Jewel of the East (Part 3)

If you are like us who are into details, then most likely you will incorporate little mementos here and there to make it enjoyable and interactive for your guests. Some couples  give away Polaroids or install fun photo booth at their reception. Some couples engage a really good live band for a jazzy evening, while some others prefer to end their evening with a deejay for an after dinner party. Then, once in a blue moon, you come across fairytale weddings complete with horse carriage or big bang talk-of-the-town weddings which lit up the skies with dazzling fireworks.

The wedding of Gayathri and Gaurav had it all {minus the carriage}! Held at the 5-star Four Seasons Resort in Langkawi Island, the wedding of Gayathri and Gaurav was the realisation of a sophisticated fairytale wedding that was cultural yet modern against the picture-perfect backdrop of the Andaman sea.

From the Photographer, Jon Low: The celebration lasted the whole week. Ian Chong (2nd shooter) kick started our coverage in Singapore before the Malaysia team headed off to Langkawi on Tuesday. We shot the wedding back to back for three days. I am not going to lie to you, it was an awesome wedding but at the same time, It was exhausting, physically challenging, mentally stressful wedding. It was a lot of hard work. We were all pushed to our limit. All of us barely slept for more than 3 hours a day. We all took away different experience from just being there at the wedding. The couple and the family had the time of their life, and probably have their own story and tale to share among each other. As for us, the working team, we sweat because we were in a beautiful tropical island. We were tired because we work our ass off and put our best at it. We were laughing because we enjoyed each and everyone’s company during the job. All in all, great moments and great memories. This is where I want to be – in a perfect storm. The job was tough and challenging yet very very satisfying..

Don’t you just love how the myriad colours of sarees come together harmoniously?

The dinner reception started with a magnificent display of fireworks right after the couple made their grand entrance to the tented venue by the beach. Towards the end of the evening, guests were invited to make a wish and release the sky lanterns into the sky before they continued to party until the wee hours. Indeed, a perfect way to end a magical three-day wedding celebration.

Wedding Location: Malaysia

Wedding Ceremony & Reception: Four Seasons Resort & Tanjung Rhu Resort, Langkawi Island
Wedding Planner: Innayat, Innaz Communique (Indonesia)
Wedding Photographer: Jon Low Studios
Wedding Videographer: Keng’s Cinematography
Wedding Hair & Make Up: Angie Ng Make Up

Jewel of The East (Part 2)

Every once in a while, you get a wedding that makes you go ga-ga, you wish you have a time machine that can teleport and plant you right smack in the centre of all the elaborate finery. Well, that’s exactly how much in love I am with the wedding of Gayathri and Gaurav, so much so that I’m totally at lost with words to describe just how gorgeously festive the wedding was. It is not just the colours or the details that make a wedding beautiful, but the combined emotions of love and joy from all those who matter most to you. This wedding was all that and more. Here’s the second part of their wedding, featuring the ritualistic Tilak ceremony and Sangeet reception superbly planned by Innayat of Innaz Communique.

After the Tilak ceremony, the groom’s entourage marched on from Four Seasons Resort to Tanjung Rhu Resort with much pomp and gaiety for the Sangeet reception.

The Sangeet reception had a multi-cultural vibe to it. The bride made her grand entrance ushered by the traditional Kompang and Bunga Manggar procession. Buffet stations were lighted up with red Chinese lanterns. Dance and entertainment, without a doubt, has to be Banghra and Hindi pop! These songs always get the crowd going, everytime. Of course, Sangeet is all about the merriment and music, revolving the theme around the love life of the bride and groom. So you can always rely on the Hindi film scores to show you how to party right!

What a great teaser for the guests, leading up to the big day. If the pre-wedding party was already filled with so much fun, what can one possibly expect on the wedding day? Well, stay tuned for Part 3 of the wedding!

Photography by Jon Low Studios.

Jewel of The East (Part 1)

ust received these set of beautiful photos right off the ‘darkroom’ of Jon Low Studios. The wedding of dynamic duo Gayathri and Gaurav is proof that you do not need to sacrifice aged-old traditions to have a stylish wedding. They are so over-the-top brilliant that we had a tough time shortlisting the photos to be featured here. The bride and groom are gorgeous. The wedding destination is beyond beautiful. The hosts are superbly generous and the details that went into the planning were elaborately intricate. All these bright and colourful details that make Indian weddings so culturally joyous and Fun with a capital ‘F’. Dare I say “Wedding of the Year”?

