Wilson and Eileen’s wedding

firecracker

Wilson and Eileen just had their wedding on the 8th of February. I got a call early in the morning asking for their “Firecracker Sifu”. In case you didn’t know I’m now working at I-Concept Event Agency – official job designation being as above.

I’m kidding – that’s Jeanie’s brother’s events company (look for Willie) – I’m just helping out. 😉

The preparation

flowers

I was at Jeanie’s place the day before the wedding to help out with miscellaneous stuff and prepare for the rehearsal. Eileen (the bride) is Jeanie’s younger sister and since I didn’t have anything better to do, I thought I might drop by and see if I could be of some use.

preparation

I spent most of the time stripping artificial flowers and using wire to make a hook and wrap around before setting it into foam.

break

It was quite fun working with pliers and I think I managed to do a decent job out of it (at least it was better than my attempts in wrapping a flower bouquet). You’ll have to ask Wendy (the youngest sister) though – she was the one directing everything.

work

The rehearsal was at the church not too far from their place so after a bit of a rush to meet the 3 pm deadline we packed up and headed over to transform the place of worship into a suitable place for the wedding service the next day.

rehearsal

We managed to wrap everything up by 5:30 pm although there were a couple of mistakes which you wouldn’t know unless you know where to look. smirk

The groom cometh

firecrackers

Jeanie woke me up at some Godforsaken hour the next day and I rushed over to fulfil my obligations as the firecracker master. 😉 I quite like this job actually, nothing much to it except stringing up the Chinese firecrackers and lighting it.

The first string of firecrackers was set up on a pole beside the gate to be lit when the groom comes with his entourage and a second one was setup after everyone was inside to usher the groom and bride’s car out.

noodles

As one of the first to arrive, I quickly had a bowl of chicken soup and mee sua (longevity noodles) – a tradition in all Chinese weddings. You’re supposed to eat an egg too.

bride

The day started out proper with the “brothers” (friends of the groom) and “sisters” (friends of the bride) ritual. I think this is a Hong Kong tradition – the heng tai (brothers) have to gain entry into the bride’s house by completing a series of tasks thought up by the zhee mui (sisters).

brothers

This one wasn’t too bad – I once had to eat noodles generously doused with wasabi at my friend’s wedding. In any case, these things are supposed to be light hearted and fun. 🙂

respects

The bride and groom then proceeds to a lengthy process of paying respects to their elders. I learned that only married elders qualify since Jeanie is older than Eileen but isn’t married so the newlyweds didn’t bow three times to her. On the plus side, she didn’t have to give away any jewelry to the bride after the ceremony. Heh!

group

This is a shot with the cousins and sisters.

chillax

Meanwhile, I was just lounging around with Jeanie while all this was going on until the entourage headed off to church at 9 am…

car

…ushered by firecrackers of course.

smoke

The church service

service

*cue wedding song

This was held at Tien Dau church – a stronghold of Christian Heng Huas. I was seated at the front row along with the bride’s side of the family – the only non-family member parking his ass there. 😉 I didn’t know anyone so Jeanie told me to just sit beside her.

church

There was the obligatory exchange of vows…

blessing

…followed by a sermon by the pastor about love and marriage.

choir

There was even a delegation from Miri who sang a song in the church (both the bride and groom are based there).

register

Anyway, there was a very organized photo session with the bride and groom after that and I realized I didn’t qualify for any of the categories. I can’t properly say I’m friends with the bride since I’ve known her all of 3 days so I decided to wait for the rather promising “Others”.

photo

It turns out that “Others” were also subdivided into groups of people of which none I can identify with so I just took a photo with them after the church service. This is actually rather hilarious, it became sort of an in-joke between us. smirk

The lunch reception

lunch

This was held at Joystar Garden – they booked the entire restaurant on top and it was buffet style but since I was sitting at the table with the newlyweds, someone actually brought the dishes to our table so we didn’t have to line up for the buffet. Heh!

janet

Oh! I also met Janet here while I was off getting plates. I saw her later at night at the wedding reception too. Hello Janet! 🙂

The interlude

makeup

I went home and passed out for about two hours before heading over to Jeanie’s house to pick some of them up for dinner. She was still getting her makeup done at that time and I think we were one of the last to arrive. I was driving her sister (Wendy, the younger one) and her boyfriend too so it’s a good thing we made it in time.

