Saturday, March 29, 2014

Daniel ♥ Khai Shing ~ Our Wedding Dinner

Oh my...just when I thought work would be less hectic in March, another month flew by in the blink of an eye!! Now that it's already 3 months after our wedding and I've got more trips coming up soon, I shall wrap up with this final wedding post.

28 December 2013 (Saturday): ♥ East Meets West Wedding Dinner ♥

After an eventful and busy morning, we had only 2 hours of rest before we started prepping for the dinner. We decided on having our wedding dinner at CRC restaurant instead of a hotel mainly because of the food, after all we Penang people care more about the food than ambiance...haha!! No fancy decor, no fancy props, just simple good food. K.I.S.S. =P The only few things left to do was to put up the backdrop, play the slideshows, brief the band, arrange the wedding favors, and greet the guests. Once again, thanks to our awesome family and friends for helping out with all these prep work. =)

Our wedding favors - coasters 'imported' all the way from Beijing. =P I can't say that these are the best gifts but they are definitely filled with lotsa thoughts and effort. In fact, it was quite an impromptu decision to get these coasters as wedding favors. The story started with me traveling to Beijing for work last September and saw these coasters when I went to Silk Market over the weekend. After doing some research online and asking Daniel's opinion, I went back to the same place again after work one day and managed to bargain for a pretty good price. So I decided to buy 55 sets of these wooden coasters, carried 3 heavy bags filled with coasters, took the subway, and walked back to my hotel...ALONE. Lol...all the crazy things I do. Initially I was planning to fit all these into my backpack and bring 'em back to Malaysia but it wasn't a good idea coz I was traveling straight to Sabah for a family trip right after I flew back from Beijing. Fortunately, my boss was kind enough and did me a huge favor by helping me bring back 2 boxes of coaster...in business class...thanks Guat Im! =P In order to 'personalize' these gifts, SIL got someone to print out the heart-shaped stickers then mom, grandaunt, and I started a 'production line' at home to stick the stickers onto each coasters. Lastly, Josh, Shalinni and Wey Shin helped to arrange them on each table. Yeah this was definitely a collective effort. =) Once again, thanks everybody for all the help! Hope that all our guests liked it and find this gift practical. =P

Random happy jolly photos of guests' arrival. =)

A night where family and friends gather to celebrate our special day. Such a great gathering opportunity but I was too busy being the bride...lol!!

The one and only family photo that we took that evening before the march-in. =)

Family march-in

Bride & groom march-in. 

Some pics of what went on at the main table during the dinner.

More happy jolly pics during the dinner. =)

Champagne popping = Success :P

Toast to thank all the guests for attending and sharing this memorable day with us. =)

Thanks Anna for the wonderful speech. =)

Thanks Sheng for sharing our 'story' with a bit of exaggeration...haha!! 

Thanks to both our siblings for the humorous, sincere and touching speeches.


Our Childhood and Boy-Meets-Girl slideshow presentation.


Not many people know about our story coz we spent most of our time together virtually over the past 5 years, so I wanted this slideshow to convey our LDR story. =) P.S. This is just a slideshow without any music.

Took me months to complete this 6 min 36 seconds slideshow. From finding and scanning bunch of our old photos, matching both our childhood photos (if you noticed), searching through all the pics that we've taken together over the past 5 years, putting them into a story in both English and Mandarin, customizing the animation and transition for each frame, picking the songs, editing and matching the songs to the videos...this project took almost 6 months and was only completed 2 days before the wedding. =P Phew...mission accomplished!!

Yam Seng with parents' friends

Yam Seng with relatives

Yam Seng with colleagues and friends.


Once again, sincere thanks to all our family, relatives...


Friends (KH primary, JS high school, TAR college, Malaysian UGRADers, China Rushers)...

and PwC colleagues...

...for joining us in celebrating our love, friendship, laughter, and family as we embark on this new adventure together. =) We're honored to have shared this meaningful day with y'all!! 

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Daniel ♥ Khai Shing ~ Our Wedding Ceremony

It's been more than 2 months since our wedding and I can't believe I still haven't blogged about it. =P I've actually received the photos from the photographer a month ago but the past month had been nothing but work for me. Now that I'm temporarily done with work, I shall start clearing my 'back-blogs'. 

28 December 2013 (Saturday): ♥ East Meets West Wedding Ceremony ♥
After one year of anticipation and preparation, the Day has finally arrived. For those who know me well enough, you wouldn't be surprised if I told you that I've never fantasized about a 'dream' wedding. As much as I try to keep things simple, but because I'm such a planner and perfectionist, I have to thick-face-ly admit that I was the 'wedding planner' of our wedding day, from itinerary to logistics to the games. Fortunately, I had a great team of family, relatives, and friends to help ensure that everything run smoothly according to plan and I'm proud to say that we did it! It was a fun-filled day and it was absolutely great to see all our family and friends having a good time at our wedding!! =) 

I shall let the photos do the story-telling coz the photographers did a wonderful job capturing all the precious moments on our special day. Have fun scrolling!! =P We were also very honored to have our Amazing Race cameraman and editor who flew all the way from Shanghai to attend our wedding and helped film the wedding. They are currently working on the final cut of the video and I'll share it as soon as it's done. =)


Beginning of the LONG day. Woke up at 6am and drove myself (accompanied by grandaunt) to the bridal studio to get my make-up and hair-do done. 


As mentioned, I was the one who came up with all the gate-crashing games ideas. And if you've been watching Running Man, you will realize that all my game ideas were inspired from it. =P Guest what, the groom also helped in preparing the props for the game...lol!!

