#KenTingWeds Gatecrash & Tea Ceremony

Even though we had two days of celebrations, our big day came and went by so quickly. In a blink of an eye, the weekend was over and we have penned down our signatures to be tied together for life. Nonetheless, we had so much fun and we're glad our family & friends enjoyed themselves as well!

You've seen the photos, now let me tell you what went down on the 13th May, when we had our gatecrash and tea ceremony! And also some thoughts and feelings I had during the moment.

Getting my makeup done in the morning at 6am. Luckily for me, even though I'm a Teo Chew bride, my family are not very superstitious with regards to the time that Ken has to come and pick me; else I would have to wake up super early!

I didn't sleep well the previous night because I just couldn't fall asleep (but I wasn't surprised; a lot of brides already told me that before) so I tossed and turned for what seemed like an eternity before drifting off to sleep. Before I knew it, my alarm rang and I groggily went to brush my teeth and wear my robe. My makeup artist was early as well and I even had to make her wait downstairs for me while I busied myself in the toilet! Nonetheless, really thankful for makeup to cover up my dark eye circles and I still look so pretty even though I was feeling so tired.

Adrenaline works as well because I was excited to be the queen of the day! Many of you know that my personality as the Entertainer really loves attention and on my wedding day I'm the queen! Just have to sit back and enjoy being pampered. :)

My pink bridal robe is from P Werkshop and I love the comfy material! It's free size and bound to fit many ladies. You should wear a robe or at least a button-on shirt while doing your makeup before changing into your gown, otherwise removing the shirt will mess up the pretty hair.

Getting my gown from Beautiful Love Wedding. Genius idea of both Alan from Alan Ng Photography and Dennis from Silverskye Productions; to hang up my gown here because it was super long and heavy that I couldn't find anywhere suitable for it. Somehow they managed to hook the hanger on the ledge and it held; resulting in this pretty picture.

My makeup artist pinning on the veil for me. She's a pro because somehow she managed to squeeze out some cleavage from my very small boobs HAHA!

Last few touches to go. I was really excited for Ken to see his pretty bride!

My parents putting on the veil for me. So happy to marry me off? Hahaha they know I've found a good man to take care of me!

Thank you mummy and daddy for always giving me the best while growing up! Mummy don't have to be scared that she'll miss me because I'll be staying over at Ken's parents' place, only 3 minutes drive away from home. I was afraid I'll miss my home too but with my flexible schedule as a real estate salesperson, I know I can always make time to go back. And that actually made me feel super relieved!

On a side note, can you see from this picture how I inherited my round face and droopy eyes from my dad? Why didn't I inherit his intellect too though! Luckily I have my mum's sharp nose else I would have really flat face features hahaha. Nonetheless, my makeup artist say guys usually like droopy eyes girls cause they look more innocent (is that right Ken?) HAHAHA!

Patiently waiting for Ken to come and pick me. To be honest, I don't exactly feel 'prepared' because how do you go about preparing emotionally about the biggest day of your life?! It's like no matter how many articles you've read, you will only experience it yourself on the actual day. I guess the most important thing is to know that I'm waiting for the right man to come and pick me!

Bridal nails beautifully done by Twenty Nails! Look at the 3D ribbon on my middle finger! They did exactly what I wanted, simple yet pretty with ribbons.

Very thankful for this group of girls because they did so many things for me! From planning a fun Hen's Night and acceding to my request of a photoshoot, to churning ideas and preparing for the gatecrash together, they never once complained! Furthermore, all of them played their own roles to perfection during my wedding and made everything go well!

Jamie was my personal makeup artist and she did my hair for my solemnization ceremony, and all the girls' hair for both my solemnization and banquet. She also did my mum's and Ken's mummy's hair and makeup for the banquet! Meixi took care of my bridal gold and jewellery, logistics for the gatecrash and events, and she was also the emcee for my banquet the next day!

Xinyee was the point-of-contact for ALL my vendors and my wedding partners; she was also the in-charge for everything we needed help and liaising for! Be it the getting the status of our live band to the banquet meeting, even to capturing videos of important candid moments she thought we would like to remember. She stayed till late both days to help with every single thing that we needed and was really a great help!

Jeanette was my maid-of-honour and she earned this spot by being my best friend for the past 12 years! She was with me all the time, bringing me water and food and holding up my gown and bringing everything I needed to me. She planned stuff with me and found out what I would prefer, and was always my very supportive best friend. Judith was my social media in-charge and she did such a good job that many of my friends commented that my Instagram stories were so well-updated! She literally followed me everywhere as well to get good shots. All in all, I'm super thankful for all of them!

My groom is here! I love that they had to announce their arrival by honking the car horn. I was so excited to hear it while I was waiting in my room! The guys also had fun just honking the car horn so many times without being angry for the first time hahaha. Car rented from Advance Limousine.

A picture with my brother who opened the car door for Ken. Ken has to wait for my brother to open the door and pass him two oranges. The two oranges are then left in the bridal car for good fortune.

The groomsmen acting nerdy! Flowers are from Fleur De Style.

Ken handling over the mandarin oranges to my parents at the door. The oranges are presented in even number as a symbolism of good fortune (again) hahaha. Oh the many traditions!

The gatecrashing is to test the groom's sincerity and love for me with a series of wedding games. Ken has to complete all the challenges to my bridesmaids' satisfaction before they let him pick me! This tradition of blocking the door demonstrates their unwillingness to marry off the bride because of their love for her. (Thanks girls I know y'all love me!)

First test before they could even start the games: push-ups and they had to ask my bridesmaids if they can recover!

Ken was so happy because he drew the "Do You Play Mahjong" card and because he loves mahjong so much, he thought it would be an easy task for him! Alas, he thought wrong...

