malaysia

Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Portraits

Portraits of Adnan & Ameerah

They met in medical school 8 years ago. He was the boy in class who made the most noise, and was always fun loving with a great sense of humour. He thought Ameerah was cute (apparently that’s all it takes, according to her). They started going out as friends, initially in big groups which eventually shrunk to just the two of them.

They spent a lot of time studying together, while listening to music on her iPod. It was only years later did she find out that they did not share the same taste in music at all! It was his excuse of sharing earphones just to be close to her. One fine day, he told her he loved her, and they became a couple. He was a total romantic, writing Ameerah love letters and sweeping her off her feet with flowers and fancy dinners. Many years later, he proposed at Lake Como and she said yes… and this March, they got married!

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Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Wedding Films & Videos, Weddings

Beach Wedding at Westin Langkawi: Jimmy & Wei Miin

He describes himself as a non-stop talker. Totally expressive, definitely funny and as I discovered at the wedding… a good rapper and dancer too! Jimmy was born in Massachusetts, US but moved to Hong Kong in 2006 and Singapore in 2010. Wei Miin, on the other hand, grew up in Malaysia most of her life but moved to Singapore and subsequently to Hong Kong to work.

Wei Miin is the sweetest little thing we have ever met. Her kind and gentle spirit brings such a wonderful balance to the relationship. I had the privilege of doing a short one hour casual engagement shoot with them before the wedding and found out that we had a few friends in common! We had so much fun at this wedding, it was crazy. There was an emotional first look, heartfelt vows, great speeches, superb dancing and crazy people jumping into the pool. You have to watch the video to believe it. I really love the edit for this 10 minute wedding highlight, beautifully done by Chi Yin.

Here’s an excerpt from their website about how they met:

Jimmy met Wei Miin during a random cooking class he decided to take in 2012 while finding interesting stuff to do in Singapore. Wei Miin caught Jimmy’s attention because he thought she was in a group of students who were young university graduates speaking Mandarin to each other (Wei Miin: Jimmy catches everyone’s attention as a class clown).

Jimmy found it interesting to get to know the quiet young woman who was very disciplined in her cooking skills and decided to meet up with her for coffee (Wei Miin: Well… Why not?). Even more intriguing was that Wei Miin’s friends were mostly Christian and he had a lot of “life discussions” with her during their friendship period.

After some encouraging by Wei Miin’s good friend (Liz) and Jimmy, Wei Miin finally decided to go to Alpha course and to church early 2013. What really sparked Jimmy’s interest was Wei Miin’s true desire to find faith in Jesus Christ, and even going to church on Sunday when Jimmy was not there. During those 2 years, there was a growing in faith in their relationship, a short breakup, and a lot of reconciling of cultural and personality differences.

Despite all that, from Jimmy’s point of view Wei Miin helped mold him into a more and more unselfish person, (Wei Miin: Jimmy really helped me to form a deeper relationship with Christ) and Jimmy was attracted to Wei Miin’s ability to listen, to be a gentle comfort in times of stress, encouraging and most importantly, selfless! (Wei Miin: I love Jimmy’s positive attitude towards life and respect his wisdom in tough situations). Jimmy realised that Wei Miin meant more to him than any other human being in the world and proposed on July 5, 2015 (Wei Miin: it was a surprise proposal at Tuscany and I said yes!).

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Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

A Day in the Life: Larry & Christina

I got to know Christina through my involvement with ibu, and when I conducted a photography workshop there, she was one of the mothers who attended. Christina and her husband Larry have been living in Malaysia for a few years now, but the time has come to end that season here and return to Australia. But not without leaving with great memories, since their little son Jamie was made in Malaysia!

So I was invited to their home to capture a snippet of a day in the life of their family, amidst the ‘mess’ of packing. Since Christina’s a voice actor, you can imagine how wonderful the session went, with fun storytelling sessions coupled with dancing moves. I am glad that Christina and Larry are just so comfortable being themselves in front of the camera (with no make up and messy hair haha).

Jamie was hilarious. He showed me his fun, extroverted character and warmed to me easily. It has been a pleasure getting to know you, Christina, and I wish you all the best in this new phase of life!

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Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Family Portraits at the Studio: Chris & Anusha

Ever since Chris and I had decided on doing an official photo shoot with our precious baby girl Vida Nevara Gavin, we knew that there was no doubt in our selection for the photographer it had to be Grace! We loved our wedding photos done by her so much, that we still look at them until today with such happiness that it brings back such amazing memories of that special day! Vida came into our lives on 11 Feb 2014, weighing 2.7kg and we never knew how much we could love such a little human until we had her. We wanted to do a shoot when she was a bit older, so we could really capture the essence of her and she could move around more. She has such a wonderful spirit about her and we already see a strong personality about her, which Grace managed to capture in the photos, her big eyes and cheeky laugh will let her get away with murder (in our eyes) and she does what she wants, when she wants, no one can tell her otherwise! We are so lucky to have been blessed with her and we are so glad we got to document this part of our lives with Stories!

– Chris & Anusha –

20150123_FAMILYPORTRAITS_CHRIS_ANUSHA_VIDA_028 Aaaw, thanks for the wonderful testimonial, Chris and Anusha! I am so happy to have been able to see your family grow. That is one of the most biggest job satisfactions I get as a photographer! Honestly, when we did the shoot, I was a bit worried as Vida was really in a world of her own … she is exactly as you described, curious and with a strong personality! I am glad I could capture the energy this little girl has and the love between the 3 of you. Truly, we cannot imagine how much our heart can expand to love someone until we hold another life in our hands. Lots of love to all of you!

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Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Beach wedding at Four Seasons, Langkawi: Chris & Lydia

Langkawi’s one of our favourite locations for beach weddings in Malaysia. The blue skies and gorgeous sunsets never cease to amaze us. No wonder some city folk I know have uprooted themselves and made Langkawi their home over the past few years! Chris and Lydia had their KL wedding ceremony a week before their Langkawi leg, and what a good choice it was! After their church ceremony in KL, it was party time in Langkawi! The vibe was relaxing and everyone was just out to have a good time. Enjoy the wonderful photography by Weiming and Nigel.

20150711-WEDDING_CHRIS_LYDIA_LANGKAWI-01 Here’s some advice from Chris and Lydia on how to plan a beach wedding:

We chose Four Seasons because we wanted our guests to feel like they’re on holiday at a resort the moment they arrive. Furthermore the beautiful architecture of the bulidings and the landscaped gardens by the beach helped add to the getaway feel.

It is essential to have a Plan B for outdoor weddings and we felt comfortable with Four Season’s in case it rains. The rhu bar at Four Seasons is an open air shaded area overlooking the beach which can be converted to accommodate the wedding ceremony if needed. And since we wanted to be as close to the beach as possible, rain or shine, this was perfect!

The beach can be extremely hot especially during the dry, hot months. So choose the cooler months and dress appropriately. We wanted a more casual wedding and thus didn’t opt for the full suit and tie. Our overseas guests certainly appreciated that they could pack light :)

We also provided some additional items for our guests like sunglasses, mosquito repellent, heel stoppers, sun block, hand fans, and snacks. There were also rental cars for their use in case they needed them to head out to the city. Guests will definitely appreciate these little thoughts when they arrive at your location.

Lastly, it’s important just to enjoy the moment and the whole occasion with the family and friends who have made the journey. Talk and mingle, laugh and reminisce. Time really flies when you’re having fun and before you know it, the day will be over.

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