Both of them had a few of us over to their place last month, to help with some of the planning & preparations. We helped out this past Friday nite with the seating & decorations for the wedding ceremony & also the post-ceremony refreshments. Everything was set to go, so I thought when I arrived at the church on Saturday morning. Terence was there, bright & all smiles. I helped in the kitchen with setting up the curry puffs & all that, & when I came up, everything seemed good. Then 10-15 minutes before the bride was to arrive, Terence approached me with a bit of anxiety. He left the paper plates & cutlery at home! Ohhh dear! Could I please get to his place & fetch those items? Being the compliant friend that I am, I agreed to go, & hurriedly left the church with one of Catherine's friends. By the time I fetched those items & got back to the church, Catherine & her maid of honour, Maria, were already at the front. It was almost time for exchanging of vows. That meant that I had missed the bridal march! Drat!
Anyway, an even bigger surprise was to unfold - Terence was emotional during the exchanging of vows. I never seen/heard him like that before! I always thought him as the stoic type. Catherine was a lot more composed, & managed to hold everything together when it was her turn.
Then after the group photos were taken, it was time for refreshments. I helped myself to the curry puffs & all those Malaysian goodies, some of which were made by Aunty Daisy. The hall where the refreshments was held was quite packed. There were lots of food, & I spent more time eating than talking to people.
Then at nite, Terence & Catherine had a "thank you dinner" (NOT reception, just a "thank you dinner") at nite, at Red Lantern in Caxton Street, Paddington, to thank all who helped out with the wedding. We met up at his home in Auchenflower (all up there would have been more than 20 people) & a couple of maxi taxi vans took us to Paddington. Just as well we took the cab - Caxton Street was so busy that there was no way anyone could have found parking that nite. It's Saturday nite, after all. To add to the busyness, there was a rugby league match between Brisbane Broncos & St George Dragons at Suncorp Stadium nearby.
Red Lantern was packed with the rugby league fans when we arrived - no doubt they were having a quick meal before heading to Suncorp Stadium. Anyway, we occupied 2 tables at Red Lantern. Terence & Catherine were seated with the older adults, including their parents, in 1 table. The younger adults were seated at the next table, & it included myself, BT, Ivan C, Winston & Eilen, Matthew & Serene, & Maria & a few others from Catherine's side. Alas, Nigel & Phuong could not join us as they had a wedding reception for a relative of Phuong's to go to. Mind u, the food was quite superb. I especially liked the char siew & siu yok....of course, how not to like them?
We caught a maxi taxi back to Terence's place where we dispersed & went home. Some of us had thought of going somewhere for dessert, but we were quite full from the dinner, so ended up not doing dessert.
Terence & Catherine, very happy for u both, & I wish God's blessings on your future together!
Some pictures:
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