Nuptial Mass and Wedding Luncheon (Part 2)

Read Part 1 here.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye as soon as we got to the restaurant.

Noel and I served tea to the senior relatives from 12.00 pm to 12.30 pm. The luncheon began at 12.45 pm after Noel's dad gave a short welcoming speech and prayed for the food. Noel and I had a few bites of the food before we went from table to table to greet the guests. By the time we were done with it, it was time for Noel to give a short closing speech. We then stood at the entrance and bid the guests farewell. Everyone, including Noel and I, left the venue at around 3.15 pm and headed home.  

Remember in Part 1 I said I just turned into a stoic Humpty Dumpty towards the end of the day? 

Yep, here's a picture of me staring intensely at nothing.

In my opinion, when planning a wedding on a budget, it's important to know what you're willing to splurge on and what you want to save on. Moreover, you should communicate your expectations clearly to whoever that's involved in the planning process as early as possible.

Disclaimer: 

(1) I believe there is no definite right or wrong way when it comes to spending money. Wedding is also something personal, so everyone is free to have it the way they like.

(2) A little context for my non-Chinese readers: In a typical Chinese wedding, it's customary for a guest to present the bridal couple with a red packet to help cover for part of the wedding expenses. The amount they give depends on how close they're with the bridal couple, what kind of restaurant they're invited to, and most importantly, how much they can afford to give. 

However, a bridal couple should never expect to have everything paid off by their guests. Also, it's rude for a bridal couple to ask for a specific amount from the guests.

Noel and I viewed our wedding celebration more as a family reunion time rather than an exclusive event to fulfill our childhood wedding fantasies, not that we have any that our lazy bums were resolute enough to put it into action.

With that in mind, I came up with a list and told my parents-in-law my expectations since they were practically our wedding planners.

Here's a picture of my awesome parents-in-law who went above and beyond to make sure everything was in order for our wedding.

The three must-haves in our wedding were: good food, right people, and meaningful photographs.

By good food I don't mean luxurious delicacies such as lobsters and caviar that we couldn't afford. I simply mean enough (and of course decent) food to feed everyone. 

This sounds like a common sense, but I had had plenty of first-hand experience working in a restaurant many years ago how bridal couples would cut cost by skimping on food. They would order dishes meant for eight people for a 10-pax table. Needless to say, I was appalled, and I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen in my wedding. 

Next, due to limited space and budget, we chose to prioritize relatives over friends when it came to who to invite. My parents-in-law were mainly in charge of this. 

Noel and I invited a few friends, and we were truly grateful to everyone who showed up despite having to sacrifice your family time and embrace the crazy traffic in Penang during the Christmas period.

Last but not least, I wanted a professional photographer to capture all the important moments. Noel and I quickly decided on engaging the service of C Bride Studio right after we had our pre-wedding photoshoot there. 

Candice did my makeup beautifully, and her husband did a good job with all these photos you have seen. Read about our pre-wedding photoshoot here.

On the other hand, the three things I didn't wish to spend much on in our wedding were: decorations, entertainment, and the usual formalities.

Since we were having the luncheon in a relatively new restaurant, the ambience was nice enough without any addition decorations. The easel and the flower arch you see in the photos were complimentary from the restaurant, and they are reused for other wedding banquets too.

Secondly, the only entertainment Noel and I prepared for the guests were two photo montage videos. One was made by C Bride Studio, which consisted of our pre-wedding photoshoot photos. The other one was made by me, which consisted of photos meaningful to us.

Throughout the luncheon, light music was played in the background over the speakers. Noel and I actually prepared a list of songs to be played. However, in the end, instead of plugging in our pen drive, the restaurant staff played whatever they had in their computer system. It would definitely be better if they had played our preferred music, but I was not upset though because I didn't even notice it till Noel pointed it out to me!

Well, technically, we had the most amazing performance during our luncheon courtesy to our very talented cousins. A few of them managed to put together an awesome band performance after rehearsing for less than a couple of hours!

Thank you! *googly eyes*

The third element which Noel and I omitted for our wedding was the usual formalities. No cake, no champagne tower, no outfit change. 

