A Traditional Balinese Pre-Wedding Inspired by The 1930s

Tutde and Sally were first introduced through a mutual friend seven years ago, back in her high school days. She was having lunch at his restaurant but claimed to have paid no attention to him. "We got reconnected somehow just this June. He sent me a message on Instagram and the conversation flowed. Two months later we had our first date and the proposal followed two weeks after that," Sally reminisced. "I was attracted to his passion right from the start. He had consistently shown how serious and committed he was. I immediately fell in love with his charm and way of thinking. I knew he's the reliable partner whom I can go through life's challenges with," Sally added.

Their pre-wedding photo shoot was a reconstruction of the 1930s in Bali. "We wanted to connect with our roots and knew that the old-school approach represents us the best. It captured our imagination, feelings and ideas perfectly!" Sally said. They decided to call the project 'Mekenyem Sube Biase' which literally means 'Smiling is Common'. Since smiling was not the standard expression in olden days' photographs, all of Tutde and Sally's pre-wedding pictures have a still expression. "Being able to re-live that era was a pleasure for me. It was quite amazing to see all of this pan out the way it did; it offered us a fresh new perspective," Sally added.

Gung Ama, the photographer who specializes in olden day photographs, prepared the wardrobe, props, and makeup artist to make this shoot happen in just two weeks' time. The pictures were taken on three different locations that clearly captures the essence of olden-day Bali with its temples and traditional brick structures with gold ornaments. Even the props, such as the intricate woodwork and carvings, are really showing real Balinese characteristics. Not to mention the way the pictures are edited to resemble a very old photograph is accentuating the theme of the wedding even more. "Gung Ama did such an amazing job. Usually photo sessions can be exhausting and redundant, but not with him! The end result is astonishing, we loved the entire amazing experience, and the unique 30s feel that has been caught in the photos means a lot to us," Sally recalled.

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