Gayathri and Gaurav enjoyed the stress-free convenience of having Innaz Communique to help them with all the drills and thrills of organising such a momentous occasion. The Singaporean couple flew their guests to Langkawi Island, Malaysia for a three-day destination wedding held at the Four Seasons Resort. The celebration kicked off on a mild note with a Welcome Party to allow guests to relax and get acquainted with each other. Mild note … is an understatement. Really.

The following day, everyone rose and shined to a sunny Maiyan Ceremony by the beach, followed by the Mehndi Ceremony in a trickle of yellow and fiery orange against the indigenous interior of the Four Seasons Resort. Innayat and team integrated all the intricate details of tradition in a stunningly cohesive design amidst the juxtaposed of bright colours. Oh, and did you notice the guests are all dressed according to the colour theme? Simply brilliant!

Hold your horses as we’re about to share more gorgeous details of this destination wedding in Part 2.

Haute Tradition . Haute Chic

appy Friday everyone! If you’ve just joined us, pull out a chair, make yourself a cup of brewing hot latte and be inspired by these ah-may-zing weddings as we countdown an A to Z brimful of wedding fabulosity.

Some people are gorgeously good-looking and this couple is one of those people. With impeccable taste and style, their wedding was a marvelous mix of gold, silver, black and red. By embracing tradition with a chic twist, it’s the kind of design risqué that can either go very wrong or oh-so-fabulous. And this wedding is just that. Fabulous. With both of them residing in Paris, they enlisted The Peak Xperience to help them with the wedding planning and Saiful Nang of Candid Syndrome as the official wedding photographer.

The wedding ambience had a real air of faded elegance. They combined the delicate ornates of Malay decoratives but in a typical French manner, that is,  sophistication that looked refined and not over-the-top. They draw their inspiration from the Kings’s chambers at the castles at Loire Valley and the patterns of Songket fabrics (hand-woven brocaded fabrics which were once reserved only for the Sultanate). The first part of the reception was kept traditional with a bersanding ceremony (enthronement), complete with prayers,  Gamelan music and Silat performance. Both Alia and Jean looked ravishingly regal in a custom-designed Kebaya and Baju Melayu by couturier Jovian Mandagie. For the wedding favours, they gave gold and silver French dragées in a sleek gold tembaga from Terengganu.

The second part of the dinner was chic and modern. Alia was gleaming in tearful joy as she walked down the aisle to meet her young brother-in-law, who took her hands and later on handed Alia over to her father for the father-daughter dance. Right after the dance, Alia’s dad then handed her over to Jean and they took their first waltz as husband and wife.

Alia: The most memorable moments for us would be the first traditional entrance, where we had the children dancers walk in first, followed by the wedding entourage, then us. We enjoyed every minute of it! Jean was really excited to have a ‘keris’ (a traditional Javanese dagger). The other memorable moment was when I walked down the isle in my Vera gown, accompanied by my brother-in-law. It was emotional and romantic at the same time, as I see my husband waiting for me on the dance floor. My father’s and father-in-law’s speeches were very touching, and also the surprise song by Khadijah Ibrahim. I actually sang with her and I never thought I would have to do that! I loved the part when we were on the pelamin, and when my sister Amy and Jean’s sister Marie sang “Formidable” for us. I’m not too sure about Jean, but I loved mingling with the guests, those who have seen me growing up… from a baby to a married woman, most of them my parents’ friends. To see all our families and friends from all over the world together under the same roof was also very joyful. Sharing my traditions with my family-in-law, the delicious Malay fusion 5-course meal by Le Meridien, cutting our beautiful wedding cake, the toast by my best friend Tania and sister Aina, were all amazing!!!

During our speech to thank the guests, I also talked about my grandfather who passed away the year before. I have cried enough times while practicing and writing out the speech, so I was ok during the moment. Regardless, it was a very moving and emotional moment, since I didn’t have the time to say goodbye to him during his last days. Like a child, I admitted to everyone that I spoke to him every night before I went to sleep to remind him to look down during the wedding.  He was a special person in my life, and will remain so forever.

