Two Weddings in One Week

She had been single for much of her working life. So had he in fact he was longer at living a life of a bachelor. She was 37 and he was 52 and they met in the organisation they were working for , he as the new boss and she as the company secretary. The families had been worried sick about their single status and at last, through mutual love, they had decided to end their single days.

A Centrepiece of Fresh Roses


Their wedding was held in the daytime at a multi-purpose hall, I would call this a reception, rather than a wedding proper as there were no sitting on the dais like couples in this ethnic group usually do (even though there was, I noticed, a wedding dais on the hall stage) but a relative whispered that the bridegroom refused to sit on it as he did not want the large number of guests, including some VIPs to have to gawk at them. The proud bride's mother had wanted it in the first place. Moreover, they had had such a ceremony at the bride's home attended by close friends and relatives a day earlier.

The hall was beautifully decorated and it was packed with about 500 guests, including several dignitaries The lunch was catered by a leading hotel. The foods were excellent and the company amiable. The wedding couple was resplendent in their matching traditional clothes of golden hue. They did not look their age!

My second wedding invitation was five days after. This one, an evening affair, was really grand and held at a leading five-star hotel. The bride and groom were in their twenties. There were about 1000 guests and all came in their fineries. The ballroom was magically transformed into a hall of light and flowers.

The wedding dais was shaped like a Roman throne complete with Grecian pillars and metres of sheer white organza surrounding them. The atmosphere was festive with many little girls all dressed up like little angels in white carrying baskets of flowers. The background music was joyous with local and overseas singers belting out wedding songs. A gamelan Group was also there. A short video of the couple on how they met was tastefully presented . The guests were the who's who of the city and they turned out in full force. There was a "blessing ceremony" where the VVIP guests were invited to sprinkle fragrant water on the hands of the couple and shake their hands.




Delectable Durian Cheesecake


The food was attractively presented and it was served individually at our table. But I prefer the taste of the food at the first reception though they were all placed at the centre of the table! So even if the venue is more expensive, it doesn't mean that the food is as flavoursome. Very much depend on the chefs, could it also depend on one's tastebuds?

It has been a tradition of this community that every wedding guest would be given a gift to take home. Usually a piece of cake, flowers, sweets, boiled eggs decoratively wrapped, scented dry flowers in cute colorful rattan basket or nicely painted vases, according to the affordability of the host. At the first reception, attractive gold wire baskets with scented pot-pourri were placed at each guest's seat. In the latter, girls came around to distribute colourful paper bags containing small things to each guest.



An Interesting Gift Bag


At the end of the reception, the host, the wedding couple , the in-laws and their close relatives would line up to thank the departing guests and that would then be the opportune time for the guests to surreptitiously hand in some money to the host. Normally we would estimate the cost of the food plus the gift for the couple and gave that amount. Indeed some wedding receptions are actually paid for by the guests!

For the first reception, we gave the money to the brother-in -law who invited us. For the second reception, the host is too wealthy and of such social standing that we opted not to give out of respect for his position in society. As far as I know, wedding guests in this community usually do not give the money to either the bride or groom. It is just not the done thing!

All things said, for me a wedding reception is always a good time to meet many friends and relatives and to wind down. It is always after the reception that one gets to meet up and talk about things that do not really matter. I enjoy attending weddings which usually signify a fresh start of a responsible partnership.