Assuming the expression is this: /\{[a-z]+\:[a-zA-Z\_]+ ("(.*?)" ?){1,}/
We are using preg_match_all()
And assuming the string was: {func:date "l" "z" "i"}

This is the array of matches:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => {func:date "l" "z" "i"
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => "i"
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [0] => i
        )

)