Charlene + Michael

"I'm Sticking With You"

Velvet Underground

I'm sticking with you 
'cos I'm made out of glue 
Anything that you might do 
I'm gonna do too 

You held up a stage coach in the rain 
And I'm doing the same 
So you're hanging from a tree 
And I made believe it was me 

I'm sticking with you 
'cos I'm made out of glue 
Anything that you might do 
I'm gonna do too 

  This is quite an unusual choice of love song from this couple, but I love it! I met Charlene at Jocelin's wedding a year ago. She was one of the bridesmaids. A few months later, I donated a voucher of  two hours couple Polaroid photo shoot session for Jocelin's charity event. Since then, I always wonder who was the "lucky one" who bit for my photo shoot voucher? To my surprise, Charlene was the one who bit it! Yay! 

     We started from having coffee at De Clieu, and then shooting along Gertrude Street and Smith Street. It was fun doing photo shoot with them, and I love to hear Charlene's laugh. Thank you for being so patient with my old Polaroid Camera during the photo shoot. 

    Charlene is from Philippines, while Michael's background is Vietnamese, so I suggested that we should do a potluck dinner! I will bring Thai food, Charlene will make Filipino food, and Jocelin will bring Indonesian food (beef rendang maybe) haha!  

    All photos were taken with Fuji FP-3000B Black and White Polaroid Film and Fuji FP-100C Color Polaroid Film.

♥

Karen + Eswar

    Karen and Eswar came to meet me at our Polaroid gallery in June 2013 to have a discussion about their wedding which will be held on the 22nd February 2014. It was a cold winter evening, we put a small portable heater beside Karen,  imagine three of us were trying to keep warm from a small heater haha! 

       A big THANK to Eric Hew for recommending my service to Eswar and Karen. Their good news was the greatest gift for me in the winter, it warmed my heart up. We had a pleasant chat and at the end Eswar said to me:" Please send me an invoice for the down payment so that you will not run away from us." That really makes everything that I do in photohgraphy becomes so worthy! Thank you Eswar and Karen!

      I asked Eswar which is the best Indian restaurant in Melbourne? Red Pepper, he said. I haven't have the chance to try it out but my carnivore friend told me it's the only restaurant that will make him go for vegetarian haha!

       I was told that Karen and Eswar will be having a small Hindu ceremony and my reaction was:" WOW I wish I get to attend a Hindu ceremony! It must be very beautiful!" From that day onward, I prayed that I would be given the opportunity to photography their Hindu ceremony. I started to lose hope after a few months because it just seemed impossible that they would contact me to photograph their Hindu ceremony. I even thought of approaching them:" Hey can I please self invite to attend to your Hindu ceremony?" 

        One night in October 2013, they sent me an email asking if I could photograph their Hindu ceremony! Wohoooo! Yes Yes Yes! Yes, I was extremely happy although I had to rush to photography another wedding on the same day after their Hindu ceremony. 

        Nothing can best describes the moment when my prayer was being answered and I was blessed with a great experience in photographing Eswar and Karen's Hindu ceremony. Aren't they look beautiful? I like them so much!

Date: 02.02.2014

Hindu Ceremony: Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple

♥

Evelyn + Anthony

" I Won't Give Up" 

Jason Mraz

When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
Well, there's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

Well, I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find

Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No I won't give up

   Love the close bond between Anthony, Evelyn and their family members. Love that Anthony and Evelyn's father are best buddies. Love the bridal party too! We were having so much fun shooting the bridal party. Gary and I discovered something interesting about the bridal party: all the girls have the pronunciation of "lyn" in their names: Evelyn, Joleen, Ee Lin and Lynette. At first Gary and I had problem differentiating their names, and I came out with a very lame joke: Lyn 1, Lyn 2, Lyn 3 and Lyn 4... 

      Anthony has a very strong sense of humour, I think that's what caught Evelyn's heart. Evelyn's toast at the dinner reception was one of the most touching ones I have ever heard. She cried while she was giving her toast, her mother cried, and her father came up onto the stage to give her a big hug, which made me cried too haha!

        What's eye opening for me at the dinner was the flash mop performed by Anthony, Evelyn and the bridal party.  It was so cool! The couple were then joined by the guests at the dance floor and everyone was having fun. And I thought to myself, it would be great if all my guests will have fun and dance at my wedding too, just like Anthony and Evelyn's. 

        To our surprise,  Ee Lin and Kevin brought us white wines and pulled us into the dance floor while we were busy shooting. Oh my, to be honest, dancing is the biggest fear in my life... I felt so embarrassed. But Anthony and Evelyn were so kind, they lead me and danced with me!  I suddenly felt a sense of belonging in this party and thank God for blessing me with wonderful clients like Evelyn and Anthony. 

PS: Evelyn's mother cooks the best Malaysian curry chicken. It was so good that I didn't share the take away with Gary the next day...Thank you for the curry, Aunty!

Date: 9th November 2013

Church Ceremony: St. Francis Xavier

Dinner Reception: Manningham Hotel & Club

Make Up/Hair do: Tanya

Car hire: Fairlane

♥