedding photo session. Despite the rainy weather forecast, everything went really well and we had a beautiful day together. The couple’s family also came along for the trip, so we squeezed in some shots with them. All the best to the both of you as you start your life’s journey together.

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: