Anis is a lawyer in Malaysia and Ming Jun was a consultant working in London. This is an ‘against all odds’ love story spanning over 10 years and 2 continents. They first met in the UK during university and spent more than half that time in a long distance relationship. When we first laid eyes on their wedding photos, we were drawn to their emotions and the way they only had eyes for each other.

Coming from different backgrounds, they faced the most challenges when it came to the issue of religion. However, after having observed their steadfastness and love for each other, their families concur that their relationship was moored and lent their full support. During the wedding planning, Anis recollected how touched she was by the readiness and eagerness of both families to embrace each other’s wedding customs.

‘He proposed in December of 2019 and we started researching for venues in Jan/Feb of 2020, then covid happened and everything was put on hold. I knew I wanted a proper wedding instead of an MCO nikah, and so we waited.’ -Anis. At the start of 2022, the couple decided to jump the gun and planned for a wedding in June. Anis laughed as she recalled what a mad rush it was to put everything together without a planner.

‘It was raining when I woke up to get ready for the day. We had decided to have the akad nikah outdoors and prayed very hard for it not to rain but it still did. Thankfully, we had the tea ceremony area set up indoors, so we moved the akad nikah there.’ – Anis

The rain finally did stop, the couple and their guests adjourned to the rooftop garden for a simple rendition of the nikah ceremony. ‘We wanted to go with a natural look but felt that all-white was a bit overdone, so we decided to add blush to the colour palette.’ – Anis. Indoors, a similar colour palette was used but flower arrangements were tweaked to keep the aesthetics classy.  

When asked what advice she would give other brides planning a wedding, Anis replied, ‘start early.’ To keep everything organised, Ming Jun being adept in excel started a spreadsheet to help them stay on track. ‘Also, if you’re not going to hire a planner, you need to make sure you have good family and friends support on the day. And after all the planning, something may still go wrong (like the rain in our case), I told myself to just be positive and enjoy the day, and I did!’

Venue: JEN by Shangri La, Puteri Harbour

Photographer: Nicholas Ng @nicholas_nyy

Videographer: Nigel Sia @nigelsia.vs

Decoration: whitebox designed @whitebox.d

Makeup: @syedewa

Hair: MakeUpByFairuz @sitifairuzzz

Nikah Outfit (Bride and Groom): @exclusivenabilazulkipli_

Tea ceremony Outfit (Bride): Monica Quen

Bersanding Outfit (Groom): Edit Suits Co. Singapore

Bersanding Outfit (Bride): Lusan Mandongus, Designer Bridal Room KL

Shoes: Jimmy Choo, Roger Vivier, Rupert Sanderson