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

Seriously speaking, I didn’t know what to expect from this wedding shoot for I had never met Risky and Carrie prior to their wedding reception at Saujana Subang. After all, they were based in London and all we managed were a couple of emails before the day. In situations like these, I get butterflies in my stomach. More than the usual amount of butterflies that is :p

This was to be the 3rd and final leg of their ‘Wedding World Tour’ for they had their registration in London, a huuuuuge Malay reception in Jakarta and finally an intimate wedding reception for their family and close friends in Malaysia. Talk about covering all bases!

Turns out that I had nothing to be nervous about for Carrie and Risky were absolutely wonderful to shoot! It must’ve been all that practise from the first two parts of their weddings which eased them into being in front of the camera ;)

Besides my favourite shots which I’ve shared below, you can also check out a fuller set of pictures on my newly created Facebook page here. Enjoy!

How can a couple NOT be cool when they’ve got such hot shoes on? Am I right or am I right?








They didn’t even have to try. And they already look so hot ;)

Carrie and Risky, your intimate wedding reception was a joy to shoot! Love loved the fact that you had the time to really catch up with your family members and friends throughout the festivities. And you two are absolute naturals in front of the camera, all I had to do was move around and snap away! Crazy I tell you ;) Thank you so much for sharing the evening with me and it was a pleasure to have been a part of it all! Take care in London!

Nam Kit and Rowena’s wedding was my last one for year 2009. And it was awesome!

People might say that when you have a traditional Chinese wedding, its just the typical tea ceremony and morning games. Well, that’s not true when you’ve got a bunch of absolutely fun people involved ;)

Nam Kit’s ‘band of brothers’ were enthusiastic throughout the crazy and hilarious games devised by Rowena’s “ji mui’s” and let me tell you, their group of friends were great sports and made the morning session super fun!

To top it up, the newlyweds were just laughing throughout the day. It was great to see them having so much fun instead of being nervous about the day. Some of the highlights during their wedding dinner reception in PJ Hilton included a bashful groom serenading his new bride on stage. Kudos to Nam Kit on that!

Thank you Nam Kit and Rowena for the wonderful day! It sure felt like I was at a friend’s wedding (albeit with a bigger camera than a normal point & shoot ;p) and it was a blast to have been part of the festivities. Hope you two had fun during your honeymoon in Phuket!

Rowena’s family’s dog may look small & cute, but her almost endless barking was surprisingly loud!


Yes, 1 of the ‘obstacles’ was that the boys had to belly dance. I think they enjoyed it. Very much :p - images below  by Asyraf Lee who second shot for me that day. Thanks again for your assistance bro!

I don’t usually do this. Y’know, blog about a wedding a couple of hours after the event itself. But seeing that it is after all, the first day of 2010, I just wanted to share this particular set of pictures for the whole shoot was a series of firsts for me.

It was the first time for me to shoot an intimate Malay wedding with less than 80 guests, it was the first time for me to shoot at Villamay, a gorgeous spa in Shah Alam and it was the first time one of my brides wore pants for her wedding day. For real. Underneath her gorgeous sequined top, Mastura was wearing a pair of comfy silk pants with her flat bejewelled sandals. I love brides who are stylishly comfortable!

When I first met Azmal and Mastura a couple of months back, I was immediately smitten by their love for each other. Cheesy I know but that’s how I felt. As they told me their story of how they met thru’ work, how they decided to get married not long after they started dating and how they wanted to have a simple wedding as all they wanted was just to be married to each other, I was really smitten. Call me a romantic at heart, but meeting couples like Azmal and Mastura is suh-weet!

I was flabbergasted when I arrived at Villamay in Shah Alam. An absolutely gorgeous venue for intimate weddings!


Azmal seemed a bit nervous before the ceremony while Mastura put on a good show of being calm & collected ;)


Support, agreement and faith - multiple hands with different stories


Nary a dry eye after the solemnisation ceremony

Brunch do’s are awesome! Azmal & Mastura could enjoy the rest of the day being newlyweds :)


So cute! Swing, swing ;)

Azmal & Mas, yes, I think I’ve repeatedly said this, but thank you again for the pleasure and thank you for sharing the first day of 2010 with me. You two are so chilled out and laid back that it was an absolute breeze to work with you. I love the fact that you chose to have an intimate, meaningful ceremony instead of conforming to the norm. As a matter of fact, many things about you two have pleasantly surprised me. You’re definitely in a league of your own :) Here’s to an uber awesome 2010 ahead!

I shot Gibran and Sherena’s engagement a couple of months ago so it was a reunion of sorts when I headed over to Sherena’s parents home to cover their solemnisation ceremony. Having familiar and welcoming faces around, family members who were absolutely at ease and a loving couple to boot made my job much easier :)

Gibran and Sherena, thank you for having me be part of the celebrations! It was great being part of the festivities and seeing you two celebrate your union with your family and close friends. Hope you two had tons of fun during your honeymoon in the land Down Under. See you next week!

