Matt and Mandy

I'm back. I've rested. I've mostly recovered. Work begins this week (this means editing and processing of images!) So please bear with me while I try my best to catch up. I will be working hard (but not so hard to the point where I don't sleep. I have learnt to retain and keep my energy for shoots and editing in order to retain quality and freshness). So for those who are waiting on me for some things, hang in there - Im working really hard for you, thank you for your understanding. I'm really excited to start sharing my images again.

To make up for my HUGE silence this past month, I'm going to put up a monster entry. About 50 images in one post!! PLUS a slideshow. I wont be posting in chronological order - because I have so much older AND new work to share with you, I'll be posting one old entry and one new entry until I am all caught up! :)

Today, I've decided to start by putting up a shoot I did towards the end of 2007.

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He walked into the place where she was working, to pick up a cup of coffee.

She noticed him in an instant and eyed him with quiet admiration.

Fate however deliberated, almost as if she had pressed the pause button in their story. But as fate has it, she always seemed to possess a few tricks up her sleeve.

One day, one of Mandy's friends wanted her to meet a new friend. As Mandy lifted her eyes to see who this unfamiliar new face would be, she realized that the foreign face was not so foreign after all. It was the gentleman that walked into the shop before for coffee, who had caught her eye.

Serendipty had her laugh :)

From there, its like the saying goes - it was all history! Matt and Mandy have shared a beautiful and solid love story, that culminated the day when Matt took Mandy to the borders of Victoria and New South Wales, to a little bridge that could barely encompass the width of the car they were driving in, where he finally lowered himself down on one knee and asked Mandy to share the rest of his life with him. She said yes :)

These are some of my favourite moment from the day they became husband and wife. Thank you Mandy and Matt for the opportunity to be with you on your special day! You were both so lovely from the moment I met you, and it was incredible to see everything you've planned come to fruition!! I hope you had a blast in Europe, and are now enjoying your days as hubby and wife! :)

Just a note: This wedding had a vintage theme, and both Matt and Mandy have an incredibly creative eye. You will see all their lovely small touches in some of the images below. I had so many favourite moments, that I just couldn't lower the number of images down to 20. So I put all 50 of them below!! Enjoy! And click on the slideshow for more :)

Mandy's creative eye shone during the morning session. Can you believe this was the busiest and hardest working bride I've ever seen? She did the hair and make up for the whole bridal party, including herself. Here she is below helping her mum get ready :)


Ring shot. Using the GORGEOUS bouquet for the bride.


Speaking of the bouquet, here it is. Shire Florist, in Caringbah were the creators of this little drop of beauty :) I gave the photo below some of my own vintage flava ;)


Here is one of the bridesmaids helping out another bridesmaid with their makeup.


Because the girls did their own make up, and helped each other get ready, they had tonnes of fun. You can just tell. Look!


Getting ready :)


More flowers from Shire Florist. Pretty!!


A more pensive moment of Mandy, while she was getting herself ready.


Here is that special moment where the dress comes on, and everyone is there to help. Mandy had a vintage dress made by her mum! I wonder where she gets her creative eye from ;)


The bride all ready to go to the church. Isn't she stunning! And every bit vintage in style :)


The rings.


M&M - how cute huh? You can just guess what the guests got as wedding favours later on ;)


The church, and the guests filing in for the big moment.


Live string music.


I had a kick-ass helper with me that day. Bailie, of Bailie Photography was with me the whole day to help second shoot this wedding for me. He grabbed this awesome shot of the cars coming to the church just as the ceremony was about to begin. You can check out his blog for more images.


The special moment.


Another fab shot from Bailie.


You can tell Matt and Mandy are so in love. The bride getting a little teary as she realizes they are about to be made husband and wife.


Adoring each other :)






Officially married! Another great shot from Bailie!


I always love the half an hour or so just after the ceremony where the bride and groom are greeting their guests. There are so many emotions, hugs, and tears that are present during such times. Check this one out! Aww...


And look at this cutie!


I just adore this moment between Matt and Mandy. I can tell you this was not the first nor last I saw of such moments between them that day.


The bridal party was so funny! They are all really close friends so there were plenty of crack ups and laughs between them on the day. Check some of them out below.



