Congratulations to Joseph and Xinni on their blessed marriage!

It was such an exciting day for the entire family! If you guys know me personally, or have been following my blog, you'll know that I only have an elder brother. It is just the two of us annoying our parents daily. teehee. 

Here's a little background story..

My brother and I are 6 years apart; he was born in 1985 and myself in 1991. Both of us went to boys/girls school, which was Monfort Jr/Sec, and CHIJ oln/sjc respectively. Post secondary school, he went on to Anderson JC and I went to Temasek Poly. We are a very close knitted family, and naturally my bro and I were tight. Our family started having a tradition of traveling overseas during Christmas every year.  

And this was where it kick start... 

Korea 2009

I believe it was during this year that they got together (well if you minus 6 years from 2015) and the following year, Xinni came along on our annual trip. It was our first time traveling together with Xinni, and we went to Macau in 2010.

And this was also how the 龟苓膏 joke got around. hahahaha! *inside joke*

2010 was also when my bro and xinni graduated from NTU. Yezzzzz, they're both biochem engineers ;)

I left for Australia in 2011, and returned in 2014. During then, my family and xinni's went on trips together and I'm sure their relationship blossomed! On my graduation, everyone flew over to Sydney to attend, which was awwww very heart warming. 

A few months after I came back from Australia, the question was popped!

Alright, so fast forwarding the clock to present date...

16 May 2015

It was D-Day!!!!! 

Our family hardly got any sleep the night before, ensuring that everything was in place etc. We only went to bed at 1am, and we had to get up at 330am.  & the filming started at 4ish... Parents helped to put on Jo's suit, buttoned him up, gave him a hug etc, and ended with a family photo. 

O.o yeah, we looked like that, with only a few hours of sleep.. But, thanks to Gaby, our lovely MUA, she dolled us up to look humane again. :) 

My mom seldom dolls herself up, she's not a big fan of heavy makeup. Neither has she done such heavy make up since the last wedding we attended, which was quite a number of years back. I got to know of Gaby through one of my gf, who had recommended her. Decided to give Gaby a try after looking through her photos. 

Just a disclaimer, we paid for Gaby's services, and i'm writing it as a satisfied customer's feedback :)

Since mom had short hair, she was done pretty quickly. Next was my turn! 

3 hrs later, here's the end product of Gaby's work!!

Thank you Gaby for being so patient, gentle and professional with our make up/hair. It was definitely a pleasure working with you. Even my mom sang praises for you. teehee. If there's anyone out there who's on the look out for a good MUA, I would highly recommend Gaby :) She may be contacted at her FB page (Gaby Tan) or instagram (@bygabytan) or email (hellomynameisgaby@gmail.com) 

Right after Gaby left, the bridal party arrived shortly. We didn't get much time to take a break or so.

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We bought this really pretty cake stand from Taobao and it definitely served its purpose well!! It only cost me $6! No wonder taobao has been getting onto my good books lately.

Family photooooo!

Behind-the-scene shots of the exchange of their 甜汤

And here comes the tea ceremony for the parents. Im sure my parents were as excited as the bride&groom. We went gold shopping some time before the wedding and brought xinni along to pick her choice. Now i want a gold bar too. :P

After the tea ceremony with the folks, it was my turn to present tea to my brother and my new sis-in-law. FYI, half the time, my bro was egging me to quickly give him tea. hahaha! so rude. and their wish for me ? 

"We wish that you would quickly find a boyfriend, and also best of luck to your career"

-.-

Last group photo before we leave the house and onward to the wedding venue. 

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When we arrived at Marriott, it was rush rush rush for us. We met our Indonesian relatives at the hotel lobby, went up to the bridal suite to put everyone's luggage down as their hotel rooms weren't ready for check in yet. 

In the mean time, xinni got changed and dressed for her ROM segment. 

And the exchange of rings by the couple. 

It is OFFICIAL!!! 

*pops party poppers*

We had a small tea ceremony for the grandmother as she wasn't exactly mobile to come over our place for tea earlier on. My cute granny was confused as to who to give the red packet to, and ended up placing it on the tea cup plate instead. hohoho.

After the ROM ended, it was slightly relaxed for everyone. We had some time to meet & greet with our relatives who came give their congratulations and of course the candid photo taking sessions began.....

And my pretty cousins from my mom's side... 

The first march in and wedding montage began... Unfortunately, myself and xinni's brothers weren't there to watch it as we were outside at the reception table, waiting for any late comers and to watch over the red packets. 

But, i've already watched the wedding montage many times before as my bro was editing it at home. That annoying noob threatened me so many times to put my ugly photo in if i didn't do something in return for him (e.g. take his things for him from the room, clean the table, wash the dishes etc etc). but in the end, i think a few of my fugly photos were still included in the montage. omgawwwhhh. 

I think they barely sat down and had a few mouthful of food before they were whisked off to change into their 2nd outfit and to touch up on their make up etc etc. Being a wedding couple is definitely no easy feat. I bet they feel all the nervous, fatigue, anxiousness all at once. 

I wonder if i will feel like this on my big day too?

Second march in, waltzing to the upbeat song by Maroon 5- Sugar

After which followed by the tradition of popping champagne, and filling all the champagne glasses

According to the couple, my bro had finished the glass of champagne within a few gulps and xinni wasn't done with hers yet! So he had to pretend that he was still drinking it while xinni quickly finishes hers. hahaha. I've got an alcoholic brother (family)

Then the family and brothers, sisters were called up onto stage to the Yam Seng. No photos of course, because the photographer (aka myself) was up on stage. 

And then, the thank you speech came. The teary episode of this whole wedding. I shall skip this part, because it will just make everyone cry....

Before the wedding show ended, my bro had a special performance arranged for his bride. 

The duo (my brother and his best pal, Eng Fook) had secretly been practicing their saxophone tunes at my place for weeks before the wedding. It was meant to be a surprise for xinni, my bro only told her that eng fook would be putting up a performance at the wedding. A little history about the duo; they were both from Monfort, part of the school band, and we lived really close to each other. My bro hasn't touched his saxophone for AGES,  whereas Eng Fook has been actively playing for his community (something along the line). For this wedding, they specially practiced at night (mind you, it was usually after 9pm) for a couple of weeks to get their tunes straight and coordination. And of course, my bro had to put in extra practice of his own since he was russsstttyyyyy.

Thank God the performance went well, and the hours of our family's ears "suffering" at home didn't go to waste. teehee!

They played two songs, one by Kenny G - The Moment, and the other by Celine Dion - Because You Loved Me. 

At last, the day ended super late for us. We finished packing up at about 6plus in the evening, went up to the bridal suite to take a short break while we continued to pack all the props and stuff into the car to bring home. Only managed to arrive home at 8/9pm, and everyone was soooooo exhausted! Imagine we were up since 330am, and we only got back at 9pm. The family got down to unpacking everything and my mom has this habit of putting back everything in place before she goes to bed. o.O

All in all, it was a happy occasion!

Happy First Monthsary to the happy wedded couple! 

This is my gift to you. 

Staying together under one roof for the past one month has been very enjoyable. Looking forward to more happy times together before you guys move out into your own little nest. 

xoxo,

Chye