Hi everyone,
I’m back from my wedding!
It was simply beautiful and worth all the hard work and time that my husband and I put in to prepare for it; lots to be thankful and praise God for as well!
We had asked our cell group to pray for good weather for us a week before our wedding day. When we both woke up to a wet Saturday morning (it was drizzling at my place up north and pouring & thundering at his place in the east), we were both definitely apprehensive. But praise be to God – that was all the rain we had last Saturday!
Traffic up and down the SLE/CTE was smooth that Saturday morning so we spent much less time on the road than we had catered for. This gave us some extra time to take more photos with our families. My own relatives were very supportive that day – quite a number of them were at my parents’ place by 7.30am just to see the groom come at about 8am to fetch me to his parents place!
The tea ceremonies in the morning took faster than we expected so there were lots of time in-between for our helpers and us to grab a bite and rest. We used Four Seasons for the mini-buffet lunch at my mum’s place. The caterer was slightly late (they came at about 10.30am when we told them to come at 9.30am...I was expected to arrive at about 11am but was actually early) but the food was delicious and the portions extremely generous. I recommended my mum to take the mini-buffet option because (1) it saved us the hassle of worrying about how to let the caterer collect back their equipment when no one would be home the whole day and (2) we had catered a very wonderful spread for tea reception for all our church guests, so the buffet at my place should be more of a light bite in light of the short interval between the 2 meals. BTW, my husband and I both love to eat, and it felt only right that our wedding should reflect this love for lots of good food.
Amazingly, that Saturday, there were 2 other weddings in the same street as my parents’ place (it must be a very good day in the Chinese calendar, 3 weddings in a row of about 20 houses is a pretty rare occurence). Thank God, we didn’t face any parking problems at all when we were back at my parents’ place for the tea ceremonies. I think my mum must have felt particularly pleased as well coz we had let her had the final say in dates.
Something else to share, I hired a bus from Bus Plus to ferry my jiemeis, xiongdis, photographer & videographer around in the morning. The feedback we got was that it was a very comfortable and unique experience. This way, our xiongdis didn’t have to tire themselves out driving. It’s quite cool too as the bus would display the word “WEDDING” on its LCD display board. As it was a 17-seater, we used the bus to fetch some of my relatives who don’t drive to church after the tea ceremony. I was quite touched by my relatives’ enthusiasm in attending all of aspects of my wedding – even the church service – even though they are non-believers. Felt so loved by everyone that day.
Our church service was at 2pm but our families had to be around for the reception from 1pm onwards. Due to the smooth flow of things in the morning, we were able set off at about 12.30pm and my husband could accompany me to Raffles Hotel to check-in. Upon arrival, we were immediately escorted to the suite. As it was still early, I rested with my best friend in the bridal suite while my darling went off to church first.
Now the most significant part of the day - the Holy Matrimony.
Talking about this, I’m really glad we opted for a full service. The turnout was tremendous – there were about 400 guests – and a large number of them turned up just to be witnesses to our marriage. St Andrew’s has 25 rows of pews and when I arrived at the doorstep, I saw all 25 rows filled with guests. My pageboy looked so solemn and focused on carrying the ring pillow properly that it was such an adorable sight. Anyhow, words simply cannot describe the feelings in me as I marched in holding my father’s arm to the sound of Pachelbel’s Canon in D. For hymns, we sang To God Be the Glory and Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee. (We were encouraged to pick popular hymns so that all the guests can join in the singing.) During the signing of the church register, we played How Beautiful by Twila Paris. The recessional piece was Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.
I must say that the church ladies really did a fantastic job with the flowers. All our guests, especially the elderly folk, loved the red & white theme I picked for church that day. For the flower stands, they used roses, carnations, orchids and eustomas. For the pews, roses and carnations were used. Our church bulletin covers had red roses with baby’s breath on them. I had also requested Lavish Dine Catering to use a red and white theme for fresh flower arrangements for the reception table and tea reception – they used roses and gladiolas in their arrangements. For my hand bouquet, it was a cascade arrangement with red roses and white lilies. To soften the look slightly, I gave my flowergirls 2 stalks of pink gerberas each to carry in lieu of flower baskets. Hehe…come to think of it, even the pastors and children’s choir who sang in our service were wearing red and white.
For those interested, my
order of service is as follows. I have also indicated what is optional in a wedding service to the best of my knowledge.
Prelude (we played a CD by this teenager with an angelic voice called Chloe)
Wedding Processional – Canon in D
Hymn 1
Introduction (for Anglican churches, we use a special prayer book for wedding services)
Prayer
Matrimonial Solemnization (exchange of vows, wedding rings & unveiling of the bride)
Scripture reading (optional)
Exhortation (ie, sermon, optional)
Love dedication (ie, where your church friends sing a special piece, optional)
Hymn 2
Signing of the register (some people combine the love dedication with the signing)
Holy communion, Prayer & Benediction
Recessional march (Arrival of the Queen of Sheba)
With regards to the tea reception, the feedback we got was that the food was delicious and that there were also more than sufficient food. Only downside was that the caterer started setting up late – at about 1pm instead of 12noon as promised so they were still not completely ready when the service ended at about 3pm. Hubby and I give their laksa, swedish meatballs and satay the thumbs up! Being the foodies that we are, hubby and I sat down to eat at about 4pm when most of the guests had left. I think it helped that both of us continually kept our stomachs full the whole day, because I didn’t feel faint at all that day.
By the time we left church and went back to the suite, I just had sufficient time to remove my make-up and wash my hair before the MUA came. I strongly recommend brides to go down to the reception to mingle with your guests. For myself, I managed to chat and take pics with my relatives and my parents’ guests as well as chat with my friends who came early.
The
banquet was a success as well – with gorgeous décor, great food, and impeccable service. It was everything that we expected of a wedding at Raffles and more. We even manage to get a relatively early start at 8.25pm and the banquet ended at about 10.45pm. Thank God, my husband’s colleagues let him off that night – he only had to drink ¼ glass of beer. I didn’t feel tired at all during the event. I guess the adrenalin and a full stomach helped. Actually, in the run-up to the wedding, I was getting 5-6hrs of sleep daily coz I was busy packing up my stuff to bring to our new place. Even on the night before, I only managed to climb into bed at about 11.30pm before waking up at about 5.15am!
To those who are still wondering if they should have everything on one single day, I say that it’s possible and comfortable to do so as long as everything is planned properly. For us, having the banquet at Raffles Hotel was a pretty natural choice as it was just so near St Andrew’s Cathedral. Going to church the next morning (Sunday) was also a matter of just strolling over after breakfast.
For music, we used Jonathan Cain’s Bridal March for the 1st march-in and Come What May (Ewan McGregor & Nicole Kidman) for the 2nd march-in/Champange Pouring. For the photo-montage, we used Steven Chapman’s I Will Be Here & This Is The Day by Scott Wesley Brown. Our guests were served their first dish accompanied by the piece Summon The Heroes (1996 Atlanta Olympic Theme Song) – I selected it partly as a tribute to the heroes that night, the waiters and waitresses.
Looking back on 18 June, I must say I am a really blessed bride to have had such a lovely wedding. All through the last 1.5 years of wedding prep, my husband was always beside me, working together with me to create this beautiful and special day. In addition, I didn’t have any major disagreements with my own parents over wedding issues even though they are non-believers. They even gave us a wonderful present that day – my parents gave us all the ang paos they received for their share of the banquet tables!
Now, I am just so looking forward to my honeymoon. When we return, our photos and video should be ready, and I will throw a party at our lovenest for all my helpers.
