To return to this award-winning resort, the Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Krabi,  to document Jason & Nadia’s lovely wedding, was truly an amazing experience for both my wife, Julie and myself.

In fact, this is my second time covering a wedding at Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Krabi, and my fourth working trip to Thailand as a wedding photographer.

Coincidentally, I received Jason & Nadia’s enquiry while I was photographing another couple, Kelly & Clay’s wedding at the very same location, around two months ago, and here I am, back again!

And I feel so honoured that not only were we Jason & Nadia’s wedding photographers, but they wanted us to be part of their guests as well. A huge hearty thank you to both of you and we appreciate it so much.

Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Krabi is truly one amazing resort that makes you feel right at home… at least I personally feel it that way. Not only is the landscape breathtakingly beautiful and the facilities absolutely fantastic, but the way the staff treat their guests is synonymous with gracious Thai hospitality.

If you are thinking of choosing an Asian Destination Wedding location without the stresses of having to plan everything yourself, you can contact the Sales & PR Manager of Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas, Rawanee Chuaboca at salesckbr@chr.co.th and I’m sure she will be happy to assist you.

I’ll start with the slideshow first. It might take some time to download, so please be patient as it is worth it!

More photos are available here.

I love Indian weddings! They are just so full of colour, sights, and sounds… and offer a wedding photographer like me so many wonderful photographic opportunities.

Anyway, I’ve wanted to shoot an authentic Indian wedding for such a long time, as I’ve always enjoyed seeing such vibrant colours, feeling the pulsating beat of the drums, hearing the resounding blare of the trumpets, and most importantly, feeling the energy and warmth of the close-knit family relations within the Indian community.

2009 has been a really good year for me so far, and I’m truly blessed and thankful as the list of things that I’ve desired to do seem to be coming true one after the other.

Now, come with me to this feast of colour at Daran & Teepa’s wedding. I hope it will delight your eyes.

Donít forget to view the wedding slideshow. It may take some time to load but believe me, itís worth waiting for! The song for the slideshow has been specially requested for by the bride and groom.

More photos are available here.

Most of the time, when I’m engaged for pre-wedding, actual wedding day, or lifestyle photography, I would always visit the venue earlier for a recce to find a few ’sweet spots’ for the best visual results… perfect lighting, setting that complements or enhances the couple’s outlook, and anything that will inspire some creative composition and artistic angles… besides all those candid ‘capturing the moment’ shots. I truly believe that great photography is a combination of both - being well-prepared, as well as being able to anticipate and capture at ‘that’ precise magical moment.

And on top of that, the real challenge lies in building that instant rapport with the couple that you are photographing so that all the emotions and expressions of love and joy can be captured and treasured for a lifetime.

In David & Aida’s case, they preferred to have their lifestyle portraiture session at their home - ‘the place where you feel most comfortable’!

Free from any external distractions and feeling relaxed because of the familiar environment, all this lovely couple needed was just a wee bit of guidance from me, because when they were in front of the camera, they were already on the perfect wavelength with me!

This is one portraiture session where I totally forgot about time while clicking away on the shutter!

Malaysia is fast becoming one of the popular locations in Asia for destination weddings.

What more appropriate venue than at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa at Penang!

With the recommendation of the resort’s Event Manager, Betty Lim, (email: betty.lim@shangri-la.com), I returned to this luxurious resort recently to document the really unique wedding of Mahshid and Chad. The simple yet elegant and romantic wedding, was an East meets West marriage with 30 guests from all over the world, inclusive of children.

During this season, the weather in Penang is supposed to be steaming hot but it unexpectedly started drizzling around 5.00 pm. To some, this might have been cause for panic already but the lovely bride, Mahshid was really cool about it. She just calmly said to everyone, “Let’s have some champagne”, and everyone was having a good time at the lounge. Fifteen minutes later, the rain stopped and the ceremony went on perfectly. That is the fun part of a garden wedding!

The song that I selected for the slideshow is an instrumental version of Ave Maria. This meaningful song was also sung to the lovely couple by the sister of the Groom during the ceremony.

Don’t forget to view the slideshow. It may take some time to load but believe me, it’s worth waiting for! For the best effects, make sure you turn on your speakers to full volume.

More photos found here.

Every Chinese wedding without bridal door games would somehow be incomplete, but when you find a group of ji mui who dare to go all out to really challenge the hing dai, it is a rare treat indeed… and presents so many photographic opportunities for me!

Alvin and Chin Lee’s wedding might just be one that fits such a pleasant picture! And what’s more, the hing dai are willing to play the bridal games all the way just to please the ji mui. To have such sporting friends like this is a blessing that one should not take for granted.

Since the groom’s house was near Jonker Street, in Melaka, I urged the lovely couple not to miss this opportunity for some artistic portraiture there.

Each quaint building, be it home or shop, and its inhabitants have their own unique history to tell and they are all artists in they own trade.

Ok, enough of my ramblings…. don’t want to start sounding like a long-winded uncle… LOL

Here are some photos and the slideshow to share. Happy viewing!

