Forever, Here We Come!

So... it certainly has been a long time. Obviously, there was my wonderful wedding... then the mini-moon (which turned out to be a staycation)... and, of course, the crash landing back into real life.

The wedding day was everything I imagined it would be... a crazy day that was an epic culmination of 17 months of planning, 2 families, 3 languages, 70 guests, 6 vendors, 2 makeup artists, 1 hairstylist... and a partridge in a pear tree.

FUN AFTER-THE-FACT: Most people never knew... but I had a flower bouquet CRISIS at 10pm on Wedding Eve in my hotel room. The bouquet committed flower suicide if I've ever seen one. Flowers snapped and voluntarily leapt to their doom. BiYing and I tried to Franken-flower the thing back together but to no avail. She witnessed me oscillate between despair and delirious amusement... until I just figured: I'm going to pay someone a lot of money to take care of this tomorrow.

The schedule took on a life of its own and there were many moments when I felt that I would be left behind by the machine that seemed to live and breathe on its own. At some point... I felt really annoyed and anxious because my makeup artist did not do a very good job budgeting her time and the minutes ticked by.... I had worked so hard to make sure everything was perfectly in place and now she was going to wreck everything! However, my hair stylist was truly a life-saver and pulled it all together in record time - I slipped on the dress and BAM!! I realized that the show really couldn't go on without me because I was the SHINING STAR at the very center of it.

FUN AFTER-THE-FACT: A few of you may remember Janet the photographer asking her husband-assistant "You haven't taken Groom/Groomsmen solo shots yet???" To which he cool-as-a-cucumber replied: Nope. Turns out... two of the Groomsmen decided to pick up their tuxedos the morning of the wedding. BAD idea. Men's Warehouse got the following incorrect: Shirt size, Tie/Vest color, and Pants Length. They were massively late, to say the least, and then Will's brother said, "Wait, you all have handkerchiefs?" This was when Will called Men's Warehouse and chewed out the store manager.... Store manager told Will he can come and pick up another one right away to which Will hot-as-a-habenero replied "I have a wedding in 2 hours, YOU CAN F*CKING DELIVER IT YOURSELF!!!"... Which he promptly did. And, very wisely, all the males kept this juicy story to themselves until 2 days after the wedding. (see... they learn!)
 
So, moving past the silent mini-crises... we were all able to meet for group photos before the ceremony and I'm pretty sure they will be amazing just due to the sheer complexity of the photography. Really, I have no idea how they think of some of those shots but I guess that's why they get paid the BIG bucks! ***Sorry! I only had a few sample pics as previews of my wedding portrait session - none of the ACTUAL wedding yet!*** My bridesmaids were the best help ever - everything and anything I needed... I asked and instantly received! =P

I truly believe the most special part (besides the marriage, that's a given) was sharing the joy, love, and elation with my parents. My mom looked so beautiful and it reminded me of my early childhood in Hong Kong when I would watch her do her hair and get dressed up and think she was the most beautiful person in the whole entire world. And right before the ceremony, I was just standing in the back hallway alone with my dad... and he told me how happy he was. We talked about the time when I was just 3 or 4 years old and he was the pianist for a wedding. Nobody could watch me so he brought me along and I sat next to him on the piano bench inside the church as he played the Wedding March.

Then came the ceremony and then the whole thing really became a blur. I remember being terrified as I walked down the aisle... I've walked through crowded rooms before and I've been presented awards, etc.... but nothing comes close to the INTENSITY of a gathering of people, standing, waaaaaaatching you. It was like I could FEEL their attention. It was slightly overwhelming... and when I was holding Will's hand I remember thinking *wow, I should really stop trembling before people think I have a neurological condition.*

Luckily, things loosened up quite a bit with the light-hearted ceremony that the officiant had written. I remember thinking *Wow, this man is hilarious! So worth that ridiculous travel fee he charged us!* I also remember being dumbfounded as to why no one had the insight to turn off the fireplace! It was like 106 degrees standing in front of that thing and I remember thinking *omg, half my face is going to run...* Critical thinking people!! But the words were lovely and the vows were touching. It was over before I knew it and Will was pulling me in for the double kiss... which I didn't even remember - I only know this thanks to Jennifer's video! hee hee

