Wedding

Mandarin Oriental Wedding: Colin & Kirsteen

She’s Malaysian and he’s Singaporean, but they met at school in Perth, Australia. Friendship blossomed and hours of conversation later, best friends became lovers. I truly believe that a relationship has a stronger foundation when it is built on friendship first. There’s just so much depth to it, especially since it started out with a love for mutual things. On the day of the wedding, everything felt really relaxed because this was their second event after their actual wedding ceremony in Perth about a week or so before.

Kirsteen gushed about her beautiful red evening gown that had her Iban heritage written all over it. In fact, it took her a long time to source for the right person in East Malaysia to weave the fabric and when it was completed, to find the right tailor for the job. Eventually, there wasn’t enough fabric to make the gown, so back to the weaving lady they went… and after much work, this gorgeous gown was made.

What struck me too was this really unique engagement ring that was heart shaped. I had never seen anything like that before. (I am sorely tempted to ask Alex to make one for me and propose all over again!). It was just gorgeous. It was then that I discovered that Colin’s mum is in the jewelry business and all the exquisite gems came from her.

There were so many rings, I had to ask Colin and Kirsteen which one was the wedding band!

We spent a few hours before the dinner reception just wandering around Mandarin Oriental for some portraits.

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits, Testimonials

Pre-Wedding at Sekeping Tenggiri: Eu Jin & Elaine

Dear Grace and team,

We LOVED the photos..and we don’t know where to begin to thank you and your team for the amazing job.

Grace, thanks for guiding us throughout the whole photo shooting session, and not forgetting the jokes which made the session less tense, but more fun! Despite that you’re pregnant, you worked your best to capture every moment of that day.

Diane, Thanks for organizing everything for us and you have never failed to be there to answer my questions. And also setting up appointments with Grace and Skyping with Eu Jin when he was in Singapore.

We could never thank you enough and the DVD Slideshow is LOVELY. The song suits us very much.

Your work has exceeded our expectation and we would like to thank you and your team from the bottom of our hearts for capturing these beautiful photos for us. We hope to have more photo session with stories….Hmmm maybe maternity shoots…or baby shoots…hehheh

With Love,

Elaine + Eu Jin

Dear Elaine and Eu Jin,

The both of you have been really fun clients, and now I can pretty much say, friends! Despite the rain, we had heaps of fun during this pre-wedding shoot! I still remember meeting Elaine for the first time and you telling me how you wanted to have fun shots like ‘hitting’ Eu Jin on the head with your ballet slippers… :) We didn’t quite do that, but yeah, we did do a number of silly things including a pillow fight, a dance contest, running on the streets with your silly looking alien kite.. haha…

It’s people like you who make me feel young all the time… and smitten all at the same time, believing in the power of love!

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Weddings

Fuchsia Pink Wedding: Daniel & Keshia

In today’s society, getting married before the age of 25 is considered young.

“We need to save up enough money first” or “Let’s enjoy singlehood while we can!”

For Daniel and Keshia, these thoughts were never on their mind. They loved each other, ever since they were best friends at school, and they knew for a fact that they wanted to marry each other. Personally, I think it’s a great idea to get married young, especially when you know for sure that’s what you want. You have more years to build life together and you don’t keep each other waiting for too long!

Daniel and Keshia, we had an awesome time at your wedding. Thanks for sharing your lives with us. Loved the fact that you wanted us to ‘highlight’ your height differences… not to hide it, but to make it obvious! Haha… the both of you are absolutely fun loving people and I am sure you’ll build a great marriage together, with God in the centre.

For the people viewing this blog post, be warned, I am not very good at cutting down the number of images in one post! And if you still want to see more images, there’s a slideshow too at the end of the post!

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 Indian + Punjabi Weddings, Weddings

Hindu Temple Wedding: Chris & Anusha

It was a case of love at first sight.

It felt almost like a fairy tale, except this story came true. Christopher had traveled all the way from UK to Malaysia, for his brother Robert’s wedding in early 2011. Incidentally, Robert was marrying one of Anusha’s girlfriends. About a week before the wedding, everyone went out for a party, and it was there that Chris met Anusha for the first time. At that moment, they clicked instantly and chatted for a long time… and they were both smitten. It happened out of nowhere, yet it felt so right.

The next few days, Anusha brought Chris around KL sightseeing and even met his parents for dinner within the short 2 days that they got to know each other. By the time they left for Langkawi, they were practically inseparable and started to really fall for each other…

“We were totally oblivious to our surroundings… What was even more romantic, was that he told me during dinner what he’d wear one day when he got married and that he could imagine me in a white dress and that I’d be really beautiful. It was all so genuine and real. Even my friends were noticing that this was more than just a holiday romance. It was something really serious, especially for a couple who had just met.” – Anusha –

Soon, realization set in that Chris was due back in England in a couple of days. They had a serious conversation about their relationship and mutually decided that they were going to do what it takes to make this relationship work. That was the start of a heartbreaking long distance relationship (not to mention expensive!). But thank God for technology, they could also date via Skype, whatsapp, viber… and what was amazing that the distance did not break them apart, but brought them even closer to one another.

Chris started making plans to move to Malaysia, but he didn’t have a job… yet. He googled for potential expat jobs in Malaysia and Anusha was scrutinizing countless recruitment websites and newspapers. Some time in June 2011, Chris heard from a local international school who wanted to give him a phone interview as a design and technology teacher. Within 2 weeks, he got the job, and he would have to start work in Malaysia by August!

However, Chris had to pack up his 27 years of UK life, all the way from North Yorkshire, into a suitcase and move to a totally foreign country, to the hustle and bustle of PJ!

“We had no doubts, no fears… just excitement of being together and starting a life. I sourced for potential accommodation for us (made sure it was near a gym, supermarket, etc so that it would be accessible for him) and helped him make the move. It was not easy, initially leaving everything he has been used to in the UK… the lifestyle, his flourishing DJ-ing and music career, his parents and family members, his best friends, the food (he still can’t take nasi lemak!), the weather, the culture… but I can honestly say that going through this journey together has brought us a lot closer. And I too, was willing to give up my time and effort to make sure that he was truly happy and settled here in Malaysia.

On Sept 28th, my 27th birthday, much to my surprise and happiness, he proposed to me and of course I said yes! I had no idea it was going to come this soon, but it felt sooooo right and we were ecstatic!” – Anusha –