The End and The Beginning

Well, it's the end of my extended bachelorhood, and the beginning of my life as a married man.

Leading up to this day, people always ask me if I'm nervous. My fiance is even worried that I might get cold feet on the big day. What, me worry? Not at all. I mean, it's not like she's gonna have a sudden change of heart and say no. As for cold feet, that's mostly due to the winter weather. The cake's been ordered, the church's been reserved, the photographers have been booked, the caterers have confirmed, the dinner reception menu has been finalized, my costume's picked up, the cars' washed, the rings bought, and I have finished my morning ritual. Did I miss anything?

So the photographers came in promptly at 9:30am for my photoshoot. I normally don't make up my bed in the morning, but for them I made an exception. With my wedding costume laid out neatly on the bed, the photographers proceeded with their work. They took pictures of me and my best man putting on our vests, my Dad helping me with my jacket, my Mom helping me with my jacket, my best man putting on my cufflinks, etc. Then we had family pictures in the living room, shots of me and the best man sitting on a ledge outside the house and running on the street. They must've noticed that my jaw has locked from too much smiling, so they left us in peace, and went to WHQ's house.

Killed time till 1:15pm then left for the church with my parents. It was drizzling a bit (sign of good luck) and there was a little bit of traffic on Burwood Road. I guess my Dad was a bit nervous because he was getting cranky and complaining about cars overtaking us. We did manage to get to the church on time, before the bride arrived. Too bad the new facade of the church was not finished it time. Anyway, it's kinda surreal to see my colleagues in a non-office setting. A few familiar faces here and there. Didn't have time to meet and greet everyone because WHQ arrived around 2pm. WHQ's best friend got everyone in position and the ceremony started with the pianist and violinist playing the much-loved Canon in D.

Eveyrthing was a blur after that. All I remembered is turning around and seeing WHQ walking down the aisle with her grand-uncle and taking her place beside me. Both us were pretty much under the control of Father John from then on. Stand here. Sit there. Come here. Face each other. Exchange marriage vows. Kiss the bride. Applause. Say this. Put ring on her finger. Say that. Put ring on my finger. More applause. Light the candles. Sign here. Sign there. Take lots of pictures. And the deed is done. Too bad the wife's Dad couldn't make it, but we did talk to him over the phone to share the good news.

By the time we got to the church hall, the reception is in full swing. There's an outdoor gazeebo with the drinks, while all the finger foods are stocked on a long table inside the church hall. I would've liked to sample the food on offer, but it's difficult to eat and drink while chatting and taking pictures with all the guests. Just when we're done with the pictures and I thought I can now eat a bit, the photographers whisked us off to the now-empty church for more pictures. Then another photoshoot at the fountain roundabout at Cabarita. The photographers seem to have lost their way, so we decided to meet up instead at the nearby Cabarita Park. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise. With the sun almost setting, the trees, the waters, the rocks, the clouds all started to change colour. Even the photographers got excited about the wonderful scenery. I bet they'll be bringing other couples to do their photoshoot here. We kept shooting till the point when the sun is almost gone and it's starting to get freezing cold, and the photographers called it a day.

The families and our friends from overseas had a short break at the bride's house, and by 6pm we all headed down for Rhodes Phoenix for the informal reception. I thought this is where my new wife and I get to relax after the day's trials. There's just three banquet tables full of guests, and no wedding programme planned. No corny song-and-dance, no awkward speeches, just a Rod Steward compilation CD providing the music. Should be a piece of (wedding) cake. Too bad my uncle-in-law has something else in mind. He's been pretty rowdy the whole night. Everntually he turned his sights on me. He started asking questions like how did we meet, how did I propose, and the like. To make it worse, everybody started gathering around to hear my story and ask more questions. And I thought everybody knew already. Anyway, in the end it was all good fun.

After all the food (and cake) have been packed in takeaway boxes, after all the guests have dispersed, after all our flatmates have retired to their room, it's just me and my wife in our specially designed red-coloured wedding room. Good night.