Chapter 1 – An Afterthought

After going through this wedding experience of ours, I have gathered a new perspective on why people in this world spend so much effort on this one or few days event. Our wedding began with a prayer session at Cynthia’s home on 4 November 2000 at 4:30pm and lasted until we had finally fallen asleep on 5 November 2000. The number of parties involved were phenomenal – at least to my limited life experience so far – and without their help and contribution, the wedding would not be as beautiful.

The afterthought is as such – the whole wedding process is like the launching of a rocket into the outer space. You’ve got to give it a big blast, loud and bright, in order to propel the whole rocket into the unknown world. With sufficient energy to carry you through the journey and with the right conditions to get you to the right orbit. Everything needs to be close to perfection – the people inside the rocket, the people outside the rocket, all the equipment to get the rocket going, and last but not least, the right weather condition. The last one is easy to relate. Good weather for the launching day, good weather for the wedding day. Getting all the equipment working is similar to getting the logistic of wedding going. Every item, no matter how small it is, has to be in place. It can be the hand bouquets, the booklets for the mass, and the groom’s belt (we will get to that later). Any error due to the ignorance of these small items can be disastrous. The people outside the rocket are important too. Although most of them do nothing but to stare at the rocket, without these precious audiences, it is like a mission to the moon with no glory. Not to forget to mention the people inside the control tower; they are the ones who get the event going in perfect synchronisation. How about the astronauts inside the rocket? To me, they are analogous to the bride and groom sitting inside the rocket only having each other and the rocket to hold onto.

But wait a minute, what exactly has the rocket to do with the wedding occasion itself? I tend to visualise the rocket of ours in an abstract manner: it encapsulates all the energy that is vital to our trip, it protects us throughout the journey, it has the knowledge on how to get to the outer space, and finally, it gets us to the outer space.

Whenever we witness a rocket lifts off from the launcher, emanating a big cloud of smoke that resembles the voluminous wedding dress, and eventually disappears into the sky. Call it a technology success, but I would rather call it a miracle. And it is this rocket of ours that is lifted all the way by the hand of God.

Each marriage should have a beginning like the launching of the rocket; it should be spectacular. Believe me, the ride is worth the effort of making your wedding day spectacular no matter how long the preparation is, and how much effort it takes. Students go through a lot of pain and stress in order to reach their graduation day. Many people spent sleepless nights before their driving tests. And it is the convergence of these unpleasant physical and emotional moments that makes the occasion a glory. Wedding is no exceptional.