I’ll officially be able to wear a “I’m a mum t-shirt” this December 2012.

Our little one’s 2nd baby photo ever! Even if it was taken with an iPhone camera. 

As of today (11 weeks), the foetus is only 4.31cm long. I’ve learnt so much these past few weeks. Like, did you know, at just 10 weeks old (about 3cm), the little baby has developed all of his/her vital organs like the kidneys, intestines, brain, liver, and other things like fuzzy hair is beginning to grow on the skin – even tiny fingers, toes and NAILS are being formed! At only 3cm long too! Some grapes are longer than that. I am just amazed at how wonderful this fact is, and how God truly creates miracles.

Truthfully, when I discovered about the pregnancy, there was joy mixed with anxiety. I couldn’t help but think about all my clients whose weddings I am due to shoot for 2012. What will they think? Will they be really upset with me? I suppose there’s a part of me that wants to please people all the time, though I know that you can never make everyone happy. I began to feel a little sad for the weddings I knew I just couldn’t shoot. At the same time, I knew that I have to let my life run its course. I can’t just put my life on hold for the sake of my clients. If it doesn’t happen this year, it might be next year.

When I told my close friends and family members about the pregnancy, they started to worry, “You need to slow down, don’t do too many shoots. Do you know it’s easy to get a miscarriage in the first trimester?”

Call me ambitious, but I still hope to shoot till the end of November.

Of course, I don’t do it foolishly, so I’ve made some plans. With much fear and trembling, I emailed all my clients to tell them about the news. I made sure I assigned a 3rd photographer for each wedding, at no extra cost to my clients, as a backup in case I only have the energy for half a day’s shoot. I gave them the option to have my other photographers shoot their wedding instead, in case they prefer to not have a pregnant woman prancing around on their wedding day.

Amazingly, almost everyone reacted positively to my email. I am blessed with great clients. They were totally understanding (though some were a little upset, but they said that my safety is top priority).

So I guess I’ll learn to adapt and life goes on.

I am excited! And yes, I have started thinking of baby names (though I don’t know the gender of the child yet!). The next few months will be challenging and yet, exciting. All I can say right now is, Thank God I don’t have morning sickness!

It must have been a stressful and challenging time for everyone but amazingly, everything came together and the hotel opened its doors for the first time to wedding guests in March.

Some of you might remember Colin and Yee Xing’s beautiful poolside ceremony at Capella, Sentosa, Singapore some time back.  A week before the wedding dinner in Malacca, Colin and Yee Xing had their actual wedding day celebration in Singapore.

Actually, I was rather unprepared at the scale of this event. I was so amazed when I walked in that evening to see lorry-loads of decorations filling the hallway leading to the ballroom. The amount of detail that went into this wedding was amazing. Enya of Storybook did a superb job in decorating the cocktail and ballroom area. When I entered the ballroom, I instantly fell in love with the red and black theme. Stunning!

What was challenging for Weiming and myself as we photographed this wedding was the fact that we had to cover 2 different dinners, over 2 consecutive days, with the same setting and decorations but different guests. On the 2nd day, the Chief Minister and Governor of Malacca (TYT) was on the guest list too! We had to look at things differently and try to approach the event with a new set of eyes for the 2nd day.

So, be prepared for a barrage of images, especially details!

Personalized notes and letters for the bride, from the groom.

Personalized logo for all the candy!

This candy bar was a hit amongst guests! I succumbed to temptation and took one chocolate bar too…

Family photos… love this location!

Day 2 with the VIPs!

The cool, unplanned part about the events of the 2nd day was when TYT got up from the main table and sang a song for Colin and Yee Xing to dance to!

It was a hit and highlight of the evening! What a great way to end the dinner party!

Credits:

Photographers: Grace & Weiming
Dinner reception: Hatten Hotel, Malacca
Wedding Planners: Wedding Acts, Singapore
Decorators: Storybook 

Here we go… a little about Euwing…

Euwing graduated from Monash University in Melbourne as a software engineer, and spent the past 6 years working in Intel, Penang. One fine day, while he was playing with a Canon 7D, he discovered that he has a creative side, and soon enough, together with his wife, they started a brand, With Love. It began with a Christmas party, which led to weddings, events, corporate videos, short films and recently, music videos. The initial idea was really to just go at it as a hobby, but it quickly became a passion that drove both of them. Euwing then decided to take the step of faith and quit Intel to join Stories.

Here’s one of the many weddings that Euwing has filmed in the past.

Yay! Who doesn’t love a discount!?

And since we’re in this super excited mood, we’ve decided to share some love with all of you! Our full day wedding videography rate starts from RM5,000, but it is only RM4,200 for the first 5 couples who sign on! If you’re interested, please contact us at hello[at]stories.my for the full details.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Prior to our first meet up, I had never met Paul Tan, the famous car blogger. I only knew about him through my husband, Alex, who one day, told me that I might get a call from Paul asking about wedding photography. And one day, I did receive an sms from Paul. Since he was traveling, and Jenny was in Sibu, it was really challenging to arrange for a meet up. Eventually, everything was discussed over email and sms, and shortly after, the Stories team was booked to photograph their wedding.

