My morning with Asheelaa and Shashi began at their St. Thomas More Church wedding in Subang Jaya, but there was something a little different about this wedding for me.
They had found and booked me online, and everything leading up to their wedding was communicated through WhatsApp. We had never met, not even through a video call. So when I arrived at the church that morning, it was also the very first time I was meeting them face-to-face.
There is something quite special about that — finally putting faces and personalities to the names and messages I had known for months, and then almost immediately being welcomed into one of the most meaningful days of their lives.
I began with Shashi and his groomsmen, with just a little time together before the ceremony.
His brother, brother-in-law, cousins and 2 close friends gathered around him. It was a short session, but their closeness needed very little explanation. There was laughter almost immediately — the kind that comes naturally when people have known one another for years.
As they joked and stood together, I could see Shashi slowly settling into the morning.
I love moments like these. Before the vows, before the music and before everyone takes their seats, there are often these small pockets of time when a groom is simply surrounded by the people who have walked through different seasons of life with him.
Then Asheelaa arrived, and somehow the atmosphere changed.
The laughter softened. Everyone gathered inside the church, and with their families and closest friends surrounding them, Asheelaa and Shashi stood before God and made their promises to one another.
There was a beautiful stillness to it — warm, intimate and solemn all at once.
Family Love That Reaches Across the World
Although life has carried members of their families to different parts of the world, it was clear throughout the day that distance has never made them distant.
Shashi is the youngest of 4 siblings, and there was something especially tender about seeing how dearly he is still loved by his older brothers and sisters.
Later, during the speeches, his brother shared about the moment he found out Shashi would be studying in Sydney, where he himself was living at the time.
What struck me was how simple his happiness was.
His youngest brother was coming closer.
Sometimes love is not expressed through grand words. Sometimes it is simply the joy of knowing that someone you miss will soon be near enough to have dinner with, talk to, laugh with, and share ordinary life again.
That little story stayed with me throughout the evening.
It also made me think about the deeper kind of love Scripture speaks of:
“It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:7, NIV
These words speak of a love that does more than simply feel deeply. It is a love that continues — a love that bears with one another, keeps hoping and remains even as life changes around us.
Perhaps that was what touched me most about watching their families that day. The children had grown. Siblings had moved to different parts of the world. New chapters had begun, and their lives no longer looked the way they once did.
Yet something remained.
They were still family. Still celebrating one another. Still showing up.
And on this particular day, they had come together again — not only to witness Asheelaa and Shashi beginning a new chapter, but to surround them with the kind of love that had already carried them through so many chapters before.
A Wedding Dance, A Memory to Keep
Later that evening, everyone gathered again at Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara for dinner. The room filled with family, familiar faces, stories and laughter, and as the heartfelt speeches came to an end, the celebration began to take on a different rhythm.
Then came the family dance.
What began with their Indian relatives soon drew more people in, and before long, friends and family from different cultures and backgrounds were sharing the dance floor together. There was laughter, movement and just enough Bollywood spirit to make the whole room come alive.
I found myself smiling behind the camera.
Because beneath all the colour, music and celebration, this wedding felt deeply rooted in something very simple: Two people surrounded by people who genuinely love them.
And perhaps that is what I hope these photographs will hold for Asheelaa and Shashi.
Not only what their wedding looked like, but what it felt like.
The closeness of siblings.
The laughter between old friends.
Their families gathering from different corners of the world.
The quietness of standing before God.
And one full dance floor where, for a little while, everyone belonged together.
Years from now, I hope these photographs become more than memories to look at.
I hope they become a little doorway back to this day — to being surrounded, celebrated and deeply loved.
If you’re planning a church wedding in Kuala Lumpur or Subang Jaya and you’re looking for photographs that feel natural, honest and true to the people you love, head over to Let’s Chat.
Tell me a little about the 2 of you, the people you love, and what you hope to remember from your wedding day. I’d love to hear your story and see where the conversation takes us.