During the wedding planning process, we also did not print out any invitation cards. The invitation was sent via Whatsapp, and everyone responded either through call or filling in a Google Form.

My artistic mother-in-law put together our wedding flower bouquet and corsage for an affordable price. On top of that, she also made the ring bearer pillow and the flower basket carried by the flower girl using recyclable materials. Thank you, mom!

I printed out a copy of our wedding invitation card because the photographer needed it for this particular shoot. Not featured in this photo is the flower basket.

Another thing which saved us a lot of money was not getting a pair of new wedding rings. Noel used his family ring as his wedding band, while I used our engagement ring as my wedding band.

Honestly, I'm not wearing any accessories, not even my wedding ring, on a daily basis. Therefore, I don't see a need in getting an exorbitant ring just to have it collecting dust in a safe. 

Here's a photo taken while Noel was delivering his closing speech. 

He looked very smart while I looked exactly how I felt: it's nice having all of you here, but I think it's about time all of us go back to our respective caves.

Ultimately, I'm aware that the biggest reason our wedding went well was because Noel and I are very fortunate to have sensible human beings as our relatives. Therefore, we didn't have to "fight for our rights" throughout the entire process. Everyone involved in the planning saw eye-to-eye on most of the stuff, and all the guests went with the flow without any complaints.

Allow me to squeeze in some more appreciation notes before I end this post:

Thank you, Wan Ning, for being my bridesmaid.

On a side note, I prepared a cute dress for my makeup session, but I completely forgot about it! I even boldly told the photographer that I didn't have anything else to change into! So, I ended up taking all my makeup session photos in this men-shirt and biker shorts.

Thank you, Nicholas, for being Noel's best man. 

Thank you, Nelson and Hazel, for being our witnesses, the accountants, and the doorgift delivery man/lady.

Thank you, Michael, for being the driver and the IT guy.

Thank you, Michelle, for being the receptionist. 

Thank you, Rachael, for being the lector.

Thank you, Jane, for being the cantor.

Thank you, Aunt Cecilia and Aunt Kae Shi, for facilitating the tea ceremony.

For those whom I forgot to thank here, please forgive me. 

Once again, thank you so much to everyone who wished us and/or graced our wedding celebrations with your presence.

 

Noel and Tina, signing off for now.

Nuptial Mass and Wedding Luncheon (Part 1)

Here's a realistic conversation Noel and I have weekly:

I whispered, "What time does this mass end?"

Noel replied, "Soon. Be patient."

"Okay."

Noel asked, "What's for lunch/dinner?"

"No idea. What do you fancy?"

"I'm thinking of chicken. What do you want?"

I chided, "We're in church now. Stay focused."

Noel and I sacramentally tied the knot on December 26th, 2022! Woohoo!

First of all, let me show you some snippets from our nuptial mass that took place at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Island Park, Penang.

The mass began at 10:00 am. Noel and I reached the church at around 9:15 am to take pictures with guests who came early. 

Look at my brilliant smile. Enjoy it while you can because as the day progressed, I turned from a jolly bride to a stoic Humpty Dumpty and the photos showed!

It's actually not compulsory for the father to walk the bride down the aisle. In fact, in many modern weddings, the bride and the groom walk down the aisle together to symbolize their equal commitment and total free will to enter into the marriage. 

Nevertheless, I was very happy that my dad could walk me down the aisle. It was definitely a heartwarming moment.

Noel and I exchanged our vows. Prior to the mass, Father Henry reminded us to read slowly, not just for clarity, but to really mean what we say and to soak in the moment. 

I think Noel and I did okay...? At least I didn't say the wrong name like Ross did.

Yay! All done for the most nerve-wreaking part.

After the mass concluded, Noel and I followed the Chinese traditions and offered three bows - 

the first bow to God (一拜天地), 

the second bow to parents (二拜高堂), 

but the third bow was to the guests instead of with each other.

Noel and I marched out of the hall at 11:00 am. 

Then, we took more photos with the guests in batches.

A photo with the Ng clan (Noel's dad's family) and a photo with the Lee clan (Noel's mom's family).

Noel and I did not set a particular dress code for our wedding but some of the ladies coordinated their outfits and showed up in Nyonya Kebaya together. I love it. Just look at how gorgeous everyone looked!