The group pictures weren’t exactly ‘conventional’ ;)

Its a Johor Bahru tradition to throw coins out to the kids after the blessing ceremony (and this case, the adults too ;p)

The sun was shining and from across the fountain, I saw a pretty lady with a tall guy walking towards me. I wasn’t sure whether or not it was them, but when Tiara flashed a warm smile at me, it confirmed whatever doubts I had! What a relief it was as I was a tad bit worried I would end up approaching the wrong couple >.< We never had the opportunity to meet prior to that day, having only communicated via email from a couple of months ago so it was really nice to finally put faces to what before this were only names in my emails.

Aaron and Tiara had just returned from a weekend down south where they had a wedding ceremony which was attended by their family members and close friends. And the after-glow of the newlyweds, the nuances in their gestures which indicated the intimacy between them, the way they looked at each other, all this actually made me feel a biiiiit voyeuristic throughout the portrait session. But voyeur’s good, for that made for easy shooting ;)

On the day of our session, there was an exhibition at the park which was in conjunction with the annual Art & About exhibition organised by the city. Decided to use a few of the pictures as a backdrop as I thought they were rather apt for our session.

Jacky Ghossein’s Mamerta and Sabas, The Wedding.

Kasia Westak’s Applause





I feel happy when I look at this shot :D I love love. Wheeeee!

The moment I took this shot, was also the moment they were telling me how Aaron had proposed to Tiara :) Suh-weet!

And coincidentally, where the venue of the proposal could be seen from the park! Yes, he proposed to her at the Sydney Tower over a romantic dinner :)

Aaron & Tiara, congratulations again on your recent nuptials and thank you for the fantastic time that day! And Tiara, I loooooved the fact that you still speak Malay with a Sabahan slang despite having lived in Sydney for more than 10 years! Berabis kita nanti. Hahaha! Am absolutely looking forward to seeing you two again for your wedding reception back in Kota Kinabalu come January! Yay! Less than 3 months away :D Get ready for more cheese then! Hugs

As I drove to Lumut, I did a mental sun dance, hoping that the weather would hold for Kenneth and Kee Li’s beach reception. And thanks to the big Kahuna up there, the weather was splendid! Upon arriving at Pangkor Laut Resort, I headed straight to Kenneth and Kee Li’s villa and we started our portrait session immediately. After that we headed over to Emerald Bay where the intimate beach reception was held.

And let me tell you, this reception definitely goes into my top ten list of the most fun, meaningful receptions that I’ve shot (so did the previous two! What luck, three awesome intimate weddings in a row :D). To be with your family members and closest friends, touching and funny wishes from everyone to the newlyweds, performances by their friends (Kee Li’s friends sang & danced to Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’!), a huuuuge surprise for the bride from the groom that made her bawl her eyes out ;p, heartfelt thank you speeches from the couple, having fun and I mean REALLY having fun throughout the night - THIS is how a wedding should be celebrated. Together with Jasemaine, who did the videography for their wedding, we agreed that it was indeed a fun-filled celebration!

Without further ado, here’s some of my favourite shots from the short and sweet portrait session followed by shots from the beach reception. Enjoy!

Before heading over to Emerald Bay where the beach reception was to be held, I took some prep shots of Kee Li. 
Check out the awesome caricature painting on the right? It was a gift from one of Kenneth and Kee Li’s talented friend.

Pangkor Laut Resort’s wedding planner did an awesome job with the decor. 

Kee Li’s grand entrance with her parents :) You look absolutely gorgeous!

Cheers to the newlyweds!

Part of the night’s festivities. Kenneth’s younger brother and sister were the emcees for the night and let me tell you, they were FANTABULOUS! Like professionals, they kept everyone entertained throughout the night. Hmmm….lemme check whether or not they’re available for hire ;) 

Ooooo…we were blessed with lovely weather. 
Dedications to, and from, family and friends :)

Kee Li and Kenneth, it was great to see you two have fun that night. And you know what I loved? I loved the fact that your parents were agreeable to you two having a small, meaningful reception instead of a huge banquet where you wouldn’t know half the guests ;p That fact allowed you to really celebrate your union with the ones who matter most in your lives and it was a pleasure to be part of such a joyous occassion.

Kenneth, hats off to you for pulling off such a big surprise for your lovely bride. You are a man of few words but when you start talking (or in this case singing ;p), you sure did impress everybody. And Kee Li, you were absolutely gorgeous that night. Yes, there were loads of tears going on but they were tears of joy and I am so happy for you two! Thank you again for having me be part of the celebrations :) Here’s to love, laughter and many more happy occasions for your years ahead!

Thanks to a referral from Lillian B, I had the pleasure of being part of Svan and Ashley’s wedding day at The Saujana recently. As they’re both based in the UK, I didn’t get a chance to meet up with them until 2 weeks before the big day. It was a pleasant surprise for me as Svan is absolutely bubbly and her chirpiness was infectious. I must say, when I first saw her, I thought to myself that she would make an absolutely gorgeous bride!

