The Wedding

I know it's nine days later, but better late than never! A little reflection on the wedding.

I didn't get stressed until the last couple days before the wedding. That's how I usually am though. All is fine and dandy until I start thinking of all the little things I need to do, realizing that all these little things can add up and result in a large chunk of time. The day before the wedding, I was still putting finishing touches on my speech.

In the end it all turned out well. Everything looked wonderful, and the whole day ran smoothly (well, at least from my viewpoint). We were a little rushed in the morning, with the hair, makeup, and quickly helping my sister put on her dress (which had a corset). I tried to do her dress up quickly so that we wouldn't arrive at the church too late, but the corset took a while to do properly. Apparently most wedding ceremonies start a little later than scheduled, so no one seemed to mind too much that we were a bit late. The flower girl and ring bearer were very cute, the men all looked spiffy in their tuxedos and shiny shoes, and as my dad walked down with my beaming sister, he looked more nervous than the bride! But after the walk down the aisle, he was all smiles. ML sang his song, and as I accompanied him with the piano, I could hardly hear his guitar so I was intently looking at his strumming and his fingering so I would know when he changed chords and what his rhythm was like. I wasn't sure if his guitar was in the system properly, or if there just wasn't any monitors. In any case, my sister cried tears of joy, happiness, and "oh, that's so sweet!" (ML wrote it for her as his vow, and she had never heard it before).

The photographers and videographers seemed very good. Though I haven't seen the pictures yet, nor have much exposure to the trade, they seemed very experienced and good at what they do. Most of the pictures weren't posed, and they sought to make all the shots look natural. As if we were laughing. All the time. And the photographer had all Nikon equipment :D Not bad.... so maybe I'm biased :D Though it was really windy and cold, we thank God that it didn't rain. The weather had been so random recently. It could rain, hail, and be sunny all in the same day. (Yep, that's Vancouver). The wedding was on a Saturday. On Friday it rained. On Sunday it rained. And Saturday night it rained. But Saturday afternoon, it was perfect. Cloudy. Which is perfect for photos.

The banquet went well. Though we had to keep our eye on some of ML's old prankster friends, a couple 'instances' occurred, but nothing horrible. I was scheduled to give my toast during the chicken course, which is about the eighth course (out of ten). I was getting nervous before we even started eating. I had been taking Toastmasters the last few months, but I wasn't sure if I was going to remember anything that I had learned. I was not looking forward to seeing chicken.

My sister had a few dress changes during the night, so occasionally we would get up and go into the back room to change. The first dress change was into her traditional Chinese dress, after which we went around to all the tables to say 'cheers!' The restaurant gave us special glasses with a drink in it, and at first I was a little weary. I cannot take alcohol at all. I turn pretty pink pretty fast. But thankfully, as LL discovered, it was just Coke. Woohoo! The second dress change was into a pretty baby blue dress, that made my sister look like a Chinese Cinderella. And when we came back to the head table, I noticed three plates by my seat. One with fish, one with vegetables, and one with chicken.

The MC informed me that I would be doing my speech next. Quickly I asked who would go first, me or the best man. They were both a bit indifferent, so I let the best man go first. Then I could eat some food. And calm down a bit.

When it was time for me to do my speech, I felt alright. Slightly nervous, but hopefully not too evident to the audience. The room was huge, and I tried to make 'eye contact' so I just looked at the one table I knew of familiar faces, and then to the bride and groom, and back and forth. I think it worked out. I have yet to watch myself on the video that we have, but I think I'll wait a little longer until its... not so fresh. So that by the time I watch it, if I made a fool out of myself, by that time no one will remember it anyway. And my brother said it was good, and asked how long I've been going to Toastmasters (which is good, meaning Toastmaster's helped), and some others said it was good too. And my sister said it was the perfect amount that she felt she would almost-cry-but-just-enough-that-she-didn't-cry.

And so my sister is gone. And she's a Li. And she took my futon! So I get to sleep on her bed now. And now I have an extra big room. But I'm sure they'll come visit. After all, they don't really know how to cook yet. Heehee :)

Thirteen

Thirteen.

Thirteen days until the big day.
Thirteen days until my sister gets married.
Thirteen days until she walks down that aisle into a new life.

Thirteen days to write my speech.
Thirteen days until I make my speech.
Thirteen days to practice my speech.

Thirteen more days to borrow her clothes.
Thirteen more days she will be living in the same house.
Thirteen more days until I will miss her.

Thirteen days until she is no longer a Quan, but a Li.

But a sister is forever.