When couples ask me to suggest a destination for pre-wedding sessions, Kota Kinabalu always comes to mind. With the beaches barely 10 minutes away from town and the mountain an hour plus away, it’s definitely a convenient location which offers diverse, gorgeous backdrops in the great outdoors.

So I was more than happy to oblige when Will and Natalie decided to have their pre-wedding in KK as it gave me the opportunity to share with them the beauty of my hometown :) We actually got rained out in the afternoon but were blessed with awesome weather for the morning part of the session.

Here are some of favourite images from the day.

Will and Natalie, thanks again for having me shoot your pre-wedding pictures. It was a pleasure hanging out with you two on the day. It ain’t easy posing for half a day in bridal attire but you two were absolute troopers! I do hope that you get an opportunity to head over to KK again for a proper holiday next time round. Perhaps for a mini-honeymoon after your reception? ;) Have a good one!

If you drop by this blogsite regularly, you might remember this couple for their pre-wedding session was DA BOMB (if I may humbly state so ;p)! I had thought to myself that if that was an indication of how their wedding day would be, then it would be absolutely awesome. And luckily, I was right ;D

Haw and Melissa’s nuptials were held at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Kota Kinabalu with a tea ceremony at Haw’s home straightafter followed by a celebratory dinner reception at Magellan Sutera on that night. Though the day was packed to the brim, Haw and Melissa were absolute troopers and were totally chilled out the whole day!

There were many parts of the day which I enjoyed, but the most memorable ones for me were seeing the way Haw looked at Melissa throughout the ceremonies. You could tell that MAN! This guy’s in love! And seeing how Melissa would joke around with Haw, it was evident that they’ve married their best friend :) Fo’ real!

Prepping! Both Melissa’s wedding gown and dinner dress were tailor made by Pretty in White.

The anticipation! :D

*heart* :D

& like all newlyweds should, they danced in like DA BOMB!

The speeches made by their parents and Melissa’s brothers showed what a close knit family they come from

Loved their reactions thoughout the speeches :) And yes, they weren’t the only ones left crying during the speech *blush*

Haw & Melissa, oh what can I say about you two that I haven’t told you before? You two rocked it big time, yet you kept it real to who you are. You’re both so genuine, without any airs about you that it really was an honour to be part of something so personal for you. Mel, I loved it when you cheered heartily during Haw & his band’s performance and you know what I really, really liked as well? Your invitation card - “If God is the DJ, then Life the dance floor, Love is the rhythm and You are the music” :D Awesome possum! Thanks again for having me on that day itself! Rock on Mr & Mrs Lim and congratulations again ;) wOOt!
With Much Gratitude, A.

I met up with Neen about a year ago during her brief trip back to Kuala Lumpur and back then, her wedding plans weren’t finalised yet. So imagine my bewilderment when a couple of weeks before THE day, I doublechecked the dates and realised that it was already a year past since our first meeting! OMGeeee! A year just flew by in the blink of an eye!

We didn’t have much opportunity to meet as she and Fakhrur are based in Dubai so I was a bit nervous about heading over to Kota Bharu for their solemnisation ceremony, wondering whether or not their family would like me. And y’know what? They were absolutely wonderful! Their gracious hospitality reminded why I’m insanely lucky to be doing what I’m doing.

Fakhrur and Neen, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Thank you for inviting me to capture the ceremonies, thank you for your kind words, for giving me the honour of witnessing the beginning of a new phase of your lives. Most importantly, thank you for being so good at ‘tokkok, singsong’ ;)

On days when I feel down and think that my photo taking skills suck big time, it is thanks to clients like you who remind me why, instead of giving up, I’m going to strive to be better and to capture the moments as well as I possibly can. Whilst it would be impossible to capture 100% of the essence of the day, I do hope that I’ve managed to capture at least part of the memories for you. Here are some of my favourite images from the day, which will be in your hands soon! 

Much Love.

Neen’s ‘khatam Quran’ ceremony the day prior to the solemnisation in Kota Bharu.

The intimate solemnisation ceremony was held at a mosque behind her parents home. Talk about convenience!



<3 :)

After their solemnisation ceremony and lunch reception, we took a drive out and had some time for portraits. I like! More of the ceremony pics in Kota Bharu are up on Facebook

A week later, Fakhrur & Neen had their KL reception at KL Tower. 

Congratulations again you two :) 

Would you believe me if I said I shot an entire pre-wedding session in Bali just using the Fujifilm Instax camera?

