Monsoon wedding

Tis the season for heavy rains …

Falalalala lalala …

Tis the season for all weddings ….

Falalalala lalalala…..

 

Time flies.  It’s already December, the last month of the year, the month between bridges 2008 and 2009. And as usual, December is the monsoon season. The season of heavy downpours on this part of Earth (think KL landslide). Nevertheless, December, is also the month for weddings (for some reason).

I have already been to 1 wedding this month (not a lot I know), seen 3 other weddings (think gatecrash for 5 mins) and boy oh boy… they just don’t end do they?

I know a lot of other friends and family members who also have tonnes of wedding ceremonies to attend this month. It’s almost like a prelude of the ang pao season for Chinese New Year.

But my question is, why december?

In fact, I believe that this interesting phenomenal is not only limited to just Year 2008. If my memory do serves me right, I do recall that even in previous years, my parents always receive lots of Red Bombs ( oops, I mean invitation cards, should not use a word like bomb to describe a “joyous occasion”).

But I am curious why most people will want to choose December. Firstly, logically thinking, it  might actually be pretty inconvenient. As it has been statistically proven, it rains more than 20 days out of the 31 days in December. And the probability that your “BIG DAY” will be on a sunny day is less than 35.48387%

Hmm… a penny for your thoughts?

Rainy days are very very troublesome for wedding ceremonies. Firstly, let’s just recall what the bride will be wearing.

No doubt, the big, fluffy and white wedding dress.

Can you imagine what it’s going to be like if it’s raining? The bridesmaid will have to help her to hold her dress? And then some other people will have to sheltar them with an umbrella, for guys, your pants get soaked.

It is very troublesome.

Just over the weekend, I happened to stay over at Rasa Sentosa. My parents had a wedding ceremony to attend and my father thought that it would be a good idea to get a room there and relax for the weekend.

Most Sentosa weddings I know are beach weddings. Can you imagine what a beach wedding will be like if it is raining?

Anyway, the high-tea wedding (even though it started from half past noon) that my parents attended only started to drizzle after the wedding ended.

Thank God.

Can you imagine if during the mid point of the solemnization, it started raining and pouring, I think the poor bride might be thinking ” Is that an indication from God that we are not meant to be together” Ok, just joking.

But my point is, it’s definitely going to dampen the spirits of the couple and the guests. I know that if I was one of the guests, I will be praying so hard that it doesn’t rain and wish that they whole ceremony will hurry so that you can finish the entire thing faster and seek sheltar before it finally pours.

You are the bride. It’s your BIG DAY. And you gotta rush your ceremony???

Even if it doesn’t rain, I think there are a few other factors about a beach wedding that most should consider.

For one thing, when we talk about beach, the first thing that comes into our mind should be the sand and the sea. Sand and the sea. Does it ring a bell? Appropriate footgear?

The main gist of it is your footwear. Most of us when we attend wedding ceremonies, we will all doll up, dress nice nice, and for ladies, we will most probably wear our killer heels. Ooh La La..

But, do you think they will be suitable for you to walk on the sand?

You’ll most probably be sinking into the sand even before you manage to lift up your other leg. Ouch …

 

I saw the solemnisation wedding of one couple, well it was nicely done. The chairs were the white, cloth covered chairs, facing the sea. Nice …

But but but …. if you remember your geography correctly, the beaches of Sentosa actually faces Batam, Indonesia. Lots of commercial ship sails pass the area.

So as you are in the midst of your solemnisation ceremony, you see the ships in the background, moving.

Well, it could actually be pretty entertaining to watch.

I happened to gatecrash another wedding in the evening. Think survivor style, Hawaiian type wedding. Ooh sounds nice doesn’t it?

I thought so too. Until I saw the chairs. Hmm exactly what kinda chairs do they use? Ok, think 7th month getai the red colour types? Just that instead of red, they use the white ones.

I understand that due to the sand, it might be easier to use those type of chairs, for easy maneuverability. But but but …. shoudn’t there some other better chairs to use rather than these “types’?

I am not trying to diss the Sentosa weddings or beach weddings per say. But my main point is that, to organise a more “unconventional” or “different” type of wedding. One has to consider a lot of factors.

Most brides want their weddings to be the best. But how do you define the best? From your point of view? or the guests?

The thing is, it’s hard for the bride to say that hers is the best wedding. But, if the guests are the ones who attended it said something like that, the weightage is higher.

It’s just like the chef commenting that what he cooks is good as contrast to the customer who ate the dish making the same comment.

Theme weddings are interesting. But, for the guests, what kinda experience did you leave them with?

Was the deepest memory they have of your wedding “being stuck in the carpark for 30 mins looking for a lot?”

Or probably ” Oh that wedding, yeah the one that started raining halfway. Yeah was it a hawaiian style wedding? I think so”.

The main theme of your wedding was not the first thing that came to the guests mind. In fact, it was some other “interesting occurences”.

On Sunday Life yesterday, I read a column titled “It’s all doom and groom” by Teo Cheng Wee. In the article, he illustrated how weddings have deviated from the conventional ceremonies of the 1980s and 1990s, where we probably just go to a restaurant and do a Yum Seng to the elaborate weddings that we see today.

A friend of mine whom I met up briefly last night had 2 wedding ceremonies yesterday. There was an afternoon session and an evening session. According to him, the wedding ceremony that he attended in the afternoon was “briefly amusing”. Apparently, the couple did a video (yes, I know, been there done that, saw lots of those at the ceremonies). But the thing is, they did it STAR WARS style? Hence, there was the Darth Vadar and then the bride was the princess. ???????????????????????????? So was the groom Luke Skywalker? His father Obiwan?

Videos like this are amusing. But they should be done appropriately to the event. Sometimes, couples add in certain elements that they think will “spice up the event” but how many people will remember that.

“Oh yeah… last time I attended a wedding where there was darth vadar and star wars. Whose wedding was that?”

It’s just like the tv advertisements that we watch on tv. We might still be able to remember the advert. But do you remember the product that they endorses for?

My parents attended another wedding last month and I think it made quite an impression on them. It was one of those “conventional” weddings in a 5 star hotel in Singapore. But the thing that made an impression on my parents was that ” They were so surprised as to how coherent they were in their speeches”. Apparently, the groom thanked the audience in fluent English, Mandarin and Hokkien. Wow… not bad for a young guy. And the bride was “thanking her parents” while weeping at the same time for “taking care of her until now”.

Awwhhhh…. Doesn’t it touches the hearts of people?

It made be realised, sometimes, the best wedding might not be those with lots of fanciful props or location. But the one that truly touches your heart.

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