We learnt how vital a wedding planner was for the whole planning process! Even if we were based in KL, we would’ve still hired a wedding planner, as this person is super important to ensure not just the details during wedding planning, but also the smoothness of the wedding itself.

I forgot to mention my hair and makeup artist – Khir Khalid. I told him to make me look more like a model and not a bride. And so that’s what I got! The makeup was natural, beautiful, and very haute couture. I provided some pictures for him but it wasn’t necessary. I call him The Magician. My look for the kebaya was very natural, with slight smoky eyes and nude lips. I had my hair pouffed up into a traditional twist, and ornated with a traditional gold ‘cucuk sanggul’. For the dress, my eyes were dramatised by making it smokier, and my hair let down, a little messy, with a white feather and crystal hair pin. I felt like the most beautiful girl in the world!

It was THE Dream Wedding that I’ve had since I was 12! Jean, who left the main decisions on me, also thought of the wedding as a great success.

Wedding Location: Malaysia
Size of Function: 250 guests

Wedding Reception: Le Meridien Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Wedding Planner: Natasha Khoo, The Peak Xperience
Wedding Photographer: Saiful Nang & Fuad Topa, Candid Syndrome
Wedding Videographer:Kid A Productions
Florist:The Poetry of Flowers
Wedding Cake:TrulyScrumptious!
Wedding Shoes:Givenchy
Cultural Attire:Jovian Mandagie
Wedding Gown:Vera Wang
Groom’s Attire:Dolce & Gabbana
Wedding Emcee: Henry Golding
Wedding Hair & Makeup:Khir Khalid

01.01.11 Red Chinese Wedding

Congrats to Wei Ee and Ya Wei who tied the knot on the 1st of January 2011. I am delighted to feature their wedding, which is steep in tradition and culture. The bright and majestic combination of red, pink and gold is indeed a sight to behold.

From the Planner: I have a soft spot for cultural weddings. Perhaps it’s simply because most couples are modernising their weddings these days, leaving out most of the cultural and tedious details that are required by the older folks. So ironically, organising a full-on traditional wedding is a breath of fresh air. For every wedding that we have planned, we always take home something new, be it a new experience, a lesson learnt, new friends we’ve made and more often that not, the shared joy when the couple exchanged their vows. This wedding, however, served as a gentle reminder on the importance of filial piety and Godliness, and of courtesy and respect to the elders. I think the entire planning process can be summed up to two simple rules: (1) That a banquet must be a prosperous banquet, that means it must be gratuitous, bounteous and generous in excellent food and drinks. (2) That no unnecessary expense should be incurred unless they are justifiable.

The Ballroom foyer of Shangri-La Hotel was decked out with antique furniture from Ming Qu Antique House. We were admittedly, quite clueless about the appreciative values of these furniture, but it was a real ‘treat’ for guests who are ardent collectors. One of the Blackwood daybed was used as a photo corner whereas tea set were used to display photo albums.

For the morning session, the bridesmaids dressed down to light, sun dresses whereas the ‘more man-ly’ bridesmaids dressed up to the theme and went all out to entice the groomsmen! It was the most sporting bridal party I’ve come across to-date! The tea ceremony took up almost 1.5 hours in total. The bride comes from a large family and I think we had over 120 guests just for the morning ceremony alone! The bride wore a beautiful custom designed halter neck gown by Eric Choong in the morning, before changing into a Qua for the second part of the tea ceremony. Wishing Tree, as always, created beatiful floral pieces to complement the house interior and my favourite were the flowers for the prayer altar.

Wedding Location: Malaysia
Size of Function: 900 guests

Wedding Reception: Shangril-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Wedding Planner: Natasha Khoo, The Peak Xperience
Wedding Photography: Photowerkz in collaboration with Grant Corban
Master of Ceremony: Radio deejay Eric Ma
Furniture/Props: Ming Qu Antique House
Bridal Gowns: Eric Choong
Jewellery: Hong Kong Gem & Jewelry
Bridal Flowers & House Decor: Wishing Tree
Hair & Make Up: Faevien Yee (A Cut Above)