Yea, neither would I.

Two weekends ago Amelia, Leonard, Jinny and I were in Bali for Amelia and Leo’s pre-wedding session. Here are some ‘behind the scenes’ shots just to show how ‘interesting’ a pre-wedding session can get ;)

Barely 5 minutes into the session, Leo was already sweating buckets! The towel became his bestfriend for the next two days. And Amelia was proof that women don’t sweat, we glow ;p

That ‘Korean tourist’ you see on the left there? That’s Jinny, Amelia’s bestfriend who also became the professional sweat wiper (thanks!), dress holder, bag carrier throughout the trip. Poor girl got conned. Hahahah!

Leo & Amelia together with their instant Balinese family :p

While I was taking some test shots, Leo nearly got humped by a monkey. At least someone was getting some action :p And no monkey was hurt throughout. Seriously.

“What?!? McDonalds when we’re in Bali?!?!”. A short lunch break in the afternoon called for a quick lunch :p

Heeeheeeheeee…

The trip was planned around the fact that it was right before the peak period and I had envisioned the temples to be half empty with plenty of space to work with. Little did I know that weekend was part of the time that Balinese celebrated the Galungan festival and that weekend was the finale of it which is the Kuningan festival. Which meant that the temples were PACKED not only with tourists but also devotees 0.o

Yes, our whole session at both Uluwatu and Tanah Lot were shot with tons of people surrounding us. It was actually quite funny cos Amelia was the centre of attention, with people wanting to take shots with her. I should’ve charged them :p How often do you see a bride in a full gown at a temple during the festivals right? ;) Thanks for being such troopers you two!

A post of the actual shots will be up nearer to their wedding reception day :)

I first met Diana and Andros in 2008 when I was her best friend Terri’s wedding photographer. Diana was the one who actually referred me to Terri and thanks to her, I (sorta :p) became the official wedding photographer for her close friends as not long after Terri and Nathan’s wedding, I also shot Ea Wei and Patriana’s wedding (who are expecting a kid in a couple of months time :D wOOt!). Some say I used my biceps to intimidate them into hiring me, but I’d like to think it was my *cough*charm*cough* and somewhat decent pictures which sealed the deal for them ;)

Back then, Diana had already mentioned that I was going to be her wedding photographer when she gets married, but that was more than two years ago and I remember thinking that she was just saying that to be nice :p But as fate would have it, I shot the surprise proposal that Andros sprung on her in December 2009 and just a couple of weeks ago, I shot their wedding day :)

Diana and Andros, you two have become my friends first and clients second. You and your friends have embraced me into your crazy lil gang and thank you so much for making me feel NOT out of place whenever I hang out with you guys (yes, including the 3 weddings ;p).

Had fun shooting your wedding, seriously! It was fun ‘bullying’ you two into cheesy poses, meeting many familiar faces during the reception, seeing Andros’ reaction when he saw that ’smoking’ picture in the slideshow, capturing Diana’s transformation into a drop dead gorgeous bride and just being able to be part of it all :D 

Aaaand, mad props to you two for not having shark’s fin soup as part of your menu! Its couples like you who make a difference :D Many say it wouldn’t change a thing but I believe that, however little your action may be in getting all local restaurant to stop serving shark’s fin soup, its still a difference ;)

Congratulations on this new journey of yours and as cheesy as this may sound, years from now, when your kids looks back at these pictures, I hope they’ll feel the love that we all witnessed on that day :) 

Much love.
 

At the Assumption Church, Petaling Jaya

If you check out the link to Ea Wei & Pat’s wedding, there’s a shot which is almost exactly the same as the one in the middle :p

Their wedding cake and the cupcakes in the middle were baked by Diana’s “Super Mum”!
Mrs Tang, if you ever need a guinea pig to test out new cake recipes, Diana has my number :p

Loved their backdrop! Great spot for the group pictures which were handled by Chee Minh (bottom left - Gotcha!). Would SO recommend couples who are getting married to have backdrops for group shots instead of doing table shots - your pictures would be so much nicer :D
Oh, yes and that’s me together with DianaRos on the bottom right. The bottle’s just for posing purposes! I don’t drink on the job ;p Thanks Ea Wei for that shot :D

Yaaaam seng (or as Di would say “Lim chiu arrr!”), laughter and joy ahead ;) More shots from the day on my FB photography page :D

Here’s a lil preview from Steven and Lee Chin’s recent pre-wedding and ROM shoot :) Yes, when I say lil preview, I meant lil preview. We’re saving the rest for their reception in October. wOOt!

