| Going to the chapel and we're Gonna get married... |
| After the proposal, we talked about the wedding. Then I told Clem that he had to ask my father for my hand. He and my father are very good friends and could talk about anything. That 'chosen' day, the 3 of us were having dinner together. The usual chatter was replaced by jitters and somehow a sense of awkwardness. I kept giving Clement eye contacts to get him started. But each time he couldn't. He was so nervous that he delayed and delayed. Throughout we kept giggling all of the sudden if our eyes should meet. My father must be wondering what these 2 crazy persons were up to, kept bursting into giggles. Finally my father was done with his dinner. Clement had no choice so he stuttered, " Erm... uncle. I want to marry Soann. I want to ask for your permission." Something like that. I wanted to laugh cos it was so unstyle. But at least direct. Too direct until my father didn't know how to respond. My father raised his eyebrows, nodded and said, "Very good, very good." Then we proceeded to talk about the dates. Clement heaved a sigh of relief after that. We decided upon 24 Nov 2001 as it is just a day before my birthday and it's a Sat. That means we only had approx 11 months to prepare for the wedding. That's not all. Clement would be leaving Singapore on 2 Jan 01 and won't be back till 31 Jan! Oh no! I had a lot of apprehensions. You mean just decide on the date and we can get married on that date? It seems so remote. Clem assured me and said that we plan and work towards the date. Then of course the wedding can take place. Now the 1st task at hand: find a banquet place. Since Clem had left the country, the task was left to me and my in-laws. We had 2 criteria: 1st, we must have the date (I wanted it on my birthday.). 2nd, it must be in a centralised location. It was a BIG headache! The major hotels were booked on the date! I was informed that people usually booked 1 and half years in advanced. What???!!! Why are these people so kiasu?? Other hotels did not have enough tables. From the 2 weeks' search, I was freaking out and was often in tears when I returned home. I really thanked God for the counsel and comfort of frens like Jaz, Yvonne, Yoke Yew over this issue. Jaz was exceptionally helpful. She sourced out all the possible hotels and kept supplying me with Her World Brides mag. Very touched by her... Eventually my mother in law and I just decided to stop by Ngee Ann City on our way to Pine Tree Club. We just walked in casually into a restaurant and asked if they were available on 25 Nov. They checked and said YES. We were ecstatic! Without hesitation we blocked their diary. Yippee!!! Perhaps it was because we hadn't much time left. Or perhaps I wasn't too concerned with brandnames or the frills. We settled for whatever we first saw - bridal studio, wedding bands etc. Not that I 'm a make-do person with this once-in-a-lifetime affair. But Clem and decided that we didn't want to spend too much time overstuff that are immaterial to our memories. As long as they are presentable and reasonable, OK! So another few phews! So on to the rest of the preparations like Premarital classes, dieting, housing... |
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| The Oh Nos! There were some screw-ups on the wedding but I've learnt to laugh along. It wasn't easy for me since I'm quite a perfectionist at times and want to make sure that things went on as planned. But I didn't care, I just wanted to be happy! Anyway, for memories' sake: #1 1 week before wedding, I went for final fit. The gown had a hidden needle and went through my thigh as I pulled it up. What resulted was a long bloody scratch from my knee to my hip. Clem and my mother in law were extremely upset. To me, it was a trade off as I had been eyeing that new gown which arrived days ago. A blessing in disguise but Ouch, my poor thigh! #2 We had our bridal car already. But Clem could get a chauffeured car from SAF as a formality. We decided to let our 'followers" take the car. The shocking news came a day before the wedding. WE have to be in the SAF car. So Clem had to get his driver to bring the car to the bridal's for car deco and stripped our bridal car off its glory. We let our Ah Yees have the original bridal car... #3 I was very tired the day b4 so I took a nap from 7-10pm. Clem picked up my hand bouquet and left it at my house. I woke up and to my horror, it was the wrong bouquet! I had selected full-bloom roses that were vintage looking. What turned up were rosebuds! #4 I was packing the angbaos the night before when I realised ALL the angbaos were with me!! Clem didn't have a single angbao with him!! How is he going to give to the 'car opener"? Worse still, how to give in to the demands of the Ah Yees at the door? Well, I leave it to him to tell how he got out of the fix... |
| Anyway these were small stuff. I was really happy and enjoying myself throughout. I was very touched by all the hard work put in by my friends and the love and assurances... I am indeed a very fortunate person, blessed with a loving family, a doting hubby and wonderful friends. Thank you all! To view some of our wedding photos, go to this link: http://photos.yahoo/clementsoann |
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