Kuala Lumpur

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Testimonials, Weddings

The Wedding of Son & Jil

We would both like to say how very very glad we are to have chosen Stories. It was the second largest expense on our tiny wedding budget (there goes the deposit for our home!) and as mentioned to Grace, we initially had doubts as to whether we could afford to spend that kind of money on just photos! However, I really fell in love with Grace’s work at first sight and watching our quick edit morning CD confirmed that it was worth the extra $$ we had to squeeze out for the photos! Everyone (including us) were so impressed by the professionalism and warmth exhibited by Grace, Ben and Andrew.

A special thanks to the team for the lovely shots (I really wanted the focus to be on the people, which Grace & team delivered beautifully), Ben for great editing (Son has burned too many copies of the DVD, my mum has distributed these to her entire village and Son has tortured our relatives and friends in Malaysia and Adelaide innumerably with it ‘cos he’s really pleased with how “yao-yeng” he looks in it) and we really really appreciate Ben and Andrew’s patience and understanding (in particular, Ben’s sensitivity towards Son’s nervousness at public speaking when he subtly suggested Son use the podium) during the loooong evening dinner.

Once more, we really really want to thank Grace, Ben and Andrew for making our special day all that much more special and we can’t gush on enough about how much we love Stories! :)

– Son & Jil –

Weiming In Malay Weddings, Weddings

Nikah & Shangri-La Reception: Fariz & Nadia

Lovely. Down to earth. That’s how I would describe Fariz and Nadia. Johan and I were glad that we were given the honour and privilege to capture their special moments from their berinai ceremony to their akad nikah and finally to their grand dinner reception.

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Weddings

A Winter Themed Wedding: Aldrian & Mei Mei

Their love story began as a chance meeting – two strangers enrolled as classmates back in 2001 during their A-Level studies.

“Aldrian was just hanging out with his cousin, Johnny, and refused to enter the classroom on his first day. – no pretty girls lah – he said. Minutes later, I brisked by with a friend, feeling truly nervous about my first day of college. As I passed Aldrian, I noticed that he was quite handsome too – but you don’t say these things out loud of course! Not long after, Aldrian sat next to me in that class…. and we have always been side by side ever since. Throughout the years we have truly become each other’s best friend and soul-mate.

After college, we came to the UK together to further our studies. Finally, after 10 years – after completing my PhD and all that hoo-ha of trying to settle down in London, we thought that the time was right. And it was just perfect.

We now live together in our very own love nest in Canary Wharf with our baby rabbit, Bijoux. Bliss :)”

– Mei Mei –

I got to know Aldrian and Mei Mei through a friend of mine, Adelene, who was Aldrian’s sister. I had never met them before, and all correspondence was done online, until they came back for the wedding itself. Since they were not in KL, it helped that they had a wedding planner to coordinate everything. I first heard about the winter wedding theme from Mun Tzin of Milestones… and I wondered how it would really look like. Frankly, I was a little hesitant at first, as coloured lighting in a ballroom can either work for you or against you. I have photographed some events with extremely strong multi-coloured lighting shining on stage, and the results… well, let’s say I was less than pleased with it.

Some colours tend to bleed onto skin tones, making people look overly purple or green. I was quite concerned that the light would be too strong and we would end up with shots that look like we were at a Smurf convention (sorry, Mei Mei!). But when I arrived at the ballroom that day, I was pleased to see that the blue light was not direct lighting, and that the stage had yellow light, which added warmth to the skin tones! So I loved the end results!

Be prepared, this is a super long post with heaps of photos! Sorry if it is taking too long to load, but I can’t help myself!

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Pre-Wedding: Chee Onn & Debbie

Everyone claims that they are not good in front of the camera. I don’t blame them, because most people would not have taken professional photos of themselves prior to their wedding day. Studio photos of you blowing your 1-year-old birthday cake candle doesn’t really count!

It’s the job of the photographer to make you feel comfortable in front of the camera. To make everything look natural and not posed (even though it was!). To make it seem as if the photographer was non-existent, because the image should be about the couple and the moment they are sharing, not drawing attention to the person behind the camera. There are times when I ask the couple to look at the camera, but most of the time, their eyes are on each other. Just as it should be…

I totally enjoy photographing couples in love. Connection is something that cannot be forced. Of course, living in an Asian country, where most people have some ‘issue’ with public displays of affection, it’s normal to feel awkward initially kissing in front of a photographer! In every pre-wedding or engagement session, I tell my couples that it takes a bit of time to warm up, but once they do… they end up having a great time!

Debbie & Chee Onn:

Debbie didn’t really sleep the night before the shoot because she was really excited! It was kinda awkward at the very start because we are both not really the photo taking type. Grace, it was good that you were around to get us warmed up! We did not know what to expect on that day so we were just following your lead which was very good. After the shoot, we were pretty anxious about the pictures. We were afraid that we didn’t prepare enough for the shoot.

But after seeing the pictures, all worries were gone because it was good and you captured the right moments! We loved the black and white photos too, cause it gave a very retro feel to the pictures which we like a lot.

Thanks once again, for making the shoot memorable for us. :)

Grace Tan In Malay Weddings, Weddings

Adam & Dalilah’s Nikah & Reception at Mandarin Oriental

Photographers: Grace, Johan & Weiming
Make Up: Khir Khalid
Flowers & Decorations: Flora Etc
Cake: Delectable by Su
Videography: Manggis
Dinner Reception: Mandarin Oriental Hotel, KL

A few months ago, I photographed Adam and Dalilah’s engagement event, held at her beautiful home. Considering the engagement event was done really tastefully, I could not wait for the nikah and wedding reception to see what they had planned. I was not disappointed, for on that day, I was greeted by beautiful decorations that satisfied my taste buds and my shutter happy finger. Adam and Dalilah were surrounded by friends and family who were extremely warm and who obviously loved them very much.

I felt a little sad for them though that Adam’s mum was not able to attend the wedding as she fell ill during that period. Luckily for her, the videography team recorded every moment and she even witnessed the event online as it happened.

The dinner reception was held at the Mandarin Oriental for a large group of 800 people. There were royalty and VIPs present for the dinner that night. The ballroom was transformed into an elegant and grand space – the entire ballroom was covered with dark purple curtains. I love the colour theme and I think purple just looks great in every wedding! (That was why my wedding had a purple and white theme too!).