vintage

The Vintage Wedding of Ben & Mui Yen

Photographers: Grace, Weiming & Ben
Wedding Dress: Mrs Pomeranz
Cheongsam: That Special Occasion
Evening gown: Daniel Yam
Bridal car: Classic & Vintage
Groom’s Attire: Emerald Brilliance, Red Label
Make Up: Eddy Kong
Decorations: Thoo Ching Yen
Cake: Tan Lye Synn
Flowers: Lee Foong Yen

I distinctly remember our first conversation regarding Ben & Mui Yen’s wedding. Mui Yen and I had a coffee at Starbucks, discussed her wedding plans, and one of the things she said was, “I would love to see images of people’s faces, scrunched up in glee.” From that moment on, the thought stuck in my head. In reality, Ben and Mui Yen’s wedding was one that was totally filled with fun and unpredictable moments. Everyone had so much fun at this wedding, and our team definitely captured many images of people’s faces scrunched up in glee.

I got to know Ben & Mui Yen through my husband Alex who went to the same school as Ben. Those Lasallians are a fun and noisy bunch! It’s always fun photographing a wedding where you know so many of the guests.

When Mui Yen told me she had in mind a vintage theme for her wedding, I was all up for it. Little did I know she wasn’t going to wear a formal white wedding gown… instead opted for a understated but classy custom made vintage dress from Mrs Pomeranz, ordered through Etsy.

This image taken in Classic & Vintage’s jaguar is one of my favourites from this wedding. It was such an impromptu shot – I just told Mui Yen to go for it, and she did!

The heng tais (which included some girls, in case you got a little confused) came dressed in classic outfits!

Grace Tan In Life, Musings, News, Running a Business

Our New Ride – The Volkswagen Kombi!

One fine day when Alex and I were talking about life and business, an idea suddenly came to his head… he suggested that we get a Stories-mobile; the Volkswagen Kombi. Frankly, I was a little hesitant at first… I mean, that thing is huge, OLD and might be really hard to drive. Good thing I can actually drive a manual car! I was concerned that I might not reach my wedding shoot destination if I had a vehicle like this. I shrugged the idea off until Alex brought it up again a week or so later.

He started showing me photos of really beautifully done up kombis online. I was smitten. Slowly but surely, I became hooked to the idea. And that was how our search for the VW kombi started. We contacted some friends who were VW enthusiasts and they put us in touch with other enthusiasts.

And then one day, we found this:

And so, unintentionally, the date 11.11.11 became significant to us. It was the day we bought our new bus!

By the way, this photo was taken in front of SS2 Mall, our new office space! But that’s a completely different blog post altogether. Take note that I went the hippy route and dressed for the occasion.

The kombi is in really good shape (considering it’s like a few years older than me… did I mention that I am over 30 now?) The colour is perfect cause it’s what we wanted in the first place (our Stories theme colour is light blue and dark brown). Some even pointed out that the number plate is perfect for a photographer (CF, as in, compact flash cards). I felt as if God was giving us the green light to get this bus.

Our little kombi will be used for shoots, and will also be rented to bride and grooms who are interested in using it as a wedding car. So far, 2 brides have already contacted me about the kombi. Our aim is to get it spruced up even more, but good thing is that it already comes with air-conditioning!

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Alvin & Melissa’s Zany & Fun Pre-wedding

Photographer: Grace
Hair & Make up: Charlie from Michelle Touche team
Wedding Gown & Cheongsam: Divine Couture
Groom’s suit: Granoff
Shoes: Stefano & Mario limited, Christian Louboutin
Location: Carcosa Sri Negara

I find it really amusing when a bride & groom can look super glamorous like this one moment…

And absolutely zany and crazy the next moment!

Fun, laughter and silly ideas. That totally describes the kind of shoot we had for Alvin & Melissa’s pre-wedding. Add to that equation a vintage Morris Minor that belongs to Alvin’s mom, lots of love and it becomes an amazing shoot!

It’s not very surprising that Alvin and Melissa came up with these creative ideas as they are both extremely talented and creative people. Melissa works in an advertising agency, and she even gave me a printed brief of what she wanted for her pre-wedding photography session! On the day of our shoot, I was tickled when I saw this sign outside their room door…

So sweet! Aaw, I think I melted into nothingness then. :) Alvin and Melissa even prepared chocolates for me! How thoughtful!

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Pre-Wedding: Eric & Jennie

Photographer: Grace
Hair & Make Up: Michelle Touche
Wedding Gown: That Special Occasion
Flowers: My Bridal Florist

It’s such a great honour when another photographer chooses to hire us as their wedding photographer. It’s also quite stressful, cause they have certain ideas about what looks great, and with their x-ray vision, can probably tell if I’m making a mistake. :) But thankfully, Eric is super easy going and went with the flow… and Jennie, well, she is used to being in front of Eric’s camera.

Eric is a destination wedding and portrait photographer, having set his footprints in Australia and Indonesia. Currently, both Eric and Jennie live in Jakarta, but last month Eric and Jennie traveled to KL; he had planned to attend CM Leung’s photography workshop and during the same trip, be photographed by us!

Since their flight was scheduled to arrive in KL the day before the shoot, that meant we had very little time to organize everything. Multiple emails were shot back and forth before the wedding. They chose the location, we organized the flowers and the make up artist. After their flight landed on Saturday afternoon, they headed straight to That Special Occasion and found a beautiful gown for Jennie.

We had an awesome time wandering the streets of KL, and it was great that we had so much help! Together with my assistant, Diane, Eric & Jennie had brought their entire family along! Eric’s sister Elsa was shooting some behind the scenes photos, and Jennie’s parents were there for moral support! Now this is a different sort of family holiday!

Eric & Jennie, thank you for your confidence in us. It was so easy talking to and photographing the both of you! I can’t wait to fly to Jakarta next year for your wedding… it would be my first trip there, so am excited about it! Perhaps I can spare some time after to go shopping as well. :) Hope you like these images!

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

An Audrey Hepburn inspired shoot: Bee Lee & Samantha

Photographer: Grace
Hair & make up: Michelle Touche
Location: Pullman Hotel, Putrajaya

When Sam contacted me about her Audrey Hepburn inspired pre-wedding shoot, I was ecstatic. You see, Sam’s a photographer too, and she knows what she really wants. Not just for her pre-wedding or wedding photos, but also in a man. From what I observe, Bee Lee compliments her perfectly. She’s excitable, he’s calm and collected.