Dear’s Wedding

Dear had a typical Teochew Wedding Day where the bride had to be married out of the house early morning. All the sisters had to reach her house by 7.30am. Once we reached her house, it was a frenzy to get everything ready before the arrival of the groom.

The first hurdle for the groom was the negotiation of a satisfactory open-door-fee. The other sisters were very lady-like and gentle, so such haggling could only be left to the more tom-boyish me and “Son”. Both of us were literally throwing our images away with our rather bossy and mercenary haggling. This was so that we could secure a good ‘price’ for giving the bride away and for rewarding the hard work of all sisters. Unfortunately, the entire process was captured on video and shown to all the guests during the wedding dinner. Oh dear, my professional image has just been washed down the drains. Note, this was all done in good jest and only for one of my best friends.

Then it was a series of other games for the groom such as doing hula hoops, guessing the lip stick marks of his mother-in-law and wife, eating muffins containing balaccan (spicy chilli), bitter-gourd and wasabi and singing an original song to proclaim his love for dear. Finally, it was time for the bride and groom to go to the groom’s house for the tea ceremony before coming back to the bride’s house again.

The Wedding Dinner was at Rasa Sentosa with a solemnization ceremony before the dinner. The original venue of the solemnization was at the lawn with the back facing the seafront. Unfortunately, the inclement weather required a change of plans. Under the detailed briefing by the Registrar of the significance of the wedding vows and the rituals, both the bride and the groom pledged their promises to be true and faithful to each other in sickness and health.

I was again a helper at the reception table. At the rate I was going, I could soon crown myself a permanent fixture at the reception table for my friends’ weddings. Anyway, with so many past experiences with me (this was the 4th time I was at the reception table), I could more or less expect what I needed to do without any prior briefing. Receptionists often had to stay outside even after the wedding couple had marched in to assist some of the latecomers, so we often missed part of the food and the ceremony.

(With Dear at the reception table before her march-in)

Fortunately, I had not missed much this time round, especially the singing by some friends and the wedding couple. It was also a good time catching up with my secondary school friends on the latest developments in their lives. For instance, “Son” would be holding her wedding ceremony next May, while PM had changed her job.

May Dear and her husband live happily ever after… …