malaysia

Beach wedding, Four Seasons, Langkawi: Philip & Claudia

White, sandy beaches.

Puffy clouds, blue skies and a slight breeze that wisps through your hair.

A relaxed, intimate destination wedding at the Four Seasons Resort, Langkawi.

It all began six years ago, when Philip and Claudia met each other at an Asian party in Claudia’s hometown Malmö, Sweden. They started to chat with each other via sms and from there it went on to chats over coffee. Claudia had just returned to Malmö after her MBA at the University of Mälardalen and Philip had also moved Malmö for work. He was initially living in a smaller town about an hour away from Malmö.

They started dating that July, on his birthday. Three years later, Philip proposed to Claudia in front of the Fountain of Trevi in Rome! One of their biggest passions (aside from each other) is traveling and trying all kinds of new, exotic food. In Claudia’s words, that’s one of the biggest reasons they chose to have a beach wedding abroad instead of a traditional “big-fat-Chinese-wedding.” :)

What a great choice.

Enjoy these beautiful images taken by Ben & Weiming.

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Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Garden Wedding at The Club, Saujana: Jason & Annette

It was a season where masks were sold out at pharmacies. Everyone stayed indoors as much as possible and no one wanted to do any outdoor activities. But Jason and Annette had set their wedding date months ahead of time, not knowing that the haze would hit them smack in the middle of their wedding festivities. I was concerned too… after all, it was a garden wedding at The Club. I wondered if any of the guests would come prepared with masks.

A few days before the wedding, I sat down with Annette to run through her wedding program. She said she’ll pray really hard for the haze to go away, and so we both did. On their wedding day, God did a miracle and there were blue skies and the sun! Oh, the sun shone so brightly and made everything look perfect.

You couldn’t tell from these photos that just the day before, everything looked bleak and dreary.

I think Weiming and I jumped in joy (not literally!) when we saw the skies. Jason and Annette, it couldn’t have been better. I love intimate weddings and I think yours was truly warm and meaningful. I hope your dad is feeling much better and that Jason is more comfortable in front of the camera by now? :) Jason, thanks for being so accommodating and also for the bottles of wine after the party! Wishing you lots of joy and sunshine for the future.

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20130629_WEDDING_JASON_ANNETTE_0569 Continue Reading

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Beach Wedding, Andaman: James & Brielle

It was the perfect setting for a summer romance. The venue: Penang. Two families from 2 different continents – James from UK and Brielle from Australia happened to meet by chance at the very same resort. They were 15… young, adventurous and naive. From the moment James said hello to Brielle by the pool side, they were inseparable for the week of the holiday.

What started out as a teenage holiday crush, turned into keeping in touch regularly as pen pals. Naturally, they took every opportunity to meet up whenever Brielle came to the UK to visit family as she was growing up. Soon, the teenagers grew up, and after a backpacking trip to the UK when Brielle was 21, they both realized that their teenage crush was more than just a crush.

It was then that they started a relationship. Their first holiday as a couple was in Langkawi, and so Malaysia was a place where many memories were born.

Brielle returned to Australia and James to UK…and 6 long months of being apart made things really difficult for the both of them. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out. But circumstances changed in 2008, when Brielle returned to the UK to live there. With some persuasion from James, they met up and rekindled that teenage romance once again. From that moment on, they went on from strength to strength, and in 2011, he proposed.

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Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, International, Life, Musings, Portraits

A better future for Malaysians

It’s a historical day for all Malaysians. People, young and old, all over Malaysia head to the polling stations to cast their vote for the 13th Malaysian General Election. Years ago, after I graduated from my studies in Australia, I had to make a choice… to head back home or stay on to work in Australia. Somehow, deep down, I’ve always felt that Malaysia was home. It wasn’t a difficult decision to make. Right now, I truly believe that unless God calls me elsewhere, this is my home.

Despite all the negative things people say about this country, I still have hope. In God I trust. Our future lies in His hands.

My prayer is that our country will rise up to its fullest potential and that my children will have a positive future to look forward to. To all my fellow Malaysians, thank you for caring. You are making a difference.

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* My 4.5 month old daughter Krysta and I vote for a better Malaysia! *

Updated: 6th May 2013

Many Malaysians are mourning, upset and angry over the results of the elections. Change may not have come the way we expected. But as individuals living in Malaysia, let’s do our part in making Malaysia a better place to live in by living a life that is ethical, peaceful, treating everyone with respect. If you want to see change happen in this country, we have to each play our part to make a difference. No matter how small. Let’s not give up.

This blog is dedicated to celebrating life – new relationships as husband and wife, parents with their newborns, grandparents with their children and grandchildren… life carries on. It is my desire that the images we create here gives everyone hope that there is a future for the next generation. Remain positive. Remain hopeful.

Johan Sopiee In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Weddings

Music Themed Wedding: Kuan Kiat & Mabel

He was the talented musician at church and at the Overseas Christian Fellowship (OCF) in Australia. She was the young, international student who had just arrived at the Australian National University. It was Mabel’s friend, Shu Yi that somehow brought them together. Shu Yi had told Mabel that she had a friend in ANU who would be able to look out for her.

So Shu Yi said to Kuan Kiat, also known as KK… “My friend Mabel is coming to ANU, you must look after her!”. So during the 2004 international orientation, KK set up the Overseas Christian Fellowship booth, and met Mabel there. They didn’t quite hit the ground running romantically.

It was a very innocent meet up. Mabel signed up for OCF and got KK’s details to keep her abreast of upcoming events. She initially got his name wrong and called him Kiat Kuan in her first email to him. KK very kindly replied, “Its Kuan Kiat, not Kiat Kuan.” So began a good friendship and weekly encounters at the Overseas Christian Fellowship.

Despite his friendly nature, Mabel felt that he always had a façade. Like, there was something about him that she couldn’t quite figure out. They got closer as friends and shared a lot about their lives at home and their love of music and Malaysian food. Initially, she also struggled a bit at university and KK, the ever conscientious, overly meticulous student strategically gave her a lesson in planning and it was then that she realized, “I think I like this guy.”

So the intrigue began. Bit by bit, she began to peel the proverbial onion that was KK and discovered that the more she thought she had him figured out, the more she realised she didn’t. They are poles apart personality wise, (Mabel’s verbose, opinionated and very noisy. KK is the strong silent type with hidden talents no one would’ve known he was capable of and has a knack for surprising you when you least expect it.) but they have very similar upbringings and backgrounds – which was odd.

Then came the (Australian!) summer holiday of 2005, and they were home for Christmas and met each other’s families for the first time. Of course her dad was watching KK’s every move when he came to JB to visit, but her mom absolutely LOVED KK. About a month before they were due to return to Canberra to commence another year of university, KK messaged her on the phone and told her he misses her.

And which girl’s heart wouldn’t melt upon hearing those words. Naturally her heart hit the roof and thus began a relationship that has spanned almost 7 years.