Location shoot shots!! This is where we get to play around a bit with the bride and groom, and their bridal party!






Mandy loves vintage, so I put my own vintage spin on some of these pictures. This is one of them.


Oh and this pink wall!! Far out, it was fun to use.


Matt and Mandy doing their own silly THANG !


They had plenty of onlookers. Look very carefully!


Aww... This was probably my top fave shot of the day. :D


A tender moment between the two.


The boys just hanging out for a bit in between.


More vintage class.


My 2nd favourite shot of the day. It has this realy old 'feel' to the whole photo! :)




This photo and the one above are close 3rd faves of mine!




The wedding reception, at the lovely Argyle Center, The Rocks.


We all got M&M packets at the tables as favours. The ambience was really cosy and warm.


The really cool cake, done by Mandy's mum!! I loved it!


Plus, the guests all got disposable cameras to play with on the night to take random photos of themselves. How fun!


The groom doing his speech :)


And the cake cutting!


Then the night ended with some serious partying!! Thank you Vincy, who was helping me out during the reception, to grab this shot! :)

Thank you again to Mandy and Matt for allowing me the pleasure of shooting your wedding. And even though it was raining, it was a tonne of fun! Much love!
Jenny

ps: Check out their slideshow [HERE]

pps: For any of those that are wondering, there was no flash used in any of the shots except the last one. I'm a huge fan of available light shooting, even at night!!

Sick

Dear friends and clients...

I actually shouldn't be here typing. I should be in bed.

I know I promised more regular blog posts since this new blog has gone up, however I've been really sick the past couple of weeks. I was hospitalised recently for severe gastritis/gastro... however with the huge amount of work I've got in hand at the moment, I did a stupid thing and decided to work as soon as I got home from the hospital.

That made me sick again... with a very bad stomach bug which has caused an onset of stomach cramps, nausea, and considerable time in the toilet. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can handle working on the computer editing photos + albums, and being this sick.

So, I'm going to listen to the advice given to me, and I'm going to rest and stop working the whole day and late into the night (or mornings! 4 or 5am in the morning is considered mornings right?) probably until the new year. Hopefully that will give me enough time to rest, recover, and give my body the 100% it deserves and needs. It will mean that any photos that have been due this month is on hold until I resume after the new year, of which I am really sorry! It's not normal in my working schedule, but I do appreciate your generous understanding. Working while being sick = less quality output, and lower quality is totally NOT what I am about.

I wont be replying emails during this time, so if it's anything extremely urgent, please call me.

Malaysia: +60126267706, and Australia: +61401238167

Thank you, and happy new year!

Karen and Enrique

I'm a total believer in fate...serendipity...you know, that unexplainable thing that happens when things just fall into place at just the right time and place? yes, that.

I knew when Karen phoned me to ask if I could photograph her wedding, that we were meant to work together. Why do you say that Jenny? Are you nuts? No, I'm serious! You see, several months before I received Karen's call, I got an email from her - of which I replied straight away, but then never heard from her for like the longest time! So I just assumed she was no longer interested (yes, it does happen in our industry! haha, not everyone loves us :p).

Fast forward a few months later, my phone rings.

"Hi, is this Jenny Sun?"

"Yes it is :) May I ask who this is?"

"My name is Karen. I'd like to enquire if you are still available to photography my wedding...."

Well, after the usual introductions, Karen explained to me she had emailed me awhile back but had never heard back from me - which means cyberspace had eaten up my original message to her! (Brides, if you don't hear from me within a few days, please email me again or call me because this cyber age can do wacky things to my emails! I normally reply emails within one or two working day unless I am travelling so thats just something to keep in mind :) )

I was so glad she called!! See, persistence can work ;) And here is the strange thing, even though it was so close to her wedding day, her wedding day was still available in my shooting calendar - it was the last available slot that month! (here is another note to brides - please book your wedding vendors early, like ASAP, because wedding vendors can be booked out as far as 18 months ahead! I have bookings and enquiries that go as far ahead as december next year so to avoid disappointment to get who you want, and Im not just referring to myself, do yourself a huge favour and get out early :) )

So that's what I mean about serendipity... a lost email, a relatively late booking (for a wedding I had to fly to as well!), Karen looking for a malaysian australian photographer in particular... yet it all fell into place. Thank you so much God! You are truly awesome :)

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The clouds were grumbling that morning....brooding with warnings of rain and threatening to unfold at any moment. The distress shown in the weather that day did not seem to phase the bride that day though. When I stepped into her preparation room, she was calm, smiling, and joking away in her usual expressive form, and that exuberant energy along with her incredible 8 year love story with Enrique which spanned across the oceans, carried them through the whole day through despite the winter temperatures (it was spring!!).

