Tony and Nickie's Wedding (Part 1)

21st April, 2007
I found out from Yee Boon just 2 days before the event that I was to be the MC! Tony and Nickie, the newly-weds, the happy couple were expecting me to become the master of their wedding dinner. Suffice to say that as elated as I was, I was also a bit jittery as it's been almost 5 years since I did any proper 'MC-ing'.


Tony, David Lai and I gathered at YB's place the night before to finalize the last minute arrangements, from getting the property RC jacks for the video presentation to the music for the dinner and the itinerary for the day. I must say it was really surreal having this quattro in YB's place again. We used to hang out really often about 2 years ago, but since Tony left for Hong Kong, the camaraderie we were used to faded abruptly.

As usual with any Chinese wedding, the 'Heng Tai's' would be the ones flanking the groom to 'negotiate' for the bride. So, I was committed naturally and the night before, we discovered that YB was going to switch camps on us to be with the bride's side!! Well, not really, since our friend wanted to become the 'official unofficial' photographer of the day, he had the excuse of being early at the bride's side.

Well, the morning started early. I was at Tony's parent's place by 7.30am. The first order of things was to prep the wedding car with the usual ribbons and hoodpiece (my first time going at it, I might add), getting the groom ready for the day and on time as well as getting the photographer to get momentous shots of Tony's parents donning his blazer for Tony's impending trip to the Le Meridien Hotel, KL Central, where the bride and family put up. Also, I was introduced to Duncan Tan, Tony's bestman-cum-driver for the day.

So, we made our way to the suite, where we met up with Ted, another 'Heng Tai' for the 'Bride Price' (Bethrotal gifts) part of the day. So there were 3, Duncan, Ted and I. We were, of course, expectantly to be halted by a horde of 'chee muis', lead by Tony's tall but vocal sister, Michelle Lim, who did the bargaining before letting us pass the threshold. On the first offer, Tony was shown a piece of paper obviously with lipstick impressions and was asked to identify the wife's lip impresion...hehe....this was a task bound to fail. So, first punishment, do 30 ear squats! Reluctantly, we complied...Duncan being the fastest to complete and be out of breath! hehe. Then, money was offered. Not enough! DIE! Must pass an orange between the 'Heng Tai's' to the groom...using our necks...thereafter, more money was offered, ALSO not enough...DIE again!... Now must crack a hard boiled egg tied to our waist with another tied to the opposite 'Heng Tai'... Finally, at the instance of YB's banter, we charged into the room. Again, we were halted. This time, Ted took the heat and stuffed his face into whipped cream to find a single piece of chewing gum hidden. Finally, we had to sing that song by the late Teresa Teng ( Yuè Liàng Dài Biǎo Wǒ De Xīn) for the torture to be over!!!

Later, we proceeded back for Tony's place for the tea ceremony. (I won't elaborate the events here because honestly, I didn't know half of what was going on nor who the respective people were...or probably because I was in and out of the house so many times to monitor traffic and to usher relatives in, I lost track of what was happening)

The relief for me was the catered lunch...whilst having my stomach fillers, YB and the bridal couple proceeded to the Lake Gardens for the couple's photoshoot. After food, I was entasked to drive Tony's mother-in-law, brother and sister-in-law back to the Le Meredien.

After a quick tinker to YB, I shot off to the Lake Gardens to watch the final minutes of the photoshoot. Finally, the itinerary of the day part was over and I went back to YB 's place for a quick shower.

Next post: Part 2