We had a fantastic day, and not going on honeymoon for a while, so I thought I'd fill in the time by writing my wedding report while I still remember everything.
The day before
My MoH and makeup stylist picked me up at 08:30. We loaded up the car with as much as we could, and they took me to a café at the Marina for a delicious champagne breakfast – pastries, eggs Benedict with smoked salmon, champagne and a pot of tea. Afterwards, we went over to a local hotel to chill out in the spa for a few hours. The package included lunch, a facial, and a back and leg massage. We headed over to the wedding venue feeling very relaxed and chilled-out.
OH brought the centrepieces from the florist over to the venue, so us girls got checked into our room and unloaded the cars. Two of the other BMs came over with their boyfriends, the groomsmen joined us, and we got the rooms set up. Once we were all set up, we popped down to the restaurant for some dinner. The poor manager looked terrified when we walked in (12 of us!) and asked for a couple of tables for 6, but he worked really hard to get us all seated and fed. The chef even brought the order for my table forward so that I could get back upstairs and started on my beauty treatments.
OH, the BMs, and the men left, and I headed up to the hotel room with my MoH and makeup stylist. We got waxed and our nails done over some nice chocs and a bottle of sparkling rose, then turned in at about 1am.
The wedding day
We got up at 07:30 (ugh!) and headed downstairs for breakfast. OH and the groomsmen arrived with the bridesmaids at 10:00, for door games. These are a Chinese tradition in which the BMs make the groomsmen do fun challenges to prove his love for the bride.
In our case, the games started with a fun version of “Mr & Mrs”. OH had to answer 20 questions about me and our relationship. For every question he got wrong, he had to do 5 push-ups. He did pretty well – 14 out of 20 – but by the end he was pretty tired lol. We then got the groomsmen involved for a “jelly bean roulette” in which they each had to try one of the Bean Boozled jelly beans. All of them got “normal” flavours like peach, except for OH, who got vomit flavour!
Next challenge was for them to put their feet in a bowl of ice water and attempt to pick out sesame seeds using only their toes, which resulted in some hilarious reactions. The venue very kindly arranged to provide the ice water and clear it away again. Finally, we put them into tutus and 1980s’ jewellery (over their suits), and made them all dance to Barbie Girl.
The photographer had arrived just in time to capture the door games, so we had chance for a quick chat before I started getting ready. Two of the BMs headed back to another hotel to get MIL ready, and the men went to get ready in the honeymoon suite. MoH, my sister, and I got ready at a leisurely pace in one of the other hotel rooms.
Just after 1pm, the other BMs arrived and helped with the final touches. The registrars arrived and went over the final details, then it was time to go.
Poor OH was ever so nervous, he could hardly get his words out at first. He relaxed once my sister did the first reading (The Day the Saucers Came, by Neil Gaiman, which got everyone laughing). When he started his vows, he only got 2 lines in before people started to realise they were being rick-rolled and started laughing again. I did my vows, and we had the second reading (a selection of segments from Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline – cue more laughter).
It was quite chilly outside, so after the ceremony we had drinks and canapes in the bar adjacent to the ceremony room, then went outside for a few quick photographs. Our photographer specialises in reportage photography, so we only had 3 or 4 posed shots. After an hour or so, we went in for the speeches and 3-course meal (delicious!). During the break after the meal, I had some photos with my BMs and then went to get changed into my cheongsam.
The evening party started with a surprise for all of our guests – a Chinese lion dance! I was worried about how it would go down with OH’s family, but they loved it. We cut the cake with our Legend of Zelda Master Sword, and had the first dance, then got the party started. Poor old OH got very drunk, thanks to my MoH and others buying him tequila slammers and Jagerbombs. There are photos of him saying “goodnight” to my Dad while dressed in just his suit trousers and an usher’s waistcoat!
The DJ was awesome, even playing some of the J-Rock tracks that I requested. At the end of the night, he finished the party with New York, New York, then handed the microphone over to my MoH, who hit “play” on a certain Tenacious D track…thankfully, all of our family had left by then!
We haven't got any photos from the photographer yet, but in the meantime here's a picture of the lion dance from my photographer (sorry, it's a bit large):
