One of my oldest friends in the world flew 17h across the miles to attend our wedding and she is none other than Minghui or affectionately known as Mimi. We have continued to keep in touch since I moved to London and I was really touched by her presence especially when she was here last summer and back again so soon, I felt bad that she had to spend so much money to come back again. Being my special guest (apart from my family that is), I had asked her to write a post about the wedding so that makes her a special guest on my blog too! (A first!)
I feel so lucky to have such an amazing friend for over 20 years. Seriously we know each other so well that sometimes it is scary. Looking forward to share more memories with this special lady for the many more years to come! Love you Mimi :)
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| Me & Mimi |
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29 Jun 2013 had to be the happiest day for my dearest old friend, Bel and her wonderful other half, Kian. It was their special day. On this day, God showed Himself to be a faithful God and a loving heavenly father. London, in the days leading up to their big day, had been cold and grey. The weather probably worried Bel the most but she was steadfast in her prayers (and her friends too!) and our equally faithful God answered them. That day was gloriously sunny, which made the photos turn out beautifully! :)
So, what went on at the Pendley Manor in Tring on that special day? Read on to find out! :)
6++ am
Bel woke up bright and early on her big day (I had the fortune to share a room with the nervous bride one sleep before). While I continued sleeping, she surfed the net on her laptop and after a while, probably attempted to sleep (couldn't really remember this part coz I was sleeping, remember? heee...).
8.30am - 10am
We started preparing to go for breakfast. At this point, poor Bel was feeling unwell - pre-wedding jitters had caused her to lose her appetite and her gastritis was acting up. However, breakfast was good and Bel caught up with the Tews. It was my first time in the dining room - which would be transformed and used for the wedding ceremony later - and I loved how quaint it looked! Everyone at the table was also delighted at how promising the weather turned out. The sun was out! Woohoo!
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| Ed & Denise aka Edden |
10am - 11.30am
After breakfast, Bel and Denise started to arrange the flowers brought from London (the ones from the earlier blog post) in the pots. They were so good at the floral arrangement and had so much fun doing them that Edmund and I were "relegated" to taking photos of the flowers, the balloons in the room and of the power flower duo! I think Bel had unearthed her talent and love for floral arrangement. ;) All of us then helped doing up the "poms poms" for the decorations. Come to think of it, gotta commend Edmund... Apart from helping out with the decorations, he was concurrently providing "live" feeds of this hugely anticipated event to friends back home.
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| Flowers for each table |
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The room all decked up and ready.
Asheley rehearsing on the violin and Chloe doing sound checks. |
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| Our wedding table with our guest book amongst of stuff what I call "props" |
11.30am - 3pm
With about 3 hours to go before the civil ceremony, preparation for the bride started going full-steam. Her bridemates descended upon the room and helped with the make-up, the hair, the dress and calming the bride's nerves with a glass of champagne (or two). Soon, her photographers also arrived and friends and family also popped by. Boy can you imagine, the room was buzzing with so many different things going on at the same time! Anxiety level up a notch!
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| Getting ready - doing my nails |
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| Yes we are ready to go! |
3pm - 3.20pm
The civil ceremony started with Canon in D playing in the background, and Kian waiting for his bride at the front of the room with the wedding registrars. The bridemates in their lovely dresses walked out and Bel, holding her dad's hand, appeared finally. Vows and rings exchanged, wedding certificate signed and smiles aplenty. Edmund then proceeded to read a poem for the couple. And there we have, Bel and Kian officially married!
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| Nervous like anything! |
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| with my papa |
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| The civil ceremony |
4pm - late
The church ceremony was up next. The march-in was followed by praise and worship. 1 Corinthians 13 was chosen as the theme of the wedding and I was "tasked" by Bel to do a reading of 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, and the pastor went on to speak about the passage to the couple.
"4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails."
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| Unveiling the bride |
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| Lighting the unity candle |
Now declared as husband and wife before their friends, the ceremony ended and it was time for FOOD and Pims (my first time drinking it!). Think some of us were hungry by now coz the rush earlier meant that there was no time for a proper lunch. Not that we minded coz I think the joy for the couple and the adrenaline rush made us forget our hunger... for a while. So there we were, interacting with the couple, mingling with friends, taking photos, eating/drinking (note that this was not a priority. Hee...), doing finger-printing and writing in the guest book when the resident white peacock decided to do its job. It opened up its feathers but stayed in a corner while excited guests (that is, us) surrounded it and started snapping away.
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| Right after the ceremony. Bubbles time! |
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| Drinks and canapés |
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| My blush pink and sage green theme wedding |
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| Mr Peacock making an appearance |
Then, it was time for group photo-taking with the couple. The blue sky and sunny weather were the perfect conditions for photos, if you ask me. The photos I took turned out like postcards and I think we were all thankful for the great weather. :) After photo-taking, we went to release the balloons that the couple had prepared for everyone. It was a beautiful sight to see the balloons floating away in the same direction, carrying all our well-wishes for the couple and the balloons, of coz, made good photo-taking material too. :) The bridal bouquet toss was up next and there had been expectations from nice and concerned friends for me to get it but alas, it was not to be. Haha... Sorry to disappoint! I'll try harder the next time! :P
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| Group shot! Photographer Ben had asked for "a ridiculous smile!" |
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| Love this shot! With - what I call - the rays of Jesus' love <3 td=""> |
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| Ready with the balloons |
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| Up, up and away |
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| Who is the lucky girl? |
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| And it's Rebecca! |
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| My beautiful bridesmaids |
Dinner commenced at about 6ish and I think there was good interaction among all at the tables. The food was yummy and we had the oh-so-sweet wedding favours (macaroons), chocolates and wedding cake. It was indeed a very sweet occasion (pardon the pun). Haha... Kian's best man Chun Lei then gave an account of the couple's love story which elicited hearty laughter at several points, and Bel's bridesmates gave glowing and heartwarming accounts of the Bel they knew. During her time in London, the Bel whom I grew up with had blossomed so much... :)
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| Each of my bridesmaids made a beautiful speech for us |
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| Bel and the girls |
Before nightfall, we had one last task on hand - that is, releasing sky lanterns! The couple had prepared the guests beforehand, announcing it on their Facebook events page. And so, those familiar with sky lanterns had some idea of how it should turn out. But it couldn't be further from what we (or at least I) expected... Most of the sky lanterns started well but caught fire in mid-air and went down! We were all watching out for the falling lanterns and trying to stay out of its downward path. Haha... One of the lanterns landed at the front of the Manor. Good thing nothing else was burnt! Though not all the sky lanterns floated away as they should have, the whole thing was quite an experience. Hmm, but I think sky lanterns can be pretty dangerous.
(no pictures here because everyone was busy ducking from the falling sky lanterns!)
Back to the dining room, it was time to PARTY! The couple had their first dance... to a fast tempo song with coordinated moves... Haha... So cute... And I thought the first dance would always be a slow waltz or something similar. The rest then joined in and upbeat songs were the order of the night. It was a nice surprise to see Bel's dad dancing along too! So happening!! And some of us, the so-called younger ones, actually took a while and much prodding before we overcame our inhibitions and started "dancing". Haha...
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| Our first dance |
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| L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole |
And so, Bel's special day ended with the party and her lifelong journey with Kian starts.
For me, I was really glad that I made it for the wedding - Bel's dream wedding no less... In the English countryside with the beautiful weather.
May the LORD bless this sacred union and watch over them always.
Love you Bel. :)
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