~*Day 3: Fetching the Bride, Tea Ceremony and Pre-Housewarming*~
The day came when Lester had to show his undying love for Xtina in a series of gatecrashing games together with his band of brothers (xiong di). There were many shots of the whole process but none captured on Tiff's and my cameras as we were busy with dishing out tasks for the boys.
Gera was Xtina's make up artist and sister (jie mei) as well so she was there before all of us.
The theme was "Back to School" and I could not quite decide if I wanted a buttoned up preppy look or a buttoned down rebellious student look.
Corresponding to the theme, we had Mathematics problems as one of the tasks.
Note: We had a guy on our gals' side as he is Xtina's younger godbrother. We treated him as a little brother too.
Here are the Math questions.
We also had English test in the form of Charades whereby the groom and his xiong dis had to act out a series of wedding themed words comprising of wedding quotes, biblical quotes, love song titles and romantic movie titles.
The boys' forfeit for not being able to solve any question would be to draw a card from a pile of Karma Sutra cards and to imitate the positions. Their pictures would then be snapped by the photographer of the day.
After preparing for the school-themed tasks, we busied ourselves in the kitchen with the 酸甜苦辣 tasks. For my non-Chinese readers, those Chinese words are read as "suan tian ku la" which means sour sweet bitter spicy. It represents the four elements of marriage life that a couple has to go through.
Soon the groom arrived blaring his horn loudly three times as required in traditional Chinese weddings. All the jie mei and Xtina's biological sisters trooped over to the window to witness the whole fanfare. It was fortunate that Xtina's family stay on the 3rd floor as it was such a sight to behold.
Lester is well-known to us as being an introvert from what Xtina always tells us about him. He was so shy to even join us for gatherings back then. Kh and I were first acquainted with him at the bridal studio when Xtina was choosing her gown and we had a very favourable impression of him -- he was not quite the introvert we had expected and we got along quite well.
When Xtina told Lester about the "Back to School" theme for the gatecrash and how her jie mei would be dressed accordingly to the theme instead of donning the usual bridesmaids' style of dainty dresses, she was somewhat worried that the "boring" and introverted Lester would not be up to the theme. However, Lester assured her that he would surprise her and her jie mei that day.
With that, all of us were burning with curiosity and dying to see what he had in store for us. Boy were we pleasantly surprised!
From the window, we espied Lester's brother dressed in his Boys' Brigade uniform complete with proud rows of badges.
The most salient "character" was a P.E teacher clad in sports attire with a whistle around his neck and complete with a ball by his side.
We also spotted someone with a lab coat thrown over, presumably the Science teacher.
We laughed our heads off at someone with a huge gaudy bow tie and fake suspenders and guessed that could be a music teacher.
There was a serious one dressed in shirt and pants with a tie and another similarly serious one with a bow which corresponded to how a typical principal and discipline master (and vice versa) would look like.
Finally we saw one who looked dressed like a student instead of a teacher. He was wearing a tie (like how prefects in local schools would) although he looked like a gangster with loosely strung tie, unbuttoned collar and a fake tattoo on his arm.
It was all very entertaining and we could see many people from the next block peeking out from their windows too.
I really wished I could share the gatecrashing games photos with you but all I could do now is to share the morning's proceeding in words.
so to continue on with words...
We made the whole entourage sing a song for Xtina before we allowed them up. The boys gamely put their arms on one another's shoulders and swayed left and right singing:
"I love you, you love me, we're a happy family with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too."
For those who are friends with me on Facebook, the video is here.
Since the boys were so sporting, we gave them the passport to come upstairs. Once upstairs, the supposedly head prefect was furiously scribbling on his notepad and all the jie mei were clueless about what he was doing. The next moment, he was calling out our names and handing us detention slips for being notti. We sure had a good laugh about that. So far, the groom and his entourage had completely taken us by surprise.
Introvert? Yeah right!
They played all the games in a sporting fashion and lost graciously at times that we were quite satisfied to let them off but not before collecting our ang pow!
Lester finally "fetched his bride" and everyone was all smiles! We spontaneously shouted "kungfu panda!" and this was the result.
Of course we took many other fun shots at the reservoir but I could only siphon this off from Facebook. The caption by Xtina's official photographer was
"20111120... you all are a real fun group..."
I love the car!
And oh after snapping the bridal car behind, Tiff just had to snap me.
Lester and Xtina do not have a really big family and hence the tea ceremony was over in a few minutes at their current marital home. It was quite unlike the usual traditional style where the couple has to undergo the tea ceremony at each of their family homes. I could still recall my own when it was a looooooooong process as both my dad and mum have got 12 siblings each. Kh have got many uncles and aunts too and hence everything all added up.
The tea ceremony marked the end of the wedding process for the day and the start of the pre-housewarming. The jie mei and xiong di went free and easy at the couple's instructions. After tucking into delicious catered food, the xiong di went off while the rest of us boogied to Michael Jackson on wii.
Could you even tell from motionless pictures that Gera has got the groove in her? She learns hip hop dance for hobby.
Tiff has Chinese Dance blood in her.
Jo usually goes with the flow of the music which sometimes result in awkwardness.
Lester's siblings and Xtina's godbrother did not want to miss out too.
Even the bride changed out into something comfortable and joined in the fun!
After that, we took a break from dancing.
When all the guests had left, the bimbos in us were unleashed in series and series of bimbotic fun shots. Afterall, we are the Bimbo Sisters.
Gera said, "Are you ready for our fun shots?" Hand her that poser queen award already please.
