PLANET DT: Ryan & Nicole's wedding celebration (Part 1)

I spent much of this year, & especially the last few months of 2008, thinking about this particular day. It's all about this 1 day. We talked about it almost constantly. At every family dinner, we talked about this day. Sometimes when I hung out with friends, I would talk about this day. It was almost an obsession. It is the reason I made the 3 week overseas trip which ended just a few days ago. The day which I am referring to, which I have been going on & on about for months, is Saturday 27/12/2008, the last Saturday of 2008. That is the day my brother Ryan & his beloved Nicole had their wedding ceremony & reception in KL. It is a memorable day for Ryan & Nicole, & their families & friends. Ryan & Nicole had their registry marriage exactly 3 months before that in Brisbane. That was 3 months ago. The time to celebrate was on 27/12/2008 - & how we all celebrated!! It was a fantastic & memorable day for everyone. It was one of the best days of my life :) A very long day, but definitely one to cherish. Me & my youngest brother, BT, were Ryan's groomsmen, with the best man being our cousin Chee Yen (Ivan Tan on Facebook). Nicole's sister Priscilla was the maid of honour, with the bridesmaids being 2 of Nicole's friends.

The night before the wedding, myself & BT went with another cousin, Nicholas Lai, to stay at his church member's house as there was no room at the Lai residence. We woke up pretty early on the morning of the wedding, got dressed & went over to the Lai residence to have breakfast. Ryan & Chee Yen were already there - they had stayed at a hotel the night before. After a quick breakfast, I accompanied Ryan in the bridal car, to head over to Nicole's place. BT & Chee Yen made their way in a separate car. At Nicole's place, we were going to do the tea ceremony. Ryan would go upstairs to bring his bride from her bedroom. Very soon, masses of friends & relatives would arrive - so many people! There was plenty of food set up on the tables outside the home. And the tea ceremony then began.

The tea ceremony was quite long - even longer than Val & Andrew's tea ceremony 2 years ago. But we didn't feel it - the tea ceremony went by so smoothly that it finished well ahead of schedule - about 1 hour ahead of schedule! Wow, talk about good planning! I never before heard of tea ceremonies which finish so far ahead of schedule. I managed to catch up with some of my relatives. Surprisingly, I didn't really get grilled over when is my turn (to get married). Anyway, the day was so hot, so we stayed indoors, in the comforts of the air conditioner. The early finish to the tea ceremony meant that we had plenty of time to head over to The Church of St Francis Xavier (in Petaling Jaya) for the wedding ceremony. And off we would go to the church. Mind u - the relaxed lead up to Ryan & Nicole's wedding ceremony was a sharp contrast with the frantic scramble before Val & Andrew's wedding ceremony 2 years ago (haha, I still remember).