Mark's posts with tag: wedding
 The past two weeks have gone by in a whirl. I have apparently undergone two of the most stressful transitions in life - moving house and getting married. Everything's still surreal - with the latest being our move to our beautiful new home yesterday. But what's on my mind is the special day 29 December 2007, which will forever be etched in my memories.
It was a day filled with precious memories - of a church filled with many dear friends and relatives; of a ceremony sealed with a solemn vow; of a celebration of love, of song, of youth... Most of all it was a recognition of the God who has been the source of who we were, are and will be.
I am deeply moved when I think of all the people who worked so hard to make our wedding day such a special one not only for us, but for all who came. We have since spoken to a number of people who came to the wedding. Many of them have shared that they were deeply moved and ministered by the love that was felt at the wedding. I know it was the love of God that they felt. And we are deeply thankful that the day was so special.
It's still new adjusting to married life, and whenever someone asks about my marital status, I still find it strange telling them that I'm married and the husband to a wonderful woman. Also adjusting to the fact that I'm now the head of a new household with its share of ups and downs. That's all part of life I guess; and as my dear youth pastor Matthew shared during the wedding - there's no such thing as perfect people and definitely no such thing as a perfect marriage.
I know that as the magic of the "honeymoon effect" gradually loses its shine and the realities of married life sink in, we'd probably have our fair share of difficult moments. I guess that's when we'd look back on that special day and remember the God who made all things possible for us; to cling to the biblical bridegroom and to remember that He will always be there for His beautiful bride.
 I've suddenly become a "sort-of-an-expert" on renovation work; now I know the difference between homogenous and ceramic tiles, between laminate and parquet flooring, between solid and granite surfaces... the list goes on... It has also become somewhat of an interest to observe the way mosaic is laid out in public places, as well as to assess how a feature wall can accentuate the aesthetics of a room...
Yes, the renovation bug has hit in; not least because we will soon begin renovation works for our new house. Nothing too major - just hacking off the old toilets completely, adding a new kitchen cabinet top, laminating the floor of our bedrooms, adding a laminate platform for our balcony, re-wiring and re-plumbing the entire house, and giving the place a new coat of paint. Still, Sue and I have become "somewhat-of-an-expert" in the renovation process, no thanks to our sourcing of at least five different quotations from the numerous home renivation companies. We are thankful that we finally managed to decide on one company last week, and will soon begin the process of choosing materials for our place. Things have been on the acceleration for us over the last couple of weeks; I'm thankful that my new job has been wonderful :) I realise that I love teaching - not least because the young people under my care are so much like the youths in church. It has been three teaching weeks so far, and I feel I have largely done a good job; most challenging to keep my students engaged during the after-lunch sessions from 1-3pm, but the sessions have been nonetheless fun. I'm also continually surprised by students who take the initiative to play Youtube videos and perform skits during their presentations, and that without the need for me to instruct them on this. Sue reminded me today that we have less than two months to our wedding. It still hasn't sunk in yet that within the blinking of an eye, December will pass and both of us will embark on our married life together. What I am reminded to do, however, is to prepare myself for the upcoming transition that will change my life forever. And I know nothing better than to ask the God of my life for His guidance through it all.
 When I learnt I was going to sit in for this year's National Day Rally speech, one of the first things that Sue asked me to do was to pay special attention to any new announcements on housing - that given the recent surge in the property market prices. As a matter of fact, property was one of the items mentioned in the speech; although it did not affect us as much as we had hoped for it to.
To put things in perspective, Sue and I took part in the recent HDB balloting exercise for 4-room and 5-room flats in mature estates. Although we already have a 3-room flat, we were however thinking ahead and preparing for the arrival of our children, when the time comes for that to materialise. Together with another couple from church, we had been eagerly anticipating the release of the balloting results, for the 354 flats that have been released. We finally received the results yesterday, only to learn that of the 10,200 people who had applied, our queue number was 6,071 i.e. we would only be able to get our flat if 6,070 people reject the flats. In all honesty, although we knew that it was very difficult to get an apartment in this manner, we were definitely disappointed. A flurry of sms messages were sent to each other through the day, and when we finally met last night, we came to the conclusion that we might have to look through the Classifieds and search for a place on the open market. Amidst all the searching, I was reminded of the current upgrading work that my flat will be undergoing soon. One side episode was the sudden appearance of a head outside my kitchen window this morning before work. "Uncle... Need to remove the metal clothes rack. Can or not?" I was rather startled, although thankful to be in a modest state of decency. Upon discussion with the foreign worker, who was with one other man suspended inside a gondola outside the window, I learnt that some of my furnishings had to be removed for the upgrading works to proceed. I only agreed after discussing with his foreman, a well-spoken gentleman who was obviously intrigued by the incident "Your house the only one with this rack. We see how - if can we'll return to you after taking it out." Considering all the major upgrading works that will be conducted soon, and the preparations for our upcoming marriage, we finally decided to hold off the search for a new place until another time. Both of us had gone to God to inquire about this matter, and we were both of the opinion that this period might not be the best time to buy a new place. All in good timing; all in His timing.
