Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Niro + Kelvin: The Wedding at Crossway Baptist Church




At the wedding rehearsal, Niro said to me:" How can I not trust someone with this hair?"  That was almost a year ago, when I had shaved green hair. Thank you for the compliment, Niro :)

Early morning on the wedding day, we arrived where Niro and the girls were getting ready, knocked on the door and waited for 10 minutes. An angry looking bearded man opened the door, that face didn't look like there would be a wedding party happening in this house:" What do you want?!" the guy asked. Timidly, I asked:" Is this the Stephenson's?" NO! was the answer," Stephenson is down the street at number 67! Can you hear me? The mails always get here too!" he yelled. Eventually we found the way to the Stephenson's and realised we were given the wrong house number on the running sheet haha!

I was busy photographing the girls' shoes inside one of the bedrooms, when I heard that angelic singing, it drew me into the dining room. I saw Niro and the girls singing, I was amazed with goosebumps. Honestly, the singing was so so beautiful, just like angels... I didn't know how to express my feelings and I was tearing. It was the first time I heard these hymns, they sounded so beautiful. I just want to say thank you to Niro, thank you for all the peaceful experience that you have brought upon me.

When Niro saw her mother walked into the house, she screamed:" Omg ma you looked so beautiful! This is how I will be looked like in 40 years! So excited!" And the girls forced their mother to put on mascara and blushes. Niro's mother never wore makeup in her entire life, except that she was forced to wear lipstick on her wedding day.

The wedding ceremony was held at Crossway Baptist Church. The stage was beautifully decorated. Photographing this wedding made me realised that God has actually prepared me for this day since I started to volunteer as a photographer at my home church, Bridge Church in 2013. I was familiar shooting with the low light and stage lightings inside the auditorium. When they worshipped, I felt like home. I have actually visited Crossway Church during the first year I moved to Melbourne. This was the church where I was introduced to the words of God and it opened something in my heart to receive His grace. It felt so good to be here again.

Although it was a winter wedding but God blessed us a 23 degree Celsius weather with a golden sunset shining on yellow leaves. Love how comfortable Niro and Kelvin were in front of the camera. I could feel the affectionate love they have for each other.  Kelvin and Niro met at Crossway Baptist church, when Niro was the young adult pastor, and Kelvin is one of the young adults. Soon Niro moved to Western Australia, but they still kept in touch using Skype, and eventually developed feelings for each other. Although Kelvin is few years younger than Niro, but his heart of gold attracted her. He is such a lovely person, generous, honest and never talk bad about others. It made us laughed when Niro mentioned this in her speech:" Mom and dad started to pray for me to get a good husband when I was young, which means they started to pray even when Kelvin wasn't born yet." And there was another joke from the bestmen:" When Niro was the young adult pastor, she prophesied that Kelvin will be looked after by someone older than him, which now makes sense, looking back Niro was prophesying about herself too."

Niro, she is smart, intelligent, confident, beautiful, and she has a heart in loving people. Everytime I looked at her, she was always smiling at me. This might not be something significant but she made me feel loved, although I was only her  wedding photographer. When I saw Niro's relationship with her parents and sisters, I saw a picture of God's perfect family. Niro's parents have inspired me and Gary on how we should raise our children in the future. 

Both Niro and Kelvin's family members are incredibly talented. Kelvin's mother is not only good at baking but her nasi lemak apparently is very yummy too. She also made Kelvin's lovely green tie. Niro's two creative sisters gave us a some good entertainment at the reception, they rap Backstreet Boys' songs in their speech- that was the best speech ever!

There's a huge revelation from God after photographed Niro and Kelvin's wedding. I never dreamt to be a wedding photographer but God has called me to be one, so I obeyed, and struggled on the first few years. Everytime before photographing a wedding, I would pray for the couple, the marriage, the family, the weather and for everything to be perfect. I put a lot of pressure on myself because my mission is to keep capturing beautiful photos to make the couple happy. 

At Niro and Kelvin's wedding, I've witnessed true love: the love of parents to their children, when the parents hug them, kiss them and bless them, when the siblings laughed with the couple, the love from the in laws, the love from the wedding guests when they danced with the couple, the love and excitement when the bride and groom looked and smiled at each other... God has opened my heart and my eyes to witness true love- something that I was very hungry for. God made me realised that when He called me to become a wedding photographer, He doesn't just want me to take beautiful photos for the couple, but He is also revealing, showing and replenishing me with the love that I have lacked in my past. 

At the end of the day, we felt very honor when the bride and groom gave us a big hug and willing to befriend with us. Or when the family and friends simply just come up to us and give us a thumb up, that's the biggest reward for me, being a wedding photographer.



Date: 13th June 2015
Ceremony: Crossway Baptist Church
Reception: Ella Bar & Tavern
Celebrant: Pastor Stephenson
Florist: Katie Young from http://www.lookingglassgardenflowers.com/
Cake: Liesel Houghton from https://www.facebook.com/dabblecakes/?ref=br_rs
Suits: Connor
Bridesmaids’ dresses: http://weddingoutlet.com.au/