A photo with the Tans and Yips and a photo with our TFM friends.

We took pictures with most of the guests, then at 11:30 am, off we went to Elite House in Jelutong, Penang for our wedding luncheon. It took us about 20 minutes to reach there. 

The luncheon started at 12:30 pm, so we had about half an hour for the tea ceremony. Thankfully, the capable aunties who were in charge of the tea ceremony had everything ready by the time Noel and I arrived at the scene.

To be continued...

Bridal Shower, and some appreciation notes

On the first weekend of November 2022, a few of my close friends generously devoted their time and money to organize a bridal shower for me. 

Thank you, Amanda, for being the event planner that took care of everything from A to Z.

Thank you, Rheena, for taking leave and driving all the way down to Pasir Gudang just to spend time with us.

Thank you, Grace and Siew Ting, for sacrificing your precious rest time in between hectic part-time work hours so that we could do some very adultlike things together.

In case you're wondering, two of the adultlike things we did were eating junk food late at night without being told off and having sleepover in matching pajamas bought using my friends' hard-earned money. XD

Look at the number of snacks we had for the night!

We consumed most of the ice-cream and chips while watching episode 4 of The Zone: Endure to Survive.

Usually for our birthday get-togethers, the birthday girl will choose an activity or a place to explore. For this event, I wanted to attend a floral arrangement workshop with the girls.

After inquiring, we discovered that a session at the florist in Johor Bahru would cost RM300 per person! Considering how expensive fresh flowers can be, I could understand why a session would cost so much. However, we were certain that we wanted something more budget friendly. 

In the end, praise the Lord for Esther, a part-time florist and a church friend of Amanda, for agreeing to conduct a floral session for the five of us, at our home! 

In my opinion, what we had was definitely a better experience than joining a professional workshop because not only was it more affordable, but we were also able to truly enjoy the process with no stranger around. We even got to pick out our own flowers and accessories at a local wholesale florist.

We went shopping at Pudu Ria Floral Trading.

I might look skilled, but in reality, I had no idea what I was doing.

Here's a picture of us with our end products!

Here's a picture of us with the sifu!

We ended the get-together on a high note by having a scrumptious lunch at Cafe Anatolia, an authentic Mediterranean restaurant at Iskandar Puteri. We drove 40 minutes one way to reach our destination. Fortunately, the ambience and the taste lived up to the expectations. 

For the record, I love Turkish/Greek/Middle Eastern cuisine with a passion. It's a shame that aside from Nasi Arab, they are not commonly available in Pasir Gudang.

Look at this gorgeous seating arrangement. 

We didn't sit here though because we decided to occupy one of the private rooms.

This is the one and only group photo we have. 

We asked the waiter to take a group photo of us, but his photo-taking skill was horrendous as he only included three of us in the frame...

Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you my dear friends for such a lovely and cozy bridal shower. I would also like to take this opportunity to appreciate a few people who went above and beyond to make sure that I felt loved and had everything I needed for my wedding.

Thank you, Vicky, my cousin sister, for baking us delicious butter cookies. They were wonderful door gifts for our guests during the dinner on December 23rd. On top of that, thank you for the exquisite heart-shaped soap. I am currently using it as a fragrance in my towel drawer.

Thank you, Wan Ning, for driving all the way up to Penang to be my bridesmaid despite the inconveniences and car breakdown. We managed to chat a little the night before my wedding, but I feel like we need another sit-down session to catch up with each other properly. 

Thank you, Jane, for the stunning digital art of Noel and me. The image is currently displayed on the shelf right by the entrance of our rental apartment.

      

I would also like to express my gratitude to some friends and colleagues who found time to meet up with Noel and me even though you couldn't come to the wedding.

There are at least 200 more people whom I am grateful for. I will probably include more details in the coming posts after I finally received our actual-day wedding photos from the photographer. I have been waiting eagerly for the photos to be ready, but I guess I will have to continue exercising my patience for now.

In short, I am extremely thankful to everyone who wished us and/or graced our wedding celebrations with your presence. May God bless all of you, and I wish everyone a very hoppy Rabbit year!