My uneventful wedding

My traditional wedding ceremony was held on Tuesday, 13 December, 2011.
It happened my husband's neighbour also had a funeral on the same day.
With the Chinese tradition, we tried to avoid the funeral traffic by having a quick tea ceremony on the bride's house, before leaving to the groom's house (approx. 1 hour by car).
In the end, we managed to avoid the funeral team, who left the neighbour's house slightly after we entered the groom's house.

My wedding banquet was held on Friday, 16 December, 2011.
I started the day by rushing back to my house to collect the dinner gown -- which is my mom's wedding gown.

I then rushed to the bridal shop for make up etc., but was faced with pouring thunderstorm on my way, which caused flash flood in the city center. I was forced to take routes that I have never taken before, risking of getting lost, in order to reach to the bridal shop on time.

Half way through preparing myself in the bridal shop, I received a phone call from the restaurant manager telling me that they have electrical failure at the venue. That was 2.5 hours before the dinner starts. I asked if they have enough generator sets for back up, the manager said alright, she also promised that the blackout will be fixed in 2 hours time. I also found out that the electrical breakdown occurred since 11.30am that day. If they can't get it fixed since 5 hours ago, I doubt they could get it fixed in the next 2 hours time, but I can only trust the manager's word without any choice.

i reached the venue just before 6pm, changed into my mom's wedding gown in the dark, and started helping in setting up the cocktail food prepared by my husband's relatives. There was still no electricity, it seemed to me that they did not prepare the gen-set early enough, and had trouble connecting them. I also found out that the electricity blackout has a chained effect -- pumps not running, that means no water in toilet, kitchen can't cook the dinner.

Guests started coming around 6.30pm, and all well sat by around 7.30pm. My husband's side was furious with the slow response of the M&E team on fixing the issue. The restaurant manager prepared a few portable coolers, and I was busy walking around making sure people are aware of the cocktail, hoping that the food will keep them occupied, and lined the stomachs with some cold beers, that they would have less complaints.

We had a tea ceremony with my grandma and uncle, they couldn't make it for the actual wedding ceremony, and was travelling from out of state to attend the dinner.

While everyone was melting and munching away the limited home-made cocktail food, the M&E team finally managed to connect the gen-set. With my brother's help, we quickly set up the PA system to broadcast the wedding march.

The dinner finally started at 8.30pm.

Due to the government regulations for organising social events passed midnight, the dishes brought to the tables were rushed. Our greetings to each table was brief, and wasn't able to spend enough time with our much cherished friends and relatives.

While we were greeting from table to table, I had a bad cramp on my legs resulted from my high heels. I am not used to wearing high heels for long hours, and was forced to take out the shoes.

By the time we finished greeting each table, guests already started leaving. We then went straight to sending people off at the door.

The entire event went through very quick, I was unable to find out from people how they felt about the dinner. Thanks to my husband's uncle, who fought for us for discounts on the banquet due to the mishaps, we managed to get some discounts from the restaurant manager.

In the end, I was glad that my much-liked wedding march music was played. We chose George Frideric Handel's See, the Conqu'ring Hero Comes March from Judas Maccabaeus. I am also glad that the dining music that I have prepared long ago was played over the dinner, though I doubt many people would pay attention to it.

Last but not least, I woke up the next day with a burning sensation in my eyes. After visiting the doctor, it seems that it was resulted from tiredness, make up chemicals went into the eyes, and contact lenses.

I guess with the incident of cramp legs from high heels, and the painfully-teary-red eyes from the beautifying products, it is concluded that I am just not feminine enough to be a lady that I would like to be. Nonetheless, I think at this age, I should just accept myself for who I am, and am glad that I have a small group of friends who appreciate me for who I am. I am glad that they showed their supports and participation over this uneventful banquet by staying and patiently trusting that the event would eventually turn out fine.

I am sure not many people had attended a blackout dinner like this, so on the positive side, I guess people would remember my wedding dinner as an out-of-ordinary one. :-)