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

Garden Wedding at Pulai Springs Resort, JB: Andrew & Desiree

20150117_WEDDING_ANDREW_DESIREE_0623 “So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me… everyday.” – The Notebook –

Those words from Desiree’s favourite movie were part of Andrew’s vows to her that day. Although it had been 10 years since they have been together, every single day felt as fresh as if it were the first day of their relationship. To them, life is about enjoying simple things together. Just laughing at each other’s silly antics, having a snuggle on the couch, watching reruns of favourite movies.

Marriage is hard work. But it is totally worth the effort.

Congratulations Andrew and Desiree. You have to read the rest of their story here in their pre-wedding post.

Since we had too many favs from this wedding, we only posted the garden wedding photos at Pulai Springs Resort, JB and dinner at the Renaissance Hotel, JB. Watch their tear-jerking wedding video highlight to see more of what happened on that day, including Andrew’s rap performance and some ‘cheesy’ but cute lines from the both of them!

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

Greetings from beautiful Santorini, Greece!

Every single postcard image I have seen of Santorini promised clear blue skies matching the blue of the famous domes and breathtaking sunsets over the caldera. I packed in my bikini (and warm clothing) since the weather forecast said it was going to be around 15 degrees Celcius for my travel duration. When I arrived, I was in for a shock. The wind was bitterly cold, it rained for the first few days we were here and I definitely could not do any swimming in my bikini! Even the locals said that it was cold for them and this was winter weather!

But the village of Oia was as charming as the travel guides describe it. I love the little paths that led to nowhere, and then suddenly, opened to a gorgeous view of the Aegean sea. You can’t help but feel your heart skip a beat as you take in the breathtaking views that Santorini has to offer. I was there to photograph the wedding of John and Hazel, shoot portraits for my sister-in-law Sarah and her husband Terence and have a holiday at the same time.

Thank God the weather cleared up after the initial first few days and then we had sunshine! Though it was still very cold when the wind blew (I was wearing 4 layers, and Sarah only had her wedding gown!), we had a great time.

The official photos will be up sometime in the future, but in the meantime, here are some of my travel photos and sneak peak images from the shoots.

07-Oia-web We wandered around the romantic village of Oia for photos with Terence and Sarah. While we were doing so, we kept bumping into other couples on their pre-wedding photo shoots!

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Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Garden Wedding at Saujana: Si Howe & Joanne

20141220_WEDDING_SIHOWE_JOANNE_322 I must say, Si Howe and Joanne’s description of each other beats anything I have ever read before!

Si Howe:
Si Howe is loud, Joanne is quiet.
We are both from Ipoh. Yeay!
Si Howe loves to eat, Joanne eats mainly to survive. She is learning to enjoy a larger variety of food.
Joanne loves sleepy weekends spent in the house.
Joanne shops for therapy.
Both father’s are known as KH. So KH’s son married KH’s daughter.
Si Howe always the youngest suddenly has 3 younger siblings (in law).
Joanne always the eldest suddenly has 2 older siblings and one niece. (in law).

Joanne:

Si Howe is gregarious and loves being at the centre of attention. Joanne likes watching by the sidelines.
Si Howe enjoys watching sports on TV and Joanne like reality TV shows (erm.. like the Kardashians. Hehe)
Si Howe has good motor skills and loves competitive sports. Joanne has very bad hand eye coordination and cannot play a sport to save her life. Hence, she does yoga.
Si Howe observes the details. Joanne is a daydreamer and gets lost in her own thoughts…
Si Howe loves cars! Joanne just needs a working air con and a radio.
Si Howe is a tech geek and has a 3G watch, Bluetooth headset, Microsoft surface, etc. Joanne has never downloaded an MP3 in her life. (though Si Howe claims that he is not ENTIRELY a tech geek – he does listen to LP’s on a record player!)

20141220_WEDDING_SIHOWE_JOANNE_002 You might have seen Si Howe and Joanne’s Ipoh wedding photos before, so here’s the promised blog post about their other wedding ceremony – the garden exchange of vows at Saujana. This time, the event was photographed by Nigel and Ben. It was very much an emotional ceremony for all. Continue Reading

Grace Tan In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Wedding at Four Seasons, Langkawi: Masafumi & Yuko

20141123_WEDDING_MASAFUMI_YUKO_249 For someone who works in the hotel line, Yuko knew exactly what she wanted for her wedding. Since she works at the Four Seasons hotel in Shanghai, Yuko decided to have her wedding at another Four Seasons hotel… but in Langkawi! It was Nigel and Jamie’s first wedding shoot at the Four Seasons so they really enjoyed going around the resort, taking portraits for the couple before the ceremony. Beautiful venues always inspire creativity!

One of the challenges they faced though was language! Everyone was speaking Japanese, and unfortunately, Nigel and Jamie’s vocabulary was limited to “Arigatou gozaimasu” and “So! So! So! So!” Good thing for them, they could converse with the couple in English.

Honestly, language has never been a barrier for us in creating beautiful images. For someone like me who can only speak English and Malay even though I am of Chinese heritage… almost EVERY single wedding in Malaysia has bits and pieces of conversation I cannot understand! There is one language that is universal though, and that is the language of love.

That gentle touch… a smile… hands lightly caressing each other… two people just sharing a moment together.

For Masafumi and Yuko, those moments were captured on camera and yes, it made us smile.

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Weiming In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Wedding at Ayana Resort, Bali: Ka-Meng & Mary

20141129_WEDDING_KA-MENG_MARY_1101 A dreamer meets a realist.

It was a match that was meant to be. Mary, in her fun, loud and expressive manner, added lots of colour to Ka-Meng’s palette. The fact that she also spoke non-stop added lots of flavour to this unique partnership. On the other hand, Ka-Meng, in his secure manner, made Mary stay put in one country and gave a lot of security to the relationship. The 8 year age gap they share is hardly an issue but of course there were times when their age gap became apparent. Especially when Ka-Meng recalled going to work in a pink mini bus and doing audits using a blue/yellow marker pen instead of the laptop!

They could have met in university but they didn’t. He was studying his Masters of Business Systems and she was doing a degree back then. In fact, he was tutoring some of the subjects she studied, but their paths never crossed.

Ten years later…

They got to meet each other at work, even though Mary was in the Singapore office and Ka-Meng was in Melbourne. In her words…

“It was purely work matter back then (wink wink), although I thought Ka-Meng was quite a cute guy…and I was the prettiest lady he ever met! We got really close when I moved to Melbourne. He helped me with my house move, chose my first bed, gave me iMac 101 lessons and made sure I was not left out in the office social events. That… created a lot of rumours in the office.”

Well it all worked out well professionally and in the romance department too, because here they are, married at last!

20141129_WEDDING_KA-MENG_MARY_1118 The wedding was held in a gorgeous chapel at the Ayana Resort & Spa, Bali. Their friends and family members traveled to experience a ‘wedliday’ as they coined it… a combination of a wedding and holiday! The mood was really relaxed and despite the rain over the past few days in Bali. Planning an outdoor wedding overseas is pretty stressful, and because of the weather forecast, Ka-Meng and Mary decided to hold their dinner indoors. Thank God it didn’t rain during the ceremony! Ka-Meng and Mary were really hands-on with their wedding and Mary even created the wedding invite and photobooth props themselves!

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