Wedding

A phone call and a wedding 32 hours later

Grace came home from work, then flopped onto the bed as she would normally do, exhausted from the events of the day. We’d normally have a chat before getting ready for dinner or discuss renovation plans for our new home that’s still being built, some 10 months later. Today was different.

“Darling, I got a phone call today from Pastor Margaret. She asks if I can help shoot a wedding.”

“Sure, why not? Strange that she would call, though. When and who is it for?”

“Tomorrow night. 1.30am. For a Myanmar refugee couple.”

I shut my notebook and looked at Grace with eyes as large as golf balls. I echoed, ONE-THIRTY-AYY-EMM?

To understand this Burma / Myanmar story better, you’ll need to be armed with some basic information.

DEFINITION OF REFUGEE (oxford)
noun. a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

MYANMAR REFUGEE STATS IN MALAYSIA (UNHCR Malaysia)
As of end May 2011, there are some 94,400 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR in Malaysia. 86,500 are from Myanmar.

GNI PER CAPITA IN MYANMAR (average of how much a person earns in a year) (UN Data)
US$578.30 (as of 2008 stats) – which is MYR1,740.39 (PER YEAR!)

“What’s the rush? And why 1.30am?” To me, it sounded like a secret ceremony that had to be done in a hurried manner, away from the prying eyes of the world.

Grace Tan In Musings, Tips + Ideas

Wedding Do’s & Don’ts (as told by Grace Tan)

Some time back, Abirami Durai, a writer for Faces magazine contacted me. She asked me if I was keen on contributing some tips for couples who are about to get married and if they could feature my wedding in the magazine. The first thought that came to me was… “My wedding? That was 5 years ago!”

I said yes.

I don’t claim to be a wedding expert. I can only share from my experiences – whether it was from planning my own wedding or from going through many weddings as a photographer. (by the way, the article said I’ve photographed hundreds of weddings… just to let you know that the numbers are more modest than that, maybe a hundred plus?).

If you are interested in getting a copy of this magazine, you can buy it from any normal bookstore. It’s the July / August 2011 issue.

Do let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment here and maybe you can share some tips of yours as well.

There isn’t any photographer credit mentioned for my wedding images featured below. I’d like to thank to Andy Lim, Joseph Siew and Yean Tai for these photos here!

Grace Tan In Musings, Promotions, Tips + Ideas

That Special Occasion Gowns

If you are looking to purchase a wedding gown, you should visit That Special Occasion, especially when there’s a mid year sale going on now! I can personally vouch for their gowns… the designs are beautiful and the quality of the workmanship is excellent! So do contact them for an appointment before the sale ends!

Grace Tan In Malay Weddings, Weddings

Fahrizal & Shirah’s Royal Wedding

Photographers: Grace, Johan, Weiming & Ben
Bride’s Wedding Gown (akad nikah): Wan Zakaria
Bride & Groom’s dinner attire: Calvin Thoo
Make Up: Eric (akad nikah) & Naseeb (dinner)
Cake (nikah): Truly Scrumptious
Videography: RF Media
Dinner Entertainment: Orkestra RTM
Dinner Reception: Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

When Shirah first approached me to enquire about our wedding photography services, it never crossed my mind that I would be photographing my first royalty group photo a few months later. We had a good conversation then… she told me she teaches French in Sri Cempaka school, which amazed me! It was only on her wedding day that I realized she had a YM in front of her name. :)

Fahrizal & Shirah’s story began during their university days in London 9 years ago. They were on different paths of their lives and even though they didn’t show any interest in each other at the time, there was always an underlying chemistry between them.

Here’s Fahrizal & Shirah’s story from her perspective:

After graduating and moving back to KL, we became closer and eventually started dating in 2006. Back and forth dating for over four years and at the end of 2010 we decided it was the right time to get married. Our families were eager for us to be married quickly hence only 5 months preparation till the wedding day in May 2011!

I couldn’t be more delighted with the way the wedding ceremony and reception went – a complete success despite the typical unplanned and last minute difficulties a wedding presents, such as rain! Grace, Johan and the rest of the Stories team were so great in accomodating all of these issues and were incredibly professional in dealing with all the formalities and protocol. The sneak peeks of the photos have been beautiful and I would highly recommend anyone looking for a fun, happy and eager photographer who knows what they’re doing to hire Grace and her team!

Mark Leo In Chinese Weddings, Weddings

The Wedding of Gary & Mun Hin

Photographers: Mark & Johan
Hair, Make Up, Wedding Gown & Groom’s Attire: Just Married
Decorations: Memories DeWedding
Videography: Istudio Productions
Dinner Entertainment: Happy Fish Productions
Dinner Reception: HGH Convention Centre, KL

While Grace was in Australia shooting Jamie & Ann’s wedding, Johan and I were in Malaysia at Gary & Mun Hin’s wedding. Shooting weddings brings a lot of blessings because as photographers we get to know our couples and this time it was a great blessing knowing both Gary and Mun Hin. As doctors (yes they are both doctors), I initially felt intimidated by two professionals but after meeting them, everything seemed to turned better than fine, it was amazing!

Gary met Mun Hin while they were studying and things just blossomed. Here’s their story from Mun Hin’s perspective…

We met each other during 1st year of medical school. During the orientation, my mom was the one to introduce me to him! Of course, we didn’t jump straight into the bandwagon, we became friends at first and then it got quite lonely when you’re away from family (haha!) and one thing led to another and we started dating. When i first saw him i thought he he was quite handsome and got attracted to him.

One thing interesting that happened when we were studying in India was that me and my housemate bought a scooter because EVERYONE owned a bike, and he tried to bring me one day on the scooter but instead got into an accident which required stitches at some places and after that, I was the one to bring him all around town on the bike for 2 ½ years.

We then went on to graduate together and also worked in the same hospital for about a year. So, altogether we’ve been in a relationship for about 7 years. Fast forward, to 2011, we are now getting hitched!