Itadakimasu!

Tada!

My dear wife cooked the first official dinner for us in our new flat and as my wife after our customary marriage!

And the verdict is.... SUGOI! Oishii! It was delicious lorh! Two dishes is sufficient for the both of us. Of course maybe next time, dear wife will also prepare soup. But for now I am totally satisfied and appreciate her effort. Gambatte dear!

You may be curious and ask, "Who did the washing?" Well... I did the dishes, mopped the floor and cleaned the oil stains on the cupboards. It was tiring as well, but I ain't complaining. Especially, after filling my tummy with so much 爱心 food. =)

I couldn't help but smile before digging into the food. One adjective best describe my feeling when eating my wife's homecooked food: 幸福!

Wedding Photos.

For the benefit of my readers who don't Facebook, here are the photos of my Pre-Wedding Shoot, Chinese Customary Wedding and Evening Banquet.

If you are preparing for your wedding and like what you see, feel free to drop me a mail with your questions. I am more than happy to share my joy assist you! :-)

A Big Thank You!

My deepest heartfelt gratitude to everyone who attended our wedding banquet! It was my pleasure to have you celebrating this special moment with us! :-)

Apologies to those who have missed the photo montage and wedding day highlights due to odd angles or obstructions from your seats. No choice, the restaurant has only one screen. But I hope the food made up for it, FOOD... was the reason why we had chosen a restaurant over hotel ballroom.

Below is the photo montage which I did:

And here is the link to the wedding day highlights. It is password protected, so drop me a mail so that I can send you the password. ;-)

Finally, a very very very big Thank You to everyone who helped us in our wedding, especially the brothers and sisters - you know who you are!

It couldn't have been so smooth without your coordination and help!

Big Day Jitters?

At the moment, it feels similar to that of the day before an exam paper. The preparation is almost completed. I don't feel like doing anything else other than sleeping...

The Bridal Bed Installation.

One of the last traditional custom before the actual day customary wedding is the Bridal Bed Installation Ceremony (按床). A good fortune woman will install the bridal bed in the bridal room before the wedding day.

There is a specific definition for "good fortune woman" - spouses are well and living, sons married and daughter-in-laws bore them grand children. In our case, we got 大姑 to help us. She's really good fortune indeed! :-)

I can now countdown to my wedding day using a single hand! The feeling of being drained is slowly replaced by "butterflies"... Woah.

Please please please come early for our wedding banquet so that we can start on-time! I hope everyone will enjoy the food (which we decided to prioritise when choosing the venue for the banquet) and have a jolly good time! See You! ;-)

The Bridal Dowry.

The delivery of dowry (送嫁妆) is another important custom. It represents parent's effort for her daughter to have a good life after marriage and prepare her with the necessities for being a good wife.

I am amazed by some of the things included in the dowry. Of course, in our modern living, we will not be using some of those things...

Nevertheless, I think it is all good to have them, as each item carries a good meaning for our blissful marriage. :-)

The Betrothal.

Most people are surprised that we took the trouble to pick the auspicious dates and went through all the traditional ceremonies. We thought that these Chinese customs are part of our culture. If we do not practice it, they will soon be lost with our generation. Therefore, we tried to understand the significance of each procedure and stick closely to them. At the same time, we were flexible to replace the items or simplify some procedures whenever it was impossible to do so. ;-p

One of the most important event was the Betrothal Ceremony (过大礼/纳彩), where the groom presents gifts to the bride's family.

Our parents had helped us to prepare the various items for the ceremony. I won't be explaining the steps, you can read them here. But I will show you some interesting photos of the gifts!

All kinds of traditional candies...

Oranges with the double-happiness stickers...

Different types of tea (green tea, black tea, wu long, etc.)...

The dragon and phoenix candles...

Pig trotters...

Traditional Teochew wedding cakes...

Different red packets presented in auspicious red plate...

Traditional Invitation Cards...