Getting Dressed

Mom, Me and Corrie - getting pretty!

This is me, my beautiful mom and the lovely Corrie, in the wee hours of the wedding morning.

The run up to the wedding day was exciting,  but also very stressful. As the day drew near, we were actually glad that it would soon be over. and that we could proceed with the real reason for the wedding - marriage life. We were trying to focus on the marriage, not the wedding, but there was also so much to do that really consumed us. Then there was the factor of distance and time-difference, liaising between Zurich and Singapore, and because the wedding party was really small, we did not have a large group of bridesmaids and groomsmen to help us along. We were blessed however with my dearest friend Liyana (a true angel) and Daniel's reliable best man Shank, who were both instrumental in our relationship and our lives over the years, and now instrumental also in our wedding. (As Li quipped, "I would do anything for you, except kill people". Thus is the depth of her love.). We were lucky also for Daniel's kind colleagues, who went out of their way to help us out.  

We were keen to make the ceremony, small and simple as it was, as meaningful and spiritual as possible. Our  program consisted mainly of song, prayer, poems and speeches. A few of these were to be recited by us.. and we had only begun to memorize these the night before the wedding. I recall it being close to midnight, Daniel tired from his multiple runs to the airport to welcome friends and relatives, and Liyana and I busy preparing the menu cards and program booklets in the day. As everyone went to bed, we realized it was now or never -- time to memorize a poem, and 2 prayers at the proverbial eleventh hour. We decided it would be way more fun doing this together even if it meant staying up later, so he stayed longer than he planned, and, armed with hope and determination, that's what we did.

Daniel had a speech he was meant to write that he never got to doing.. Everytime I asked, he told me he would 'speak from the heart'. I asked him as usual one day, and to my surprise he told me he wanted to sing a particularly funny song, entitled, If I Married a Strange Person (apparently the strange person is him). So we put him down for it.. and learning a song was now also down on the list of things to do the midnight before the wedding.

It was fun though. Tired, but in love, we sat on my bed, memorizing and reciting together.. laughing at the hilariousness of the situation, the funny moments when we got the words wrong, and the general adorableness of my future husband learning to sing the night before his wedding.

I remembered then to ask a light-hearted question that I always ask him.. "Let's get married!! Tomorrow??"; this time the answer was "Yes!" and we actually got married the next day, which was pretty awesome.

We could have just stayed up all night actually, I just could not sleep.. when I finally did, I awoke in excitement at 5 a.m. I felt in high spirits, running around, knocking on my parents door (they were still asleep..), making myself comfortable in their bed, announcing that I was getting married that day, mom being reassuring and dad being funny - pretending he did not know. It was a happy, high energy morning :)

Corrie, my make-up artist, came later that morning, and she was such a blessing to have around. She was sweet, gentle and kind, and worked with such love. There is a saying, that work done in spirit of service is prayer - and I would say she encompassed that quite perfectly. She felt like a kindred spirit too - our stomachs made matching borborygmy sounds in spite not being hungry (it was nice to have someone around who could understand that..), we had a penchant for the warmth of the sun, and, romantic as ever, we both understood how some people were just worth the lengths we went for love ♥

Our beautiful mothers got their hair and make-up done elegantly, followed by myself. I remember the Corrie making me do the no-tooth lipstick smile, (which got laughter from me & Li for reminding us of someone!), the strange-smelling hairsprays and the difficulty keeping my eyes open to put the eyeliner on. More than that though, I recall the sounds of the boys on the corridors as they tried to succeed at the gatecrash. I call it the Bully the Boys ceremony, and it was one of my favourite parts of the wedding! (I highly recommend this ceremony to people of all cultures.) I could hear them harmonizing songs from The Lion King to animal noises, and dancing in the corridors.. and I excitedly shared this with Corrie as she very calmly twirled my hair and worked her magic on me. I exercised great self control to not run out of the room and join them!!

And thus began a very joyful day, the first of many in our married lives together ♥