Ok I do admit that I sometimes google up or ‘check out’ my clients on Facebook, just to get a feel of who they are. Especially so when I have never met them in person. So I went to Paul’s Facebook page, and one of the first few things I saw was this photo of his wife posted on his wall… it said “Biniku gangster”. (translated, it means, my wife’s a gangster). Uh, she did look a little formidable in that photo, and I wasn’t sure what I was in for.

Fast forward to our first meet up (which was a few days before the wedding!), and I thought, Jenny has got to be the worst gangster ever! She was actually the sweetest thing, and really friendly too. I found out that she is a doctor working in Sibu, Sarawak. Being physically away made it a lot harder to plan their wedding, but eventually, they got around to it and everything came together.

I also discovered that Paul’s a man of few words (in person at least!), and my first impression of him was that he seems to be a really serious person. I found out that they met while schooling at Victoria Institution, and one of their favourite hobbies is eating together (that is soooo Malaysian!).

Well, enough said, here are some of the photos from their wedding day, including the same day slideshow that was shown during dinner. Congratulations, Paul and Jenny!

And if you’re keen on watching the same day slideshow, please click here.

Credits:

Photographers: Grace, Johan & Weiming
Wedding Gown: Red Bliss
Shoes: Christian Louboutin
Make Up: Wedding Isle
Dinner Entertainment: Mosaic Music
Dinner Reception: KL Hilton

A couple of days before the wedding, I dropped by Theng’s family home to meet up with everyone and to get to know Jeremy and Theng better. I was glad to find out that the dinner was going to be an intimate affair of 200 people. That’s really small for a typical Asian wedding, since most dinner receptions would have at least 300-400 people!

On their wedding day, we spent quite a bit of time doing some portraits around Intercontinental Hotel. I recently popped by Intercontinental for another shoot, and to my dismay, found out that part of the lobby is under renovation. So yeah, this staircase has been boarded up. I wonder what everything will look like once it’s done!

“We got engaged in February 2011 and started planning the wedding quite soon after.   As we both live in the UK, we decided to hold a small reception in London for our immediate family and close friends, as well as dinner receptions in KL and Hong Kong.  Planning a wedding from abroad was exciting but definitely challenging!  We had to rely on wedding blogs and personal recommendations to source for potential vendors.  With the help of our parents, multiple emails over the months and some last-minute planning a week before our reception in KL, we eventually managed to pull it off!  We had a great time and were very grateful that most of our friends from all over the world were able to attend.”

Jeremy & Theng 

I love Theng’s gorgeous gown! The detail on the top reminds me of her wedding cake! Just like petals, and totally romantic!

Some quick portraits in the family garden. Helps to have nice white picket fences in your lawn!

Johan discovers the joy of creating flares in photos! :)

The cake’s gorgeous, right!?

Before the walk in, I told Jeremy and Theng to walk slowly, enjoy the moment and look around at everyone. They took my advice literally, and walked really really slowly to the main table! Hahaha… but it gave us plenty of opportunities to walk around the couple and take shots like these!

By the way, I personally am not a big fan of the dried ice effect. I think it tends to make the image murky, especially if there’s too much of it. But it works pretty ok if the dried ice is only released AFTER the couple walks through. Then it won’t block their faces… in this case, we were pretty lucky because the strong back light from the spotlight created this cool effect!

More dried ice and flares! :) Congratulations Jeremy and Theng!

Credits:

Photographers: Grace & Johan
Location: Intercontinental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur 
Hair & Make Up: Angie Ng

We love the pink and white theme that was so apparent through out the wedding. Everything looked visually perfect. These cute cuff links were a nice touch too!

Joe has known his friend Michael Marder (best man) since he was 4 years old, and Michael knew Oanh through his then girlfriend. It was Michael who had the great idea that Joe would be a great match for Oanh and decided to set the two of them up. Soon, a ‘date’ was set, and they got along great. When Joe first met Oanh, he was awestruck by her lovely eyes and nice, long black hair! Oanh was smitten by Joe’s mature, yet laid back nature. She laughed at his jokes, and conversation flowed easily between the both of them. A month or two later, a trip was organized for just the 4 of them to go on a driving trip around the UK for the long Easter weekend and the rest is history!

Sun block is definitely a must for every beach wedding in Malaysia!

Everyone received personalized wedding favours with their portraits stuck onto a coaster. Brilliant idea!

Congratulations Joe & Oanh! There’s more of their wedding to be featured on this blog… from the day-after portraits to the wedding video highlight which will be posted later. In the meantime, guests can view their photo slideshow here.

Credits:

Photographers: Grace & Weiming
Videographers: Nigel & Alex
Wedding Gown: La Runa
Make Up: Bride’s sister, Mai
Decorations, stationery, cake, flowers & wedding planning: The Andaman
Dinner Entertainment: Dan & 9 Lives

1. I expect him to travel with me on life’s adventures, always.
2. I expect him to be the spiritual leader for the family.
3. He must be financially wise.
4. He must love my family too.
5. He should take good care of his health and physical appearance too.
6. I expect him to be loving, even when I am 80…

The list went on and on. I don’t think I am being unrealistic, but practical.

