outdoor

Andaman, Langkawi: The Wedding of Kevin & Felicia

Two Asians, living abroad, who had never dated another Asian before. If it weren’t for his English accent, Felicia may not have even considered Kevin as date material. Interestingly, they both met at a pub in Australia… she was there for a friend’s birthday and he was just catching up with his mate. It started with a magic trick that didn’t quite work out for Kevin… but one thing led to another, and who would have guessed? They ended up marrying each other.

We’ve only met Kevin and Felicia via Skype before their wedding day. He seemed like a reserved, quiet sort of guy, and she came across as a friendly and fun person. Every beach wedding that we shoot is a challenging experience with the humid Malaysian weather combined with a difference in exposure between the beach and the shade. Unfortunately I forgot to drink enough water and fell sick the next day after the shoot! But I am not really complaining, because beach weddings are a nice break from the ‘normal’ weddings we get in the city.

During the wedding, we discovered that Kevin and Felicia are a really sweet, emotional and romantic couple. She cried quite a bit during the ceremony. The dinner reception was a blast, and everyone had fun dancing to Oppa Gangnam style (I lost count of how many times they danced to it!). Everyone participated… and the dance even extended to the sea (especially after everyone had a few drinks). Hope you’ll enjoy these photos and slideshow!

Benjamin Lim In Chinese Weddings, International, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Morning Star Estate, Melbourne: The Wedding of Sam & Kathy

Sam and Kathy’s wedding has all the elements that make our hearts beat a little faster. Their wedding day started out traditionally with Chinese and Vietnamese influences, and then progressed to a beautiful outdoor, garden wedding at the Morning Star Estate in Melbourne, Australia. Dinner reception was held at The International of Brighton.

Sam and Kathy engaged us for a pre-wedding some months back, which was photographed by Grace. I’ve not personally met them till the day before their event in Melbourne, Australia. Sam seemed like a laid back, chill kind of guy but one who is particular about his coffee. Kathy is bubbly, cheerful & fun girl who’s into video games along with Sam. They are both really wonderful and easy to get along with.

This was my first time covering a semi-traditional Vietnamese wedding and it was pretty interesting to witness it. There were some similarities to the Chinese tradition like exchange of gifts, the games and negotiation prior to ‘picking up the bride’. The wedding day started beautifully though it was a little cold in the morning (both Alex and I were too used to Malaysian weather!). Blue skies and fluffy white clouds (plus vineyards!) were perfect ingredients for a beautiful garden wedding.

We love how Sam and Kathy personalized their wedding invitation with a wax seal and beautifully handwritten calligraphy by Sam (you’ll see a sample of that later!).

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Cyberview Lodge Garden Wedding: Chris & Anusha

She thought of her early conversations with him, and how he envisioned her in this gorgeous white wedding gown… and she felt sad. Not because they weren’t going to tie the knot, in fact, he had already proposed… but she felt sad that if she only had a Hindu temple wedding, his dream wouldn’t come to pass.

Though finances were tight, they went ahead and planned for a garden wedding ceremony too. And his dream of seeing her in a gorgeous white wedding gown came to pass.

Chris and Anusha, the both of you look stunning!

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Passion Road Wedding: Roger & Cheryl

It was truly a touching and memorable wedding for the team. It’s weddings like these that remind me why we are doing what we do. That behind all these images are two people who are absolutely in love with each other. It’s a celebration of love, hope and gratefulness. I think my grin matched Roger’s that day. Everyone was happy. It was perfect.

Roger and Cheryl first met in college during the induction session. They were course mates but initially, they didn’t interact as much. She was very much reserved and quiet – always very focused in discussions and lectures; she didn’t have much to say… or perhaps, not to Roger anyway. He was the geek in the bunch, mostly spending time in the library summarizing lecture notes and studying.

It was only after a year that Roger started taking an interest in Cheryl. Though she didn’t say much but it was the quietness that caught his attention. Life then became more interesting for him; he was able to know her better day to day. Somehow it gave him a reason to be closer to her.

Time soon flew by and it was their final year in university. Eventually, after much deliberation, Roger finally mustered the courage to ask her out – but it was only enough to do so through MSN! It certainly didn’t make a good impression of him, but she agreed to the first date. Not long after, they officially got together on 24^th June 2004, right after the first semester exams.

And that, was the start of an extraordinary journey for the both of them.

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Pre-Wedding: Chris & Li Yen

It was at a neighbourhood park that Chris planned to do the big proposal. He had a group of friends hiding at some corner of the park, all ready with huge cards saying, “Will you marry me?”. Li Yen, well, she was completely unsuspecting. She went along with him to the park because he said, “A friend’s car broke down and we have to help him”. Little did she know that this group of guys would spring a surprise on her shortly after.

Out came the ring…

Li Yen was shocked, but she grabbed the ring before saying yes! There was not a moment doubt… Chris and Li Yen were on the road to marriage.

During our pre-wedding shoot, I found out how much fun Chris and Li Yen were. They were comfortable in their own skin and being silly in front of the camera. We started our day at Porto Romano Restaurant where they had their first date.