In an intimate setting of about 50 people, Karen and Enrique declared their love amongst their closest friends and family at St Benedict's Church Broadway, and celebrated their union on the Vagabond Cruise underneath a beautiful sydney night sky, sprinkled with beautiful lights across the water's horizon given off from the nocturnal face of Sydney's cityscape. The imprint of their love was stamped on everyone there.

Karen and Enrique, thank you so much for trusting me to documenting your day! It was an honour to work with you, and it was even more special to see your love story come full circle, with you both saying 'I will'. I only wish you the best and many many more happy years to come! Thank you so much for allowing me into your life for a brief period, oh! and for the yummy fish fingers you made that day we met! :)

Here is what the day looked like when it started! Not exactly radiating with sunny gloriousness!

Karen getting all done up :)

Her beautiful gown, all the way from Malaysia!

Some details... Karen paid alot of attention to details at her wedding!

The busy bride :) Her phone was never far away from her that day :)

A funny moment while putting on the gown. They had a little spot on trouble figuring out which part when on first!

I sometimes have a second shooter accompanying me at weddings (don't worry! Im still at all weddings myself personally!), this next shot was taken by my 2nd shooter that day. Thanks Vincy! You rock :)

St Benedict's Broadway

I will :)

Karen is a really expressive bride (I love that!!!), here is a typical face she would show on the day :)

A beautiful quiet moment with one of the younger guests :)

You don't believe it looked cold and windy that day? Check this out! This was the wind!!

Some portraits of the lovely couple:

My FAVE of the day!!

Some fun with backlighting!!

God graced us with some amazing light around 4pm that day. Here is what the harbour looked like at the time. It takes your breath away.

Karen wanted some iconic portraits taken so that her friends and family back home in malaysia would recognize she was married in Sydney. Here's my take on the awesome Sydney Opera House.

More yummy light... mmm! :)

Details! Details! Details! I love details... Brides, if you ever want to send me to cloud 9 on your wedding day, having gorgeous details will do that :p Sorry, I come from a graphic design background so colours and the like really make my day, haha :)

Some partying that went on that night on the Vagabond Cruise ship. Everyone from young and old took part!

Yes, even the young... Isn't this adorable? I found them dancing alone in the corner. How cute!

Bride and groom's dance.

Click HERE to see more photos from their wedding day in a slideshow! :)

Thank you!!

Wow, some of you are fast!

As promised, here's the early xmas present I was talking about. Sorry to those who missed out - I'm sure there will be a next time! Anyway, thank you Rudy and Joanne. The itunes giftcard should already be sitting in your inboxes as I type :)

Merry Christmas! And knock yourselves dead with some killer new tunes this festive season!

Much love, Jenny

ps: I'm off for the next few days, so please forgive me if you do not hear from me as fast as normal via email. Thank you!!

Fresh out of the oven!! :D

Hi everyone!

This is my brand spanking new blog!! I'm so excited to finally share it with you :) As you can see, alot of it looks different, but ALOT better. Plus, you are going to get to see much larger photos with each post to make your viewing experience that much more fun :)

I'm still yet to fix the labels in the older posts so some of the categories and links don't work YET, but be patient. Things are coming along :) And also, I've decided to do away with the chatterbox so please leave comments instead ok! Otherwise, this blog and myself will feel really unloved and that would suck :p

Anyway, I really want to say A HUGE thank you to Rudy from Provisage who customized this design to exactly how I wanted it. He did a fantastic job and I higly recommend him! He is also a really cool photographer based in the USA, so do check out his work here too :)

First one to post a legitimate comment here gets an early xmas present from me!! ;)