Susanna + Aaron forever!!!

Basically the day went as follows for me:

• Aaron's house where I got a flower for my suit. The schedule sheet said that Aaron's mother would prepare breakfast for the boys and they did offer it but I didn't get it. It was so busy upstairs too.


• I drove "John" (a Korean dude who is the boyfriend of the maid of honor, and is of the Army, both from LA) one block over where Susanna's house is). We would be leaving for Aaron's Auntie 5's house straight afterwards.


• I think us boys must've hung around outside the door for like 45 minutes or something doing all sorts of things that the girls came up with. Aaron had to drink stuff like vinegar, apple juice, hot sauce and like some green mixture with lots of foam on top. And out of a mini baby bottle too. I thought Aaron would have to go to the washroom in the middle of the ceremony!! (just kidding). The hot sauce was apparently quite mean for him. One of the guys emptied the hot sauce and the green stuff onto the grass claiming to the girls that it was all consumed. A pair of large home-made dices were rolled (one with a verb, the other with a noun). Aaron ended up having to kiss a guy's rear-end. Twice!... One of them being me. Another guy (from Japan) did push-ups as he picked up carrots dipped in sauce (with his mouth of course). Aaron also had to kiss a guy's hand. The girls prepared a poem on a large piece of cardboard and requested that Aaron sang it. So he sung it using a tradtional chinese style of singing called "so bahk lam" (basically is kind of like reciting, like rap). The boys were all given some Hawaiian-style flower collars and bras (I think they're face masks) and some noise makers (not the new year ones). One of the groomsmen, Ben, held a small toy guitar and a few of us held bowling pin-shaped rattlers. The final act was pulling three red ribbons, one of which would be Susanna. Aaron pulled out a red ladies underwear and had to wear it.


• Then we headed off to Willingdon Heights Park near the cemetary near Brentwood Mall. The arch was stored at the Auntie 5's house which is just across the street. We placed the arch some distance away from the benches overlooking the playground... sufficiently away from the trees and angled towards the trees to get a descent picture background. Some relatives plus the boys & girls groups came. Clouds, which was probably better than sun burning down on us in our black suits.


• Loaded the arch into TonyC's car and headed to St. Helen's church where the wedding Mass is scheduled to begin at 12:30. There was another celebration earlier so we had to wait until all those guests left. Taped up the extension chord to the floor. Last wednesday (July 20), after the dinner at Tokyo Ichiban @ Richmond, I went to Auntie 5's house with TonyC and GaryW to check out the arch and plan the logistics. I think the sun broke out in the middle of the Mass; I noticed the stainglasses in the ceiling were brighter.


• The Wedding Mass. I don't think the priest said anything like "I now pronounce you husband and wife - you may kiss the bride" or anything like that. They just kissed after exchanging vows and rings. I don't really remember too much how the Wedding Mass was like for Aaron's sister I think two years ago. Anyway, there will be another one this coming weekend on August 01.


• Moved the arch down to the basement for the reception. As planned, the ceiling is not high enough, so we have to unscrew one section. I also talked to the video cam but I should have thought a bit for a moment before doing it. Maybe I could even do it a little while later after giving it some thought on what to say. I think they brought in the roasted pig at that point as well.


• Packed up the arch. Went over to Susanna's house and chilled for a while.


• Headed to Fortune Garden Restaurant @ Metrotown. We placed the arch outside the entrance by the glass wall near the escalators.


• Guests were to sign their names in a book and find out where to sit at the reception desk. Gold-wrapped chopsticks were also given. I took one but decided to get it later. Either more people took the ones in red boxes... or there were more gold boxes than red. I sat in #10 with WCCCLC people. They brought in an ice sculpture of two swans connected at the beaks to form a heart (probably quite common).


• They had brought the arch to the inner of the entrance doors I guess after all guests have arrived. Prayer before meals. Slideshow of the two in their rented wedding outfits. Slideshow of their childhood. Susanna wore 4 different dresses that day: wedding gown, red "Kua", purple dress, red dress.


• Speech from Best Man (JohnC from HK who knew Aaron from high school then) and from Maid of Honor (HeleC from LA). Helen and Susanna knew each other for at least 20 years and Helen gave a speech that turned out emotional after she and Susanna reminisced and sang Alan Tam's ªB¤Í (Friend). They got it wrong for the second last line just before the chorus; they repeated the second phrase. Or maybe it was Helen who screwed up? For a bit there, their voices tripped over each other. Anyway, it was still very nice. The song always makes me reminisce those days at the beginning of the 90's. I sang the song so much after I came back from HK in March 1990.


• Rounds of toasting at the tables. A few games. Man, it's usually the girls who are creative when it comes to this, isn't it? :-P
  
  A friend of Aaron's (CandiL, also from LA) had a bag of fruits and small packets of oriental snack crackers and wanted the guys to think up games. I couldn't really think of a fun atmosphere-building game and the guys couldn't think of anything either. Aaron and his three groomsmen (2 plus Best Man) had to stand on chairs while the blind-folded Susanna had to guess for Aaron. It wasn't difficult and she got it right the first time. Somebody from the VTech table suggested to kiss the person if the bride groped the wrong person. Continuing on, the guys filled Aaron's pockets with the fruits and snacks and Susanna had to take out everything. Finally, she and Aaron had to each peel an orange. Just last Wednesday, Aaron said that he couldn't peel oranges and that Susanna usually had her dad do it for her. Anyway, she still ended up finishing faster than Aaron.


• Acknowledgements and presenting photo+frame to each of parents and grandparents (the grandparent who wasn't around was Aaron's GoongGoong) and siblings (Aaron's sister and Susanna's brother).
  
• Bouquet throwing. A 10-year old girl caught it for the ladies. And StuartN (I played basketball with him back in the Charles Best days (whe it was still a junior secondary school), and who is marrying MaggieL next weekend) caught the thing for the men. The object (some kind of light cloth ring) hardly went anywhere when Aaron threw it the first time.


• More pix at the arch. Hugs, etc.


• I couldn't get the chopsticks. I think the remaining were all taken away by the time I remembered to go back to the reception to get them.