Finally Married!

We are so glad that it is finally over! We're now an officially married couple! :) It was trully a long day!

From the depths of our heart, we really want to thank everyone who has helped in one way or another to make our wedding day a successful one, especially our parents, who have been supportive from the beginning - mom & dad, we love you so much!

Special thanks to our beloved Pastor Calvin Lee, he has been with us from the beginning, guiding us through the entire process, making sure that each area of a marriage is comprehensively & exhautively covered. Also, many thanks to our wedding coordinator, Rebecca Leong, who has put in so much time & effort to help smoothen the entire event. Also not forgetting are our bestman & bride of honor, Pui Kit & Radha, they have been of awesome assistance to us. Our siblings, extended family, as well as church friends are not forgotten as well.

Alright, I think that is enough of thanking everyone, now what we are going to do now is to give you a summary of what actually happened that day (19th Nov 2005) along with some pictures, sounds great? Hope you will enjoy reading our story.

0700 - 0900
I (eric) woke up with an extremely weird feeling, in my heart was something that I have never felt before, my mind couldn't conceive it. It feels like as if my whole existence & purpose in life is going to be different from this day onwards... I quickly prayed for calmness & grabbed my checklist for the DAY to see if I still have anything outstanding... Ok, the bouquet, 'ang pau's, new shoes, new shirt, bestman, driver,... I was all ready to go pick up my bride! Mum hollered for me to come down for breakfast, which I knew was the last breakfast mum would be fully responsible for, haha... thereafter would then be in my wife's portfolio. I ate my portion and was satisfied, went back to my room to get dressed soon after. With a retro red stripped shirt 'double-collar'ed over my suite & new italian-handmade leather shoes (hey, that's what it says on the box!) to go with, I hopped into the US$200,000 S-Class Mercedez-Benz, which its driver (Lingam) has been waiting for me, off I went to the Jessy's home with my heart pounding harder by the minutes as I get closer. Lingam said, 'steady... steady... just relax', haha... It was an such overwhelming scene which only I could tell how it feels!


0900 - 1030
My bestman, as well as my 2 brothers came along, driving along from the back of my wedding car. As soon as we rolled our wheels into the street where Jessy lives, the sound of our honks resonated the entire area! It was a loud minute then, I actually noticed people coming out of their homes to watch us. I guess this is the chinese way of wedding, haha... loved it! Oh, did I forget to mention the roast pork that we transported along? We had this whole roasted pig in my brother's car! No joke! Whole big fat golden-roasted, heavily-weighted, nicely-decorated, expensive pig! Spent like US$150 on it! Cost me a bomb! Haha... Well, mother in-law requested for it, and it is actually a very traditional gift that the groom would give to the bride's family. Anyway, I entered her home along with my bestman & my brothers, I knocked on her room door & was suddenly put to arrest by her cousins & friends! I made me sing & do all sorts of weird stunts, and asked $$$ from me before they would let me in!!

1030 - 1130
After getting my bride, we had the traditional tea ceremony, where the elders of our families would be honored by a cup of tea from each of us. And on return, they would give us an 'ang pau' (red packet with $$$ in it!). The smiles our everyone's faces just made the entire event absolutely awesome. It took us slightly more than an hour to get through the whole thing.




1130 - 1400
I was actually quite tired already after the tea ceremony, but the DAY wouldn't end till at least another 12 hours, haha. We hoped into the Benz and were drove home to get prepared for the matrimony service, which will begin at 1430. I quickly got myself freshened up and rested a little bit while Jessy was busy getting her makeup & hair do done with a stylist that we hired. I never knew that the makeup process could be so complicated! I took them almost 2 hours to get done. Towards 1400, we left home and arrived at church, this is when our heart beats began to pump harder and harder, hehe... I was kinda nervous - afraid that I would give some funny answer to the pastor's questions...

The Matrimony service actually went by very smoothly, the audio was ok, guests were kinda on time, weather was great, the refreshments were delicious, etc. One of the the most memorable moment of my life was when I saw my bride walking on the isle... and was handed over to me by her dad... ooh.. I tried so bad to hold back the tears, I really was hard. I have experienced one of the greatest joy of my life!

1400 - 1700

The order of the service was like this:

1. Musical Prelude
2. Bridal March
3. Welcome & Opening Prayer
4. Congregation Singing
5. Message
6. Special Presentation
7. Solemnization <- I kissed the bride!!
8. Benediction
9. Recessional

The rehearsal that we had the day before was very helpful in helping us remember the cues and lines though. We are so grateful that our family and friends came to be a part of this memorable event. Our chidhood & high school friends, colleagues, bosses, came to support us as well. Many of our parents' friends came as well.















1700 - 2030
After almost everyone has left the church, we did try to grab something to eat, but too bad, all the spring rolls & pineapple tarts were gone, haha... We headed back home and had to prepare for the wedding dinner that we hoped to begin on time (around 2030). My newly wedded wife had to de-makeup and makeup (and style up) again for the nite, and that means another 2 good hours! Guests started arriving one by one when 2030 draws nearer. We maxed out the entire hall, it could fit approximately 320 people.

2030 - 2300
There were several other wedding dinners being held at the same time in the same restaurant, different floors, however. I guess the restaurant management did have enough waiters because the few that I saw scrambled their way up and down the stairs each time they had to. The wait for the dinner to begin was actually later than that expected - by an hour and a half! Anyway, the dinner was ready to begin when most of our guests were seated. The chief chef soon signaled for his helpers & waiters to stand-by. Manager then gestured the staff at the opposite side of the hall to play the bridal march as my newly wedded wife and I entered *majestically* into the hall and took our place at the front-most table, beatifully decorated & somewhat elegant... Dinner began, everyone ate to their satisfaction, course after course.

I had the opportunity to deliver my speech as well - this was perhaps the first time I stood upfront thanking my parents for their love & support to me all these years, which I truly appreciated. Radha, Jessy's Bride of Honor, as well as Bill, my friend from the US, delivered their speechs and good words for us too.

When the final few dishes were about to be served, my wife and I, together with our parents, went from table to table to toast with all who came - we toasted a total of 31 times! YAAAAM SENG!! When all the dishes were served and wiped-out-clean, the nite finally came to an end. We thanked everyone, many with hand shakes, that came to share our joyous day as they exited the main door :)

Wow... that was a long blog! Took me 9 months to complete, haha... Should have got it posted long ago, it has been sitting in as a draft for a long time. Hope you enjoyed reading! :)

More pics at www.ericjessy.myphotoalbum.com