FUN AFTER-THE-FACT: The 15+ layers of Tulle/Satin/Petticoat very effectively trapped all the heat blazing off the fireplace during the entire ceremony. All I wanted to do was disappear into an empty room and raise all the skirts up over my head and fan it all out *attractive*... but my entire family and the wedding party were all in the boardroom... and I had a mini-meltdown. Fortunately, the collateral damage was minimal and everyone was very understanding. Lesson: should have brought a fan to put under my dress in between events/photo sessions.

I missed the cocktail hour because I was freshening up... it took 2 people to help me pee (it was just like in that move 27 Dresses!) and we took more photos... I'm waiting for the pictures to see what it looked like. But I've heard rave reviews...! Everyone said the hors d'oeuvres were excellent and it was very pretty. At one point I was walking across the lobby really fast and caught something out of the corner of my eye and shouted "DID I JUST SEE A GUY WITHOUT A SHIRT ON???" Yes, I guess I kind of missed the part in the contract where they said the Pool Deck would not be closed off to guests... oh well, as long as they didn't eat anything or mooch off my food... live and let live!

The DJ cut off our First Dance Song very early... and I didn't get to show off my fancy moves *Refer to August 2012 Post: Drop It Like It's Hot* but I guess that's ok! We never practiced the dance with my dress on.. so Will was really afraid of stepping on my skirt the whole time... which is why he was bent over with his butt sticking out like the first 30 seconds of the song... so does the Mean Foreign Lady from the dance studio get the last laugh here??? Nahhhh... I do. Because I laugh louder.

FUN AFTER-THE-FACT: The food was awesome like I knew it would be from the tasting session... I only wish I ate more of it! Apparently, when you sit you kind of compress downwards and squish outwards. And when you're wearing a very tight corset... it acts like a Chinese finger trap. At one point I was taking very shallow breaths and was afraid I would faint. LoL. I looked beautiful though... all worth it!

I wish I had more time to spend with my friends. You know, just catch up and goof around... basically stuff I like to do AT weddings. Hahaha... it's so much different when it's YOUR wedding. I was pulled in a hundred directions and never seemed to find enough time to chat for more than a few seconds or minutes with basically all my favorite people who were all present!

I didn't even see Will all that much after dinner... hehehe, but he had a fantastic time and it felt great to see him so happy. See... I'm becoming more wifely by the day! We spent our Staycation just reminiscing about the highlights and blunders... laughed about the hilarious moments and relived the beautiful ones. We were both too exhausted to go to Las Vegas after the wedding so we stayed in San Diego. We ate our favorite foods and went on some new adventures!
 
Someone asked me if I could do it all over again, would I do it all over again... I've thought long and hard about it and the answer is: irrevocably and unconditionally - YES. I would do it all over again exactly the same! I never understood the magic of a fancy pants wedding, that getting married in a courtroom should be the same... But I don't think that anymore because it's been almost a month and I'm still sooooooo happy! I still get excited when I think about my gorgeous cupcake tower that was more beautiful than I ever thought it could be (I asked for seashells and sand and there it was like x1000!) I still bring out my cake cutting set once in a while just to marvel at how beautiful it is and how heavy it feels in my hand. I watch the video ALL the time... My parents are still buzzing to all their friends & our relatives about the whole affair.

I was also asked if I regretted anything. I don't regret anything... nothing. nada. zilch.

And the greatest thing of all is that this is the beginning of our Forever. Of all the adventures, trips, outings, crazy bar nights, holidays, family gatherings, escrow, trials & tribulations that Will and I have weathered together... this was singularly the most important and demanding event in our relationship, our life. It really took everything we both individually could offer - body, mind, and spirit - to have made this thing happen. It really showed us that we're capable of creating something very special and bring our family and friends together to witness our promise and commitment to always love each other. It was magical and now I have that knowledge and feeling of faith and security to use as a template for everything that may come our way. That's pretty special!

Forever, here we come!