More pictures are available here.

Don’t forget to click the slideshow. It may take some time to load, but do be patient, cos it’s worth waiting for!

A really sweet couple and great lighting is sometimes what a wedding photographer can only dream of, but when this perfect union occurs, I can tell you the excitement when downloading the photos that night after the photoshoot… I’m looking at the screen of my iMac with a broad smile on my face and saying in my heart, YES! YES! This is the kind of relaxed portraiture that I like.

I always do whatever it takes to make a wedding couple understand that I’m not pointing an AK47 to make you freeze in your steps, but just a tiny, sweet l’l gadget that can capture all those special moments so that you will remember them for a lifetime.

Sometimes, the personality of a bride and groom does play a major part in getting beautiful relaxed portraits like this, but generally to most couples who are not used to being in front of the camera, all you need to do is just relax and be yourself… just imagine as if you are looking at a small kid asking for Christmas candy from you, and you will get the best out of the very short time you spend with this stranger that you may not have met til your wedding day itself!

Mark & Fiona, you make my day, mates!

Finally, to all my blog readers, here’s wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

More photos are available here.

至少還有你 (As Long As I Have You) by Sandy Lam

This is the romantic love song that the Bride, Pei Lei sang during the wedding dinner to her Groom, Cheng Wei. It is a very meaningful song if you read the lyrics.

Congratulations once again and thanks for letting me be a part of your happy occasion as your wedding photographer.

I’ve also selected this meaningful song for their wedding slideshow. Happy viewing!

As some of you will already know, not only am I doing local and destination wedding photography, but I also carry out pet portraiture photography (currently for dogs and cats only).

To show my appreciation to all my loyal blog readers who have faithfully kept returning to visit my blog, I’m offering a free Pet Portraiture Shoot (of course, with the owner!) to the person who can guess the weight of the cat correctly.

I mean THIS one (yes, the furry four-footed fella!):

He is screaming, “PUT ME BACK ON THE GROUND NOOOOOOWWW!!!”

So, submit your entries via email to me at: alex@alexmoi.net

Closing date is 31 December 2008.

Terms & Conditions

1. Each person allowed only one (1) entry so make sure you guess carefully, ok! If more than one entry is received from a person, only the first entry received will be applicable for the contest.
2. Only submissions with full details will be entertained. So make sure you email your entry with your (the pet owner’s) full name, address, email address, and contact number so that I can get in touch with the winner easily. Also, your pet’s name, type and/or breed.
3. This contest is open only to residents within the Klang valley (Kuala Lumpur/Petaling Jaya). If you are not located within the Klang Valley, but you wish to enter the contest, you must be prepared to transport yourself and your pet at your own cost to Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya for the photography session.
4. Pets to be photographed must either be a dog or a cat. “Human Pets” not valid, ok!
5. Prizes not claimed within six (6) months of announcement of winner will be forfeited. The person who submitted the next closest answer, will then become the winner by default.
6. In the event that there is more than one person submitting the correct answer, there will be another round of eliminations amongst all the correct entries.
7. Prizes are not transferable, and may not be exchanged for cash or other packages.
8. The decisions of the judge(s) is final, no disputes will be entertained.

And now, here are some other cats from Krabi.

This is my 3rd working trip to Thailand in 2008, I must say a big thank you to these few clients who have trusted me unconditionally in my work as a wedding photographer.

The wedding day of Kelly and Clay also happened to coincide with Thailand’s Loy Krathong festival.

Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Krabi is one of the best wedding destinations in Southern Thailand. Nestled in an alcove of limestone karst formations, the Villas face pristine white sandy beaches with crystal clear waters. Just imagine… you can sit in a warm jacuzzi in your villa overlooking the Andaman Sea sunset, and enjoy a glass a champagne with your loved one. How romantic! And that is what a dream wedding is all about, isn’t it?

Kelly & Clay, congratulations once again, and trust you are having a sweet honeymoon in Borneo.

Now, come with me to the resort and see what I’ve got. You can even shout “The Plane! The Plane!”  if you feel like it!

More photos are available here.

Check out the slideshow.

Meng Hong & Grace are one of the few bridal couples who booked me as early as a year ago, and Grace happens to be the pastor’s daughter! When I was shooting her pre-wedding, I remember her telling me, “Today, you don’t just think of me as Pastor’s daughter, ok? Just shoot as what you normally do.”

Well, when I think about it, I was still kind of hesitant to let down my guard, because I didn’t want to end up receiving a looong lecture from Reverend Eu, for all the kissing scenes in the photoshoot!!! LOL… But then, I decided to take the chance, and lo and behold…

I discovered that this was all based on my pre-conceived idea of how Reverend Eu is. In reality, he is a also a passionate photographer besides being a very down-to-earth and approachable Pastor…
Meng Hong and Grace, I had so much fun shooting your wedding. Congratulations and God Bless!
Check out the slideshow.

More photos are available here.

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