Steven and Lee Chin, thanks again for giving me the pleasure of shooting your pre-wedding and ROM. And congratulations again on your recent ROM, can’t wait for your wedding celebration in 5 months time! See you two at Pushmore ;)

A groom from England, a bride from China and a photographer from Malaysia - talk about the world getting smaller ;)

James and Amelia recently had an intimate ceremony celebrating their nuptials at their home in Mont Kiara with their parents and a number of close friends who came from all corners of the world. It was an understated affair with a pre-lunch ceremony, followed by a luncheon with a relaxing pool break in the afternoon for their guests before a poolside barbeque dinner in the evening.

We had plenty of time for portraits around the compound of their condo and it was nice hanging out with these two newlyweds, as they took a breather from the festivities of the day and just basked with the fact that they were husband and wife, dearly beloved.

James and Amelia, here’s to many years of love and joy ahead. Thanks again for having me on the day and I can’t wait to share the rest of the pictures with you tomorrow! For now, here’s some of my favourites from the day and a lil’ bit more on FB ;)

Who could ever guess, that ushering in the New Year over dinner with your parents, could mean meeting your soulmate? Well, that’s just what happened with Nazilla and Rene, when Nazilla and her parents had dinner at the Mussel Bar in Fremantle during New Year’s Eve and Nazilla’s brother introduced her to Rene then. A whirlwind romance ensued and within a couple of months, Rene flew to KL to seek Nazilla’s Dad’s permission to marry her.

When Nazilla and Rene shared their story with me, I thought it was absolutely sweet that two individuals from different ends of the world met in what is now their second home. And when I shot their solemnisation ceremony in Mirrabooka Mosque, I thought to myself how lucky I was to be able to partake in such an intimate ceremony.

A day after the ceremony, I spent some time with the newlyweds and we went around Fremantle for some bridal shots. Let me tell you, Nazilla and Rene were a dream to shoot! Not only were they unabashedly in love, they were absolute naturals in front of the camera too :) Here’s a lil’ sampling just to let you see how natural AND gorgeous they are ;)

Nazilla and Rene, thanks again for having me be part of your ceremony :) This may sound super corny, but it’s seeing couples like you two which reinforce my believe that when it comes to marrying your other half, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been dating. You went ahead and followed what your heart said and that’s what I love about you two. Here’s wishing you love, laughter and many hearty moments to come! And ok, I’ll quit asking you two to make beautiful babies pronto ;p

To say that these newlyweds are fun AND creative would be an understatement. Groom shot their own pre-wedding pictures - check. Bride sews her own wedding dresses (no less than 4 dresses, mind you ;p) - check. Bride & groom choreographed a first dance which could rival with a professional performance - check.

To say that I was flabbergasted would be an understatement. The love they show for each other left me touched, their radical dance moves left me speechless (and to have me quiet is quite a feat!) and I am forever in gratitude that they shared the day with me.

Liyen and Michael, thanks again for the day. Here’s wishing you two many memorable pictures, fun dances and great laughs ahead!

Elina and I actually met each other late 2005 when we were in the same episode for Malaysia’s (only season of :p) Fear Factor. It was then that I got to know her better and we clicked immediately since we’re both opinionated and love love to laugh as well as crack stupid jokes. So it was a great honour when she called me up middle of last year and told me that she was getting married. My (and everyone else’s!) initial reaction was to go, “Serious??”. And she was ;)

I met up with her and Hadi over drinks to discuss their wedding and it was evident that he was the perfect fit for her, for he was the sugar and creamer to her Nescafe (inside joke :p). In the blink of an eye, the day of their wedding came along and the day was perfect! The ceremony was held without a glitch at Elina’s parents home in Subang Jaya and the newlyweds allocated plenty of time for some fun portraits around their housing area.

To have a look at more of their wedding photos, hop on to Anna-Rina Photography Facebook page here.

The bridal party is too cool for school yo! (shot in front of SM Seafield)

Elina & Hadi, thanks so so much for having me shoot your solemnisation ceremony. I had tons of fun hanging out with you two and the day was just an absolute blast. You two totally rocked ma world big time by being the not-so-typical newlyweds! Here’s to many years of love, laughter and Nescafe’s ahead ;) Hugs