It’s been slightly over 2 weeks since the wedding and I think it’s about time I returned. So many things have happened in the last couple of weeks – the wedding, my annual “flu” fight, Slave Auction at church and Aunty Jenny’s leukemia relapse. I’ve been busy, busy, busy!
I can finally sit back now and relive the wedding.
It was indeed a beautiful wedding – bursting full of love, joy, tenderness and laughter. I have to admit, I was really stress the week leading to the wedding. There were just too many details to finalise, too many things to buy, too many meetings to attend and too many itineraries to plan! People who’ve never worked with me previously were shocked at how domineering and demanding I can be. The bridesmaids were so afraid of screwing up that every little mistake they made, they were praying I didn’t catch it! 
I was really lucky that as wedding planner, I had the support of a solid group of friends who helped out with the preparations. The day before the wedding was packed full with decorating the reception venue, ceremony rehearsal, last minute equipment collation, purchasing and preparing food and drinks etc etc. But it was all worth it in the end. By the time the photographers arrived and the groom and his men came to pick the bride, tired though we were, the atmosphere was charged with excitement, and anticipation. For many of us, this wedding was our first close friend wedding. Hence making it all the more exhilarating.
I don’t think it’s a western culture, but in the Chinese culture, when the groom and his men come for the bride, it is tradition that the bridesmaids and girlfriends of the bride make it a little hard for them to achieve their aim. Needless to say, we had a few tricks up our sleeves! When the guys arrived, everyone started running around. Doors and windows were shut – making sure that there were no possible entrance ways into the house. The guys were put through a series of tests – the first was to perform “The Chicken Dance”. This was so that they would lower their guard and think that we were gonna go easy on them. After that, there was a grueling session of 29 questions about the bride – whereby for ever wrong answer, they had to do a pushup. What made these all the more fun was that during these “tortures”, the bride’s father was there taking videos and photographs and taunting the groom and his men! After the 29 questions, the best man and groomsmen had to do 29 pushups, sit-ups and ear pulls individually. Why 29? Well, it’s ’cause the groom will be turning 29 this year! After the intellectual and physical round, it was time to work their creativity and originality – composing and singing a song with the bride’s name in it. Lastly, it was “angpow” (which means red packet) time. In the Chinese culture, the groom and his men have to give the bride’s girlfriends an “angpow” when they come for the bride. We girls decided that we were going to make their lives difficult by asking for 29 pieces of 5 cent coins. From here on, everything became a blur. We had a traitor amongst us and she had secretly opened one of the doors. The guys rushed in and people were running all over the place, shouting, screaming, some of us trying to barricade the stairwell and everything became chaotic. We were warned of a traitor, whom the groom had planted over a year ago, but our trusting nature led to our downfall!
The wedding ceremony was held at Coal Valley Vineyard. The weather the day before when we went for rehearsal was really cold and rainy. As the wedding was to be an outdoor affair, we were praying really hard that the next day would be the opposite. God was on our side and the weather was just amazing for the last day of autumn – bright sunshine and warm enough to hangout on the patio for canapes and drinks after.
This is my third close friend wedding and I think I can conclude that regardless of how many weddings I will attend in the future, as long as it’s a close friend, I’ll still be brought to the brink of tears. As I stood up on the patio watching bridal procession as YQ was led to Terence who was waiting for her, I felt myself holding back tears of joy. The joy radiating off her face and the pride shining from his was more than anyone could ask for. They were definitely a match made in heaven!
The rest of the afternoon/evening flew by just like that. I allowed myself an hour of at the vineyard, catching up with old friends visiting from interstate and enjoying the scrumptious food and delicate wine served. We introduced out Aussie friends to the Chinese wedding toast. This is when we all raised out glasses in the air, and led by the groom, everyone will lift their voices and together we go “Yum Seng”. It’s not just a simple syllable pronunciation but the words are dragged out until you voice runs dry! Our aussie counterparts after the initial shock, enjoyed themselves so much that they were the leading voices in the following cheers!
It was back to a flurry of activities after that. I only had an hour gap between the ceremony at the vineyard and the reception at Quayside Cottage. Rushing from one place to another and touching up on all the last minute stuff kept me constantly on my toes. The rest of the night flew by without me remembering much of what happened. There was food, blackouts time and again thanks to the coffee percolator, speeches, more toasts and the cake of course. As previously promised, here are some pictures of the cake and sparkling wine arrangement. Sorry my designated photographer didn’t get an up close take so you guys will have to settle for this. I modified my tiramisu recipe and it was YUMMY!!
wow, the guy who staked those cakes and glasses did a pretty amazing job, didn’t he?
=P