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
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.
I spent most of the time stripping artificial flowers and using wire to make a hook and wrap around before setting it into foam.
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.
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.
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. 
The groom cometh
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.
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.
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).
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. 🙂
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!
This is a shot with the cousins and sisters.
Meanwhile, I was just lounging around with Jeanie while all this was going on until the entourage headed off to church at 9 am…
…ushered by firecrackers of course.
The church 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.
There was the obligatory exchange of vows…
…followed by a sermon by the pastor about love and marriage.
There was even a delegation from Miri who sang a song in the church (both the bride and groom are based there).
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”.
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.
The lunch reception
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!
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
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
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.
I really liked the customized wine bottles on the table too.
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.
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.
Congratulations to the newlyweds Wilson and Eileen!
May you both have the happy-ever-after and all that. 🙂
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.