I can understand now why couples are so busy preparing for their marriage. For starters there's the wedding preparations - drawing up the guest list, booking the church and dinner locations, choosing a bridal studio and going for the photoshoot, finalising the helper list, meeting the wedding coordinators, drawing up the actual day wedding schedule, deciding on the folral decorations, the list goes on... Besides that, many couples are also tied down with the other physical preparations - such as deciding where to live after the wedding; and if they decide to live on their own, they would then need to buy an apartment and renovate the new home. I'm thankful that for us, this process has been simplified somewhat. We're indeed very blessed that there's no need to look for a new home, as I'm already living in an apartment which I call my own. What's however important is that when Sue moves in, for the place to be "ours" and not only "mine". Hence the need for renovations so that the apartment can be shaped by both our personalities. And since my flat will conveniently also go through upgrading, it makes sense to take advantage of the situation and concurrently renovate the apartment. We've therefore been spending much of our time together seeking out items for our place. A very enjoyable experience overall as both of us enjoy beautiful things and it's been quite fun choosing lovely things that we both know we'll enjoy - like the delicate Thai silk which we bought during our recent trip to Bangkok (featured in the photo above and which will be used to make curtains), the lovely maroon-coloured bed linen at 70% off (thanks to the Great Singapore Sale), and our latest acquistion - a comfy King Coil mattress and bed frame set... We know there're many more things that we'll need to purchase together - like a new dining room set, toilet sinks, a desk for the study room etc; but so far we're happy with all our purchases. I think the main reason why this is so is because we've both learnt to consider what each other likes - and to accommodate each other every time we make a decision. In many ways this is representative of the marriage life, during which we know we'll have to make many decisions together. It's not merely the humourous view of marriage that depicts the husband as the head of the house and the wife as the neck that turns him around; rather it's more that both husband and wife share joint responsibility of the household and that all decisions are made in mutual agreement. It's truly a high calling for the husband to be the head of the household, and this is a position that is only tenable if he is under the authority of God. Truly marriage preparation means more than just preparing for the wedding - it's preparing for a whole life to be lived together under the authority of God.
 We had a most enjoyable day embarking on one of our first major projects together as a couple - the wedding photoshoot...
A feature of most weddings in contemporary Singapore, the photoshoot has often been associated with long hours of preparation, bad weather, stressful schedules, persistent photographers, chessy photos, the list goes on... But thankfully our wedding photoshoot had none of that.
We awoke on the 24th May 2007 to bright sunshine, blue sky and white clouds - quite a contrast to the weather forecast of "thunderstorms and rain over a few areas in the late morning", a phenomenon which had occurred consistently for the past two days. It was one instance when the weatherman got it wrong, and we enjoyed the sunny weather all day long.
Assembling our items in packages both big and small, we hailed a taxi and made our way to the quaint photo studio nestled in Emerald Hill, a relic of an era lost in time; but all the more fitting to serve as the location for our photoshoot.
We were grateful to the make-up artist, who had a special way of transforming my beloved fiancee into the different personas of an Elizabethan princess, a cottage girl, a Peranakan matriach and of course a radiant bride. This complemented the sweet flowers and dazzling accessories, and all at once we appreared ready to walk down the aisle there and then.
Our photographer too, seemed specially selected to suit our personality and preferences in the manner with which he took the photos. He was able to transform our selected locations of Emerald Hill, Botanic Gardens and Sentosa into places that seemed either warped from a different era, or transported from another part of the world. And he never spoke a harsh word, gently nudging us to "look at each other as though you're whispering to one another", or to "smile harder", or to "turn around and look as though someone just called out to you".
As the sun set and we finally made our way home, we could only express our thanks to God our Father in Heaven who has taken care of us all the way; by providing us with wonderful weather, by giving us a wonderful make-up artist and photographer, but most importantly, by giving us one another to love and cherish.
There's no doubt that the day did not go by without its unplanned hitches - we forgot to take our floral bouquet for the outdoor shoot, we forgot to bring our extra outdoor outfits for the location shots, we had to rush to Sentosa to catch the sunset by the beach, we faced some obstacles in removing the bridal gown... However, in all, the day was a most enjoyable one for the both of us, and a day we will remember for a long time to come.
Our marriage preparation class mentors shared with us that the wedding is like one major project that each couple has to work together on. And in many ways, although the marriage is more important than the wedding per se, but the wedding in and of itself serves as a physical representation of how the couple would work together for the rest of their lives. Taken in such a light, I'm thankful that our wedding photoshoot was such a memorable experience for the both of us. To God be the Glory!
 Today we've finally confirmed the major arrangements for our wedding on the 29th December this year. After weeks of persistent phone calls by Sue and her mum, we finally found a place suitable for the occasion, and decided on the lunch reception venue for the wedding - at a cosy restaurant situated at the foot of Mt Faber...
By confirming the lunch reception venue, we're now able to confirm the church - Grace Assembly of God at Tanglin - which is a really warm church that both Sue and I love. And since the family dinner venue had already been decided upon earlier, it seems we're now set and ready to go :)
It's truly been quite a busy time for us both. Within the span of one week we've bought my suit and the wedding bands. We're also taking time to prepare for the photoshoot which will take place a little more than a week away.
Today I also took time to finally draw up the list of wedding helpers - and have realised that there are so many people who will be involved in the wedding - can say I'm overwhelmed by the love that these dear friends and family members have for us - in offering to help us in so many ways; from our cousins who will be the key members of the worship team, to our dear CG members who will help out with the reception, and of course the youths who will be a great blessing in serving as ushers. I can only say that God has been with us every step of the journey - especially by bringing to us so many people to minister to us in their service at the wedding.
The road is long, and we've been learning at our marriage preparation class that the wedding should not be the only thing we focus on as we come together as one. What's more important is to look towards our marriage, which will be the start of a new family that I will build together with Sue - to cleave from our parents, and to hold fast to each other, creating a new family which is founded on God as its bedrock. A cord of three strands is not easily divided - and the marriage has to encompass our love for God above our love for each other.
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