Together with Lillian, who actually helped Svan and Ashley out with the entire logistics of their big day, we discussed the itinerary for her wedding day. Then Svan told me that she actually bought a corset from Agent Provocateur (ohh la la!) and that she would like some boudoir shots before she got into her wedding dress.

Now while I’ve done nude as well as boudoir shoots before, this was the first time I’ve got a specific request from a bride and I thought it was a great idea. But of course, those pictures are for personal viewing and won’t be shared here on this PG13 blog of mine ;p Just wanted to share this lil detail so that future brides who are thinking of doing this, go ahead! After all, we may not all have the same figure in 10 years time, to have a lil memento of celebrating our gorgeous figure is always a good thing :)

The day came and whilst the weather was slightly humid, it was perfect for the garden solemnisation ceremony. I absolutely loooooved the details - the table centrepieces, the wedding cake, Svan’s gorgeous dress & shoes (which she broke in by wearing a couple of times before the wedding! Great move ;D), Ashley and his bestmens’ red ties. Every single detail was looked into and when I complimented Svan on her choices, she smiled and said something along the lines of how she figured it would look good for the photos. Perfect bride, no? ;)

It was a relatively small wedding by Asian standards. With less than 90 guests, this allowed Svan and Ashley to celebrate their union with those who meant the most in their lives. The evening started with an uber yummy buffet dinner (I admit, I stalked the dessert spread for a good 3 times), speeches by the bestmen and bridesmaid as well as Svan’s mum and Ash’s dad and ended with (almost!) everybody boogie-ing down at the dancefloor. Frankly speaking, while looking through the pictures, I had a haaaaard time choosing my favourite ones. Imagine, there were at least 6 shots which I really really liked JUST from the make up session alone! Finally got down to selecting a few and here they are.

How many ladies does it take to get a gorgeous Harrods bridal gown unto a beautiful bride? ;) 

I think the ‘S’ in Svan stands for ’sizzling hot’. 

Shoooo cuteeeeee!

You know a wedding’s gonna be uber awesome when the pastor has dreadlocks. Like awesome dudeee!


Right after their ‘first’ kiss. Everybody, say along with me, “Awwwww…..” ;) 

Bridal party shots are fuuuuuun! Shot of Ashley and his handsome bestmen inspired by Ryan Brenizer. Shot of Svan and her beautiful bridesmaids inspired by happiness. Oh yes, cheesy I am.

Hawt bride + Dashing groom = WIN!

Lovely details! All the flower arrangements (table centrepieces, ceremony flowers, etc) were by Jeanne of Sunnygardens. Awesome job on the lovely deco!

Svan mentioned that she and Ashley didn’t have time to properly rehearse for the first dance. I personally think that that fact you two did what comes to you naturally was absolutely beautiful :)

Party peopleeeeee!

Handful of uber cute kiddos around!

Ashley and Svan, your wedding was a joy to shoot! Thank you for giving me the pleasure and being soooo accommodating and willingly sweating it out for me during the brief portrait session after the ceremony ;p I must say, you two were absolute naturals in front of the camera! Hope you two enjoyed the honeymoon and had a good rest in Thailand, relaxing by the beach, working on your tan and just basking in the glorious fact that your family members and closest friends were there to celebrate the union with you :) Congratulations again and here’s wishing you a lifetime of mutual love and understanding ahead! 

Russell and Jessica wins the award for longest booked client EVAH! It was back in April 2008 (about a year and a half ago!) that they booked me after seeing my pictures on Flickr. I never had the opportunity to meet them as they’re actually from Hong Kong so we corresponded via email regularly before their big day in September 2009.

I somewhat knew what to expect when I met them in person upon arriving in Bali, but their bubbly personalities and generosity superseded whatever expectations I had. Russell and Jessica are seriously two genuinely kind souls and uber fun couple. They would always make sure that Huey (who was there as my second shooter - thanks babe!), and I had everything we needed, they arranged all the logistics in Bali for their friends and family and they were constantly checking to make sure their wedding planner’s team (even the drivers!) had enough to eat and drink! Like whoa!

Throughout the ceremony and reception, everything went as planned. Even though the weather was overcast, their bubbly demeanor made up for it two folds! Russell and Jessica, thank you for the opportunity of being part of your destination wedding. Your friendliness and kindness really made my day! Huey and I were just saying what a great couple you are and just how much fun we had on that day being part of your celebrations, you made us feel like your friends instead of just merely vendors. Hope you had a great honeymoon in Ubud! Can’t wait to share the rest of the pictures with you soon :)

What the duck? The wedding favors are uber cute! A rubber ducky and a mini portable fan!

Loved Jess’ sweet & simple Carolina Herrera dress. Loved the fact she wore kitten heels (for comfort!) with them :)

Whilst Jessica and Russ were getting ready in separate rooms…

…we headed out to take some shots of the gorgeous venue. Ayana Resort’s gorgeous Tresna Chapel is a lovely place to have an intimate wedding ceremony!




The wedding reception was held at Ma Joly and the food was DA BOMB!


Jess & Russ, here’s wishing you many years of love, laughter and great travels in the years ahead!