The dinner banquet

dinner

The wedding dinner was held at RH Hotel – same place my sister had her Sibu leg of the wedding a couple of years back.

They’re known for their first dish presentation – it’s changed a bit routine wise but it’s still the “lights out, dishes in” song and dance.

food

I really liked the customized wine bottles on the table too.

wine

This is Wilson and Eileen – the man (and woman) of the night.

Jeanie forfeited her place at the main table to sit with me and soon after that the bride and groom made their appearance.

jeanie

There were ballet performances and other entertainment before some people took to the stage and started singing – including Jeanie and Willie – the brother and sister of the bride.

singing

Congratulations to the newlyweds Wilson and Eileen!

end

May you both have the happy-ever-after and all that. 🙂

newlyweds

BTW, I ate an ENTIRE fish that night. There were leftovers and I took home a whole fish coz I love soy sauce steamed fish. In hindsight, it was quite a feat to finish it all by myself. smirk

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22 thoughts on “Wilson and Eileen’s wedding”

      • WTF, you wore your dad’s pants? Bell Bottom? Come to think of it, bell bottom is making a come back and chicks dig that.

        And on JPJ roadblock, surely they don’t check the serial number on road tax. As long as your looks reasonably legit, it will pass.

        BTW, so are you a freelance travel writer now?

        Reply
        • Heh! Yeah, coz I didn’t bring any dress pants back.

          Seriously though, you’ll need a very good quality printer to pass off a fake road tax sticker, and it’s not worth it anyway, it’s not that expensive.

          I’m a writer now, not just travel. 🙂

          Reply
          • no way, any laser printer can print the road tax sticker. I reckon it won’t cost you more than 50 sen to produce one.

            anyway, when are you and Jeanie getting the hitch, don’t forget to invite me to Sibu liaw.

          • and please don’t wear white. Men should never were white, except if your name is Lee Kwang Yew

            I betetr start saving for your ang pow. How much is the going rate these days?

          • Haha! I wore white as the heng tai last time. I guess you can pull it off depending on what the article is. 🙂

            Hmm…I’m not too sure about the market rate for ang pows over here. I packed RM 200. There are a lot of variables but as a general rule of thumb I hear it’s at least RM 50 over here.

  1. it seems very long ago since you went for a wedding ceremony.
    Anyway hope you enjoy yourself well with the pretties :p

    I never been to a church for wedding ceremony before though

    Reply
    • Yup! 🙂

      A lot of weddings are usually held during CNY for some reason – probably because most people are back in their hometowns then…

      Reply
    • Thanks Kiran! 🙂

      Yeah, have posted about Chinese weddings I’ve attended and been a part of before…not my sister’s though – hers was just a church service and receptions, not all Chinese nowadays keep the tradition alive.

      Reply
    • Haha! Okay, which one are you interested in?

      Eh, I think all of most are taken already bro, but not sure about the Miri people. 🙂

      Reply
  2. HB, beautiful wedding photos. My gf is getting married soon and gone GAGA in planning it. She acting like she Vera Wang famous fashion designer daughter want a Vera Wang wedding dress which cost a arm and a leg price. Her future husband family is happy middle class family all they want is regular nice wedding. She want a royal wedding.

    My gf had her wedding and parent inlaws said they would pay for wedding and invited so many people to it, Well after wedding parent inlaws back out agreeing to paid. Couple stuck with 20,000. USD in bills.

    Reply
    • Thanks Vickie! I like weddings where I’m involved somewhat behind the scenes, it’s a lot more fun that way. 🙂

      Oh, congrats to your gf! Sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident though. 20k USD in debt is not exactly the best way to start a marriage but as long as they’re happy. 🙂

      Reply

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