PLANET DT: Ryan & Nicole's wedding celebration (Part 2)

We left Nicole's home & were one of the earliest to arrive at The Church of St Francis Xavier, a rather sizeable church in Petaling Jaya (apparently, my mum's uncle attends this church). The day got hotter & hotter, & to make things more interesting, the church did not have any air conditioner. But thank goodness there were some giant fans at the front stage, & us groomsmen turned some of the fans to face where we would be seated.

At the church, Ryan was looking as relaxed as ever. Very relaxed, in fact. And with good reason, too - the morning tea ceremony passed by very smoothly & everything seemed to have gone according to plan & on schedule (in fact, a little earlier than scheduled). With everything going very well, what else should Ryan be feeling if not relaxed? Soon, then the maid of honour & bridesmaids arrived & marched down the aisle. This was followed by Nicole, looking as radiant as ever, accompanied by her uncle who would be giving the bride away to Ryan. And so the ceremony began!

We were in a Catholic church, so the ceremony had some Catholic influence. My parents appeared normal, & mum wasn't emotional as I had expected. There was a choir, too, which presented us with "Lilies of the Field". The choir was superb - great choice by Ryan & Nicole. All in all, the ceremony was not very long at all, & it went by so smoothly. Praise God for that. We had the singing, Bible reading, rite of marriage, blessing of rings, exchanging of rings, lifting of the veil,& then nuptial blessing. And right after that, there was a Holy Communion for baptised practicing Catholics who were present at the ceremony. Very interesting. That was soon followed by a couple of hymps - a communion hymn & thanksgiving hymn. Then we had a concluding rite & the signing of the marriage register. We sang "Just Let Me Say" while Ryan & Nicole signed the register. The conclusion of the ceremony was followed by some group photos (relatives, friends, etc) - which I somehow managed to miss.

The ceremony was marvellous. Soon after, me & BT would follow our cousins back to the Lai residence for a break & to get ready for the reception in KL. We stopped by & had some KFC on the way to the Lai home. Andrew, Val & my parents were taken to the Prince Hotel in KL (where the wedding reception was to be held) to rest up & change.

Prince Hotel has a 5 star rating - the inside is very nice & opulent. There were lots & lots of pictures taken before we entered the reception room. It was no less than what I had expected - after all, there were so many relatives & friends present. Even Uncle Paul & Aunty Daisy made the trip from Brisbane for this wedding day (in fact, both of them came to Malaysia in November for a holiday, a few weeks prior to the wedding). Plenty of pictures, plenty of catching up, chit chat & laughs. There was a huge turnout - at least as big a turnout as Nigel & Phuong's reception back in September. There was a band hired to perform. It was a grand reception!

There is no separate table at the front specifically for the bridal party like they have in Western countries. Instead, all the bridal party were dispersed. The table for the newlyweds had a huge floral arrangement in the middle, & that table also included our parents, Nicole's mother, sister & grandparents, & Aunty Jenny & Uncle Jimmy. Us groomsmen found ourselves at a separate table nearby, full of the Chin cousins (mum's nieces & nephews who interestingly, although on mum's side, all have the Tan surname). The bridesmaids themselves are in a separate table altogether. That, I was told, is the style in Malaysia.

The reception menu consisted of a multi-course (mostly Chinese) banquet, & they were all very delicious. There were 3 dishes I especially liked: the braised shark's fin with sun dried scallops & crab meat, the crispy roasted chicken with prawn crackers & seasonal salt, & the steamed sea grouper with supreme soya sauce (what a superb fish!). The wedding cake was huge - 4 tiers, almost as tall as Nicole! And then, there was also the pouring of the champagne.

A few people got the chance to propose a toast to the new couple - my toast was that God would bless any future children of Ryan & Nicole. That was followed by a very loud "yum seng" from the best man & myself! Aunty Carol would later joke that my parents must have had a heart attack at the sight of me screaming "yum seng" aloud.

There were speeches from Nicole's uncle, dad & of course, Ryan & Nicole. Nicole's uncle was very eloquent. Dad's speech was funny - his jokes were mostly at Ryan's expense (& I saw Ryan smiling & shaking his head a few times!).....which makes me dread what dad would say about me when it's my big day (that will be a long way away, but it's God's will). Haha. But it was good, & the relatives really enjoyed dad's speech.

The long day ended just before midnight. What a marvellous & unforgettable day it was, too. I thank God for that, & may the Lord bless Ryan & Nicole & their future! :)