Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wedding Eve at my aunt's place

On the eve of my wedding, my family and I went over to my aunt's house in Cheras. Chin Lay and my student, Koon Yew followed us in the car. My aunts and cousins had a pleasant surprise for us - they took the time and effort to decorate the house and even the kolam was custom-made with our initials on it :) So sweet of them - am truly blessed to have such a wonderful extended family :)













Shortly after, Ai Lin joined us as well - the house was filled with laughter and joy. My aunt and cousins from Seri Kembangan dropped by as well. Had great fun with my close buddies and family - a gathering that will be cherished for years to come.



Nallunggu ceremony and Mehendi night

Nallunngu ceremony is a pre-wedding ceremony (usually done 2-3 days before the wedding) to ward off evil and to bless the bride and the groom. This ceremony takes place separately in the bride's and the groom's house (the bride and the groom are usually not allowed to meet 2 weeks before the wedding). After the Nallunggu ceremony is done, the bride and the groom are not allowed to leave the house (this is to prevent any mishaps).






















































































I was so happy that Chin Lay came.















Usually during the Nallunggu night, there will be Mehendi (henna) night for the bride. Mehendi has great significance in all Eastern wedding traditions, and no wedding is complete without the decoration of the bride’s hands and feet - in many cultures on both the front and back of the hands right up to the elbow, and on the bottom half of the legs. The mehendi night is something like a hen night in the West, with all the bride’s female friends and relatives getting together to celebrate.








Had a great time that night. It was fun-filled with family and friends - with lots of banter, laughter and joy! That's why I love the traditional Indian wedding - it gives an avenue for family and friends to celebrate with the bride/groom - more of a personal party before the big day.

My wedding saree

My wedding saree that we both seletected together - I love the color and it's quite comfortable to wear - not too stiff and starchy.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Gift opening

Yesterday was gift-opening session - I am always the excited one when it comes to opening presents. Alfred is laid back and indifferent about opening presents - so I get the honor of ripping apart the nicely wrapped gifts. We received many lovely gifts from our friends and relatives. One of it is a crystal dish-set - it's so beautiful! And we received two multi-purpose cookers! Haha - exactly the same model - with steaming, slow cooking and baking functions. More reasons for us to invite more people to our house for a big feast ;)

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Our Speech

Our speech for the wedding dinner - that never got delivered - our guests were so busy mingling with each other that we've decided to cancel our speech and proceed to the children's performance. Since we've prepared the speech, we might as well say it to the cyber-world.

My speech:
Today would not have gone nearly so well without the generous help of so many people – and whilst my husband has already taken care of the ‘thank yous’, I would like to single out a few of you for my own praise.

Thank you to both my parents for all their love, support and guidance throughout my life. Given their spirit, generosity and kind-heartedness, I’ve always looked up to them. I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for your encouragement. You have shown me the love and commitment involved in a marriage. I didn’t settle for anything less than true love because of your example. I knew what to look for and I waited for it … and waited, and waited and found the right person.

I would like to thank my husband’s parents, for their continuous support in the lead up to the wedding. My sincere wish is that together Alfred and I can build a home that is as welcoming and as full of love and happiness as theirs is. Their care and guidance over the years has had a very positive influence over Alfred and their very best qualities have rubbed off on him. They raised him so he’d grow up to be a perfect husband. As long as he keeps saying ‘Yes dear’ we'll have a wonderful marriage.

I’d like to make a special mention of Sharon, my friend who introduced us to each other. And to Chin Lay, my childhood friend whose friendship has been a source of strength to me throughout the years. I would like to thank Devan for the wonderful song he sang for us – which happens to be our favorite song. And special thanks to all my siblings, aunties, uncles, relatives, and friends for spicing up our lives.

After five years together it means a lot to be standing here as Alfred’s wife. I’m so glad to be married to Alfred; caring, talented, modest, charming – I can see why he picked me. When we first started going out together I was attracted by his ambition, drive and determination. He is understanding and kind, forgiving and patient, humorous and most of all he is a good listener. Alfred brings out the good in me, he makes me laugh and he makes me enjoy each and every moment of life just by being a part of mine. They say that you don't marry someone you can live with – you marry the person who you cannot live without. This is certainly true with Alfred, I look forward to our amazing journey together and growing old and grey with him at my side. This might sound like a cliché, but you truly did make me the happiest girl in the world when you asked me to marry you, and I can honestly say that I’m proud to be standing here now as Mrs Alfred. I know that life won’t always be a bed of roses, but I can promise you now that, whatever it tries to throw at us, I’ll always be there by your side, as your wife and your best friend.

Finally, let me end as I began, by thanking you all once again for coming tonight and for sharing this magical day with us. I can honestly say that today would not have been the same if we had not been in the company of our dear friends and family. Thank you.

Alfred's speech:
I’d like to sincerely thank everyone present here. Your presence is so important to both of us. Without your best wishes and blessings our marriage wouldn’t be complete. Thanks again.

I would like to thank my parents. I want you to know how much I love you and how much I really appreciate not only the sacrifices you made but all the times you supported me in what were sometimes not the smartest decisions I made(laugh) but gave me the opportunity to grow. I can’t begin to tell you what you both mean to me, and how glad I am you are here to share this wonderful day with me.

I would like to thank Geeta’s parents. Thank you most of all for the wonderful, and beautiful daughter that you raised, she is truly a gift. I also want to thank you for your kind words, and for allowing me to become a part of your family.

I’d like to say thanks to Geeta, my lovely wife, from the bottom of my heart. She is the most wonderful girl I have ever met. In fact, she, as a woman, is as amazing as you could ever think of. I’m not saying it as she is my bride today but anybody who knows her would agree. I heard someone saying that marriage is like a gamble, you never know what’s in store for you. But all I can say is, if marriage is a lottery, I have hit the jackpot. Can’t describe it better. Thank you sayang for saying “Yes”. You have made me so special. You made me feel like a winner. This is the happiest day of my life . . . no wait . . . this isn’t, because tomorrow will be happier and day after tomorrow even happier than that. This is just the beginning of a happy journey where every passing day is happier than the preceding day. To my wife, 'Grow old along with me, The best is yet to be.'

Thank you again for being here this weekend to share in our wedding with us. We appreciate all of the love and support we've received from you. It means the world to us and will never be forgotten. We hope everyone has a wonderful time this weekend.

We are Married!

We are married! Today was our wedding dinner - and I am awake at 3 in the morning because of the little booze that I had - definitely not wired to drink ;) We had great fun - finally - celebrations for 3 weeks in a row - 5th July our traditional wedding, 11th July my sister's church wedding and dinner, and 18th July our wedding dinner. And now I am able to heave a sigh of relief that everything went on smoothly and now we can sit back and chill out. We spent a great deal of our time planning for our wedding and dinner - it's high time for us to be back doing other things :) All in all we had great celebrations - lots of laughter, joy and dancing tonight - even with my saree and 3 1/2-inch-heels.

Thanks to all our family and friends who had been a great support. Thanks to Sharon for introducing us to each other - I am so thankful to have met Alfred - to share this amazing journey with.