Badass school girl
Preppy nerdy school girl
The bride wants to join in the fun too!
Super love Xtina's sultry pose here.
We decided to see through one another's perspectives.
We were supposed to show our stupid nerdy expression but some badass seemed not to understand English.
Attempting a THE DOG series.
In case you are wondering, Xtina's godbrother aka our cute little brother aka XL was behind the camera and boy he had LOTS of fun snapping us. He really loved this THE DOG series coz he said we looked like sad puppy dogs looking up to him for food. He was standing on a chair by the way.
A random shot of us trying to achieve a random shot of us.
We saw Xtina's framed photos lying against the wall and ideas started brewing in our minds.
Taking a break to think of what to do next...
Tiff spotted the canes which the xiong di had left behind and we decided to put on our shoes for full costumes shots. Of course we had Xtina's immediate consent afterwhich she disappeared from the room for a while.
Xtina decided to change into a short slutty dress to act as our slutty teacher. (No worries, she had shorts underneath.)
Slutty teacher chasing after all the notti students.
Sorry teacher!
The notti students overpowered the slutty teacher, snatched the canes and retaliated.
Gera and Jo seemed to be playing pool while Tiff loved fishing.
*Evil laughter*
Tiff showed slutty teacher who was the boss.
Gera needed a guillotine.
Jo is pure sick.
And the story hit a high note with the rise of the rebellious students.
Lovely candid shot of the bride.
Slutty teacher morphed into Charlie Chaplin's long lost twin sister.
There came one of the most priceless moment of the day. Tiff raised her cane and instantaneously, we heard the horrific shatter of glass. Tiff had broken the ceiling lamp!
The Bimbos soon got down to pick up all the smithereens.
And then the groom appeared all calm and composed and that was the most priceless moment of the day. After he assured us that it was no big matter and went outside to continue chowing down on chicken wings, we told Xtina that she had chosen the right man to marry.
Jo overtook the role of the stern discipline mistress...
While Tiff awaited her punishment.
Guess what? If you have gotten this far, we have not even got to the banquet yet!
Stay tuned for the final installment of Xtina's Fantabulous 4 Days Wedding Grandeur.
PS: It has really been a busy week and I'll get down to replying your comments soon. Have a lovely Monday!
That group knows how to have fun!!!
ReplyDeleteBeing a dad has ruined me (or made me better, not sure). My reaction to the photos is that Gera needs a longer skirt. LOL!
wow i love the idea..the couple seemed to be very happy all the time.. and you guys just knows how to pose perfectly for the camera!
ReplyDeletevery cute!
ReplyDeleteRick,
ReplyDeleteYou are such a no fun-er! I'm so gonna tell gera! lol =P
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MACY,
Yes they are! And yup, think we can acquire the poser queens title. lol
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Kaleido Mind,
Thank you!
aww love these pictures!! you and your girls all look so sexy and cute at the same time!! you should wear glasses more they look so good on you!
ReplyDeletehaha seems like you guys had a great time with the pictures! and school theme seems so much fun!
ReplyDeleteWOW that is some major festivity for Xtina! We don't have anything like that in the US. The bride gets ready on the day of, and then off she goes to the church.
ReplyDeleteAlso tell her Jo looked especially lovely that day. =)
ReplyDeleteoh my looks like a lot of fun, I wish we had that much going on when we got married :D I love your girls costumes btw very sexy hehe
ReplyDeleteYou girls look so cute and sexy in the pictures. Love the theme for the wedding so much :)
ReplyDeleteang-closet365.blogspot.ca
Haha I love the themed wedding party! The back to school theme is so cute. It's a nice change from your traditional wedding party attire. That's cool that the groom and his groomsmen all partook too. It sounds like you all had a lot of fun playing the gatecrashing games and taking the photos. I love how they turned out! :D
ReplyDeletei'm not gonna lie but that has got to be the CUTEST photoshoot i have ever seen! and i love your poses and outfit!!
ReplyDeleteThis looked like so much fun!!!! I love how it was themed and everyone dressed up! My favorite part is the karma sutra position punishments hahaha I need to remember for future reference >=) All of you are so gorgeous!!! I especially love your blouse! Oh and creative math questions tee hee
ReplyDeleteLisa,
ReplyDeleteHaha thanx! I'm considering changing my current glasses to black, brown or turtle frame. It is reddish which I like but it's a little bent and slanted which doesn't allow me to wear it out. Only for home use.
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Pop Champagne,
Indeed, we did and it is fun! =)
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Bessie,
Indeed that's how most couples over here do too. Just that for traditional Chinese wedding, it could get a little more elaborate though everything could be packed in a day or 2. lol... That's why we keep teasing Xtina.
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Rick,
You want to get into Gera's bad books? lol... =D Anyway sometimes my friends would click into the comments section to read if I see anything pertinent to them and inform them about it.
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Yvonne,
Thank you. Yes, it's always fun to look back on but I remember seeing your wedding photos and yours is so unique with a mixture of Western and Vietnamese. I love it!
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Ang Lam,
Thank you, dear.
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Rinny,
Thank you, dear. Indeed we had so much fun and we were really amazed that the groom and his band of brothers were so sporting.
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Abby,
Aww... thanx, dear. *blows kisses*
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suki pooki,
Aww... thank you, dear. That's nice. Yes, you have to put that down for future reference definitely. It's always good to start collecting ideas now.
WOw how fun. Wish I was there too.
ReplyDeletewww.thoughtsofpaps.com