We shared our list. I am amused that one of his requirements is for me to have better memory. Like remembering to trip the meter after I pump petrol (one little thing that irks him a lot!).

Years ago, before we got married, we created a similar list. Except, I am pretty sure this new one is shorter. I guess you learn to adapt to one another as time goes by. You learn to compromise on some expectations and other times, to reflect on how you can change yourself as a person.

Someone told me once, men always go into marriage expecting their wives to never change. Women go into marriage, expecting their husbands to change.

I guess a lot of arguments stem from mismatched and unfulfilled expectations from both parties. Most times, we think the problem is with the other person, never with us (gasp, how could you suggest that!). 

Six years down the road, and we’re still learning to adapt to one another. Yes, there’s friction, but I think I can safely say, I’m darn happy. 

Photo credit: Anna-Rina

Dear Diane, Mark & Johan,

I meant to send this earlier, but I didn’t expect the week post-wedding to be equally as hectic as pre-wedding. I actually just wanted to drop a quick e-mail to let you know how awesome it was having you guys as my photographers.

I thoroughly enjoyed the times on-camera as well as off-camera. (Chewah, mcm celebrity, liddat!) Seriously, though, I’m so glad & grateful for how (unexpectedly) easy it was to get along with you, right from the start -  tbh, I didn’t expect that having photographers around would be such a pleasant experience. I was surprised at how comfortable I was with you & how much fun I had just hanging out with you guys during those brief moments after the ceremony/during the luncheon/dinner.

It was a genuine pleasure for me to have you around, so much so I felt as though you were actual guests at my wedding. Having said that, I can understand how you might not share the same viewpoint, seeing as the cameras would’ve been a weighty reminder of the work at hand. All the same, thank you for being such great company.

Thank you, Diane, for all the chats & e-mails, and for all those gentle reminders – yep, I know we’re due to think of that extra song :) It was great to finally meet you in person – I’m so happy you came to photograph my wedding! :D :D – & you are just as nice as you sound over Gtalk. True story. I bet most brides say this, but we really should hang out sometime. Any friend of Switchfoot is a friend of mine & Aaron’s :) (Btw, I’ve got Vice Verses on repeat in my car – that’s probably going to run until I get the new David Crowder album.)

Mark, thank you for enduring my numerous rants regarding the breakdown of my precious system & my “Y U NO [insert appropriate bridezilla expectation here]?!?” Despite how the photo-session went up in flames – in FLAMES, Mark – I was actually present in each moment of my day & enjoyed it, from the chilled-out make-up session, to the ceremony (thank you SO much for giving me no cause for concern during the Mass – I personally thought you did a brilliant job of being unobstrusive & yet the pictures still turned out fabulous ;) to the dinner.

Btw, one of my overseas guests was particularly impressed with the slideshow you put together, esp. considering the limited amount of time you had. As was I: Thank you so much for highlighting what, or rather, Who was & is at the centre of Aaron’s & my union, and I noticed that the pictures came together beautifully at the chorus, so well done :)

Johan, we saw those great shots you’d taken from the balcony. My mother-in-law also made special mention of how you’d subtly (hehe) grouped the guests during the toasting & the different angles you used. Thank you for the efforts you took to to get those quirky & candid shots that I was hoping for, esp. at the main table. (LOL-ing at how you had to recall me from the meet-and-greet for the slideshow during the dinner!) It was a real pleasure encountering you & your sense of humour, and I know my sister was happy to put a face to the gentleman who was so impressed with her Gantt chart, haha!

All in all, I thank God the actual day went the way it did, and that He made our paths cross the way He did. Thank you for being a part of our wedding & I hope you enjoyed yourselves in our company as much as we did in yours. Looking forward ’til we next meet again. In the meantime, take care & God bless!

Yours sincerely,

Sheena

Shooting Aaron & Sheena’s wedding was fun, I have never seen such a cute couple together and boy the wedding day was equally exciting. Interesting things such as the wedding dinner plan laid out in a gantt chart (project managers would probably know what I am talking about) as well as the bride who travels so far away for work because she was posted out of town. In a strict sense, it was beautiful because of two things, it followed the traditions of a Catholic wedding and the wedding itself was held at such a beautiful church. Despite what people might say, I guess deep down I am a traditionalist at heart. Traditions and cultures are some of the few things I see getting lost in this extremely fast paced world.

Surprisingly I found out that I knew Aaron’s brother who was my university mate all the way back in the UK. It really was such a small small world. I consider it a double blessing especially if I find out that I know the couple or one of the couple’s family members.

Congratulations again to Aaron and Sheena. May this new journey in life be a fantastic and fruitful one!

- Mark -

Credits:
Photographers: Mark, Johan & Diane
Location: Church of St Thomas More, USJ & Summer Palace Restaurant, PJ
Wedding Gown: Eva Enchanted
Shoes: Alvin Tay Couture
Make up & hair: YenTan Bridal Make up & Hair Do Service
Stationery: Friend of the bride & groom, Crisabel Clare
Cake: Friend of the bride & groom, Denis Ngu
Flowers: Sprinkled with Style
Videography: Beezworks Productions