 As soon as I got home, I started briefing the bridesmaids on the games and the itinerary for that morning...with the veil on my head...haha!! =P

According to my college mates who always call me 'boss', they found another evidence to strengthen their point...it's all in the gene. =.=   


Family & friends arrived earlier to help out.

Thanks to all our family & friends who came from overseas, outstation and majority who traveled from the island to attend our wedding ceremony. =)


With the guests arriving, I ended the 'briefing' session and evacuated back to my room to 'hide' and get dressed. =P

Our awesome bridesmaids & groomsmen who arrived earlier to help out with the preparation works. Thanks guys & gals!! =) Btw, all of them look great in those traditional outfits that I bought from China. =P 

The groom and his best-man prepping at their condo on the 'island'.  


Another briefing session by my bros. =P

Thanks MIL for bringing up your boy to be very much like you and thanks for being so supportive of our relationship. =) 

Time to pick up the bride!

The boys...thanks guys for coming all the way from India and KL. 

10am: On-time arrival at the bride's house =P

Guys vs Gals...whoops no easy entrance to get the bride. =P

Gate-crashing challenge #1: Watermelon Mole

This game was absolutely inspired by Running Man...decided to let the guys do this just because it's funny. =P 

The 'earthquake' group photo.

Gate-crashing challenge #2: Marshmallow Calligraphy

I came up with this game mainly because Daniel is really lousy with chopsticks and this is not acceptable since he's marrying a Chinese girl. Thanks to Anna for helping to 'import' 5 bags of marshmallows all the way from US in her carry-on. =P 

This game was modified at least twice before we finally decided on this method. It was during the test-run that I realized that marshmallows are so sticky on the inside. =P 

The stickiness of the marshmallow definitely made this game much more difficult, even for those who were good in using chopsticks. It was hilarious seeing the guys trying to get the marshmallow off their chopsticks and stick 'em on the cardboard. This is kinda like marriage, you're now officially 'stuck' with me, not so easy to get rid of me...hahaha!!

Punishment for not completing the calligraphy within the time limit...durian ice-cream!! Daniel would never try eating durian so this was the closest I could get him to try durian. I also wouldn't want him to really eat durian as a punishment mainly for my own benefit, knowing what we would need to do next...haha! Anyway, this is like the mildest punishment, in fact it's more like a treat than a punishment. >.< 

The end-product...the not-so-complete but acceptable 'I Love You' in Chinese. Note to Daniel, please brush up your Mandarin language now that we're married. =P

Gate-crashing challenge #3: Tian-Mi-Mi Karaoke 

Lead singers - Daniel & Kedar ; Dancers - Groomsmen in red. Yes it was my idea to get the 2 guys who can't speak Mandarin to sing a Mandarin song. =)

Looks like the audiences enjoyed their performance...hahaha!! Well done guys!!

This final challenge was Rachel's idea to get Daniel to give his vows in Mandarin...which includes doing the house-chores and acknowledging that I'm the 'boss'...hahaha!!

These laughter shows how lousy his Mandarin is. =P Note to Daniel again, time for intensive Mandarin lesson.

Finally after an hour of 'torture', he gets to meet the bride. =) Dad's message to Daniel...please take good care of his princess and treat her well like a princess...haha! =P 

Don't know how to explain this custom, basically we just walked one circle around the car while aunt helped by singing the bridal march...lol!! 


Tea ceremony

'Yum-cha' session with paternal grandaunts & granduncles. =P Daniel repeated a whole lot of Cantonese after me but he had absolutely no idea of what he was saying.

Next...'yum-cha' session with paternal and maternal aunts and uncles.

Last but not least, cousins and siblings. 'Yum-cha' session with big bro and SIL coz he's the only one who's married, distributed ang-pow to the other 'kids'...ah I feel old. =P

Our new family portrait. =)

Group photos with family and relatives. Once again, thanks for being part of our wedding!


Thanks to big bro and 'er ge' for the big help in making our wedding a big success. =) Also thanks to my dear maid of honor, Rachel and Daniel's best man, Kedar for all the help with the games and being such good sport.  


Last but not least, our AWESOME bridesmaids (Rachel, Shalinni, Anna, Dan Qing, Rachael, and Jia Li) and groomsmen (Kedar, Sheng, Fu Aun, Joshua, Jia Rong, and Jonathan)!! 

Guess who was the lucky one who got the bouquet toss?? My sister...Anna!!! =)

A big THANK YOU to all our family & friends who have joined us and helped make our wedding a big success!!! It was a great and memorable day that we would cherish for the rest of our lives and we're glad to have shared this meaningful day with y'all!! =) Honestly, regardless of how much planning I did, the wedding wouldn't have run so smoothly and successfully without the help of all my family and friends, especially in terms of logistics. I'm absolutely blessed to have an AMAZING family who's always there for me. 

Here comes my Oscar speech: 
Thanks to my awesome family members for all the help before, during, and after the wedding! The day wouldn't have been so smooth without all your help.

Thanks to Daniel's family for flying all the way across the ocean to participate in our 'Chinese' style wedding! It's been great having y'all around to witness our wedding.

Thanks to Fu Aun and family for helping out with the logistics and providing us with a nice wedding car. 

Thanks to all the groomsmen for being such good sport and so hilarious in all the games. 

Thanks to all the bridesmaids for helping to run the games and giving the guys a 'fun' time. 

Thanks to Lou & 丁丁 for coming all the way from Shanghai to attend our wedding and helping us to film our 'Amazing Wedding'!

Last but not least, thanks to all the family, relatives, and friends from Penang, KL, US, Singapore UK, India, China who attended our wedding and sent your wishes via fb!!