He had to dig out mahjong tiles in ice cold water with his feet, and the numbers have to match my IC number! End up his groomsmen Jethro did a much better job by flicking the tiles out of the pail hahaha.

My bridesmaids just laughed on happily!

Continuing the next few games. My girls told me they had fun because whenever the guys looked like they were gonna complete a mission, they started to countdown SUPER fast and the guys lost! HAHAHA!

The look of despair when Ken realized that whatever he do he will lose. HAHAHA

And then there's cute Bryan who swallowed wasabi thinking it was kaya...

They are still laughing very happily! I just noticed my cute grandpa in the background on the left hahaha.

Ok lah guys, good job! The ordeal is over!

The girls are satisfied!!! Ken can finally pick his bride!

Usually the bride will write a list of things she would want the groom to promise her before he enters her room to pick her. Ok well I only made him promise me a few things because I'm nice. Hahahaha!

Here he comes, my handsome groom!

The nice suit Ken is wearing is from SuitYourself Singapore! They provide really tailored fit at an unbeatable price. The reason why they can do that is because they work directly with manufacturers and simply cut out wholesalers, other middle-men, and the expensive retail infrastructure that force traditional tailors to charge steep markups. This allows them to keep their costs lower than in traditional retail and pass the savings on to us!

Finally after many ordeals, Ken got to see his bride!

I remember feeling so happy and blissful because Ken kissed me so tenderly. Hehehe.

Our bridesmaids and groomsmen were all dressed in our primary school uniform because Ken and I met there when we were 11 years old.

Happy group shot!

Ken wearing my heels for me! Do you know that both bride and groom are not supposed to remove our shoes until the end of all our ceremonies? That is why Ken entered my house and room wearing his shoes as well.

My family!

Time for me to leave my home.

My dad is sheltering me with a red umbrella (very pretty right? it had gold characters on the surface and the handle is gold as well hehehe) to ward off any negative elements.

I like this cool shot by Alan, where my parents' reflection can be seen as they send me off!

Kissy kissy! Be remembered that the bridal car is not supposed to go in reverse when the bride and groom are in the car. This is because the newlyweds' lives are supposed to go forward not look back in the past (or so they say). So get a good driver!

Ken's cousin opened the door for us this time round, and we took the oranges in exchange for a red packet.

5 for May :)

Ken officially brought his bride home! I love how both our houses are ceremoniously decorated with Shuang Xi 囍 stickers!

We went downstairs for photos first before going back to Ken's house for the tea ceremony! Actually we wanted to take photos first but then the adults told us Ken has to pick me and go straight to his house first before we can leave to take photos elsewhere.

I did the typical bouquet throwing and Jud caught it! Ok we planned this lah cause she's the next one to get married HAHA.

Once we went back to Ken's house, I went to change into my Kua from The Gown Warehouse and we sat on our matrimonial bed to eat eggs that Ken's grandma made for us!

For our Tea Ceremony, I chose to wear the Kua, a traditional wedding dress embroidered with a dragon and phoenix; where the dragon represents the male and the phoenix represents the female. Having them side by side symbolizes the perfect balance of yin and yang of the bride and the groom.

It was also a befitting occasion to don the 四点金 Si Dian Jin from SK Jewellery a gift from my mother-in-law, featuring the Phoenix and Peony, to pay respects and show appreciation to my elders. I’m glad the gold jewellery really complemented the Kua!

A nice view of our room. Canvas portrait hanging on the wall is from Artisan Prints.

Given that tea is an important part of Chinese culture, it's not surprising that this tea ceremony is an important part of a traditional Chinese wedding. Both bride and groom are expected to serve tea to both sides of the parents and relatives, representing an important moment in which members of both families become relatives of each other.

This act is in respect and gratitude to both bride's and groom's parents for all the years of love and care. Besides this, tea is the symbol of purity, stability and fertile. The purity of tea represents the love is pure and noble; the stability of tea stands for faithful love; the fertile of tea represents the family will have many children.

Yay I want to have children! But not so soon hahaha. Don't ask us to make babies yet ok!!! We are planning the first one in 2 more years. :)

During the tea ceremony, the elders usually give gold jewellery to the bride as a blessing and I was blessed with so much gold that day! It was also good to wear all the jewellery and go back to the bride's house, to show that the bride is well taken care of! That was how I ended up with 5 gold necklaces on my neck after the tea ceremony hahaha.

Ken's sister receiving a big red packet from us after giving us tea. New sister-in-law in the house!

My family! Very thankful that Ken's parents dote on me and Ken's mummy always tell me she has gained another daughter. :')

After we were done at Ken's house, we went back to my home! Giving tea to my grandparents.

My grandma is super cute, a few months ago she was already preparing my tea ceremony gift. She gave me a gold necklace which was a family heirloom from 1901! At first she wanted to pawn it and use the money to get another trendy/modern gold jewellery for me; but I told her no, I would like to keep the family heirloom instead. 1901 so old and ancient super cool please! Plus I already have enough gold jewellery to wear out if need be hahaha.

My parents! Ken has to call them mummy and daddy! :)

My mummy gave me another necklace that was in a shape of a heart and Ken's mummy gave me a gold necklace (on top of my 四点金 Si Dian Jin!) in hearts during the tea ceremony too! Everyone knows of my love for hearts hehe.

My siblings have a new older brother! All photos in this post are taken by Alan of Alan Ng Photography.

Here's the video of our wedding highlights as shot and edited by Silverskye Productions. Mention my name and you'll be able to get $100 off any of their packages!

Behind the scenes video snippets can be viewed on my Dayre post HERE.

Kaiting Hearts

#KenTingWeds Gatecrash & Tea Ceremony

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