Charlie & Evon | Our Wedding | 2 June 2008

Wedding Day Photo OUT!

Hot from the oven.  Or should I say, hot from Derrick’s studio.   Yes! We finally received our wedding day photographs from Derrick.  Poor chap fallen sick during this busy period.  The moment he got back into shape, he immediately delivered to us our magical moments in the form of his masterpieces.  Thanks loads Derrick!

I posted quite a handful (in fact, I should say a lot) of photos onto my Facebook account already.  However, I thought I might want to put it into Flickr and then create yet another EDM campaign to officially announce the launch!  Shit!  I still haven’t got over the online marketing fever.

Alright!  In the meanwhile, please still do stay tuned to our wedding page at www.charlienevon.com.  We will bring you the latest updates, and hopefully, the videos too.  Cheers!

Posted in Wedding Album

One Month

We celebrated our very 1st month after our customary wedding that took place on 2 June 2008, Monday.

We were indeed fortunate to be able to hold hands, walked down the aisle that night and received the blessings and applause from our guests.

Coming up next, we are expecting our wedding day photographs and video clips to be delivered in the upcoming week.

We will post the interesting shots online for all to have a good laugh.  Stay tuned!

Posted in Randomz

Bintan Trip 2008

4th June 2008 - 6th June 2008 :: Angsana Spa & Resort, Bintan

Honeymoon? Yes/No/Maybe.

How come? That’s because Evon has defined her dream destination of a Honeymoon to be places such as Spain, Switzerland and Greece. Urghhh … High expectations ya? Alright, I will try lah. If I can manage to realize her “dream” of a fairy-tale march-in on 2 June, I don’t see why I can’t fulfill her “yet another dream” of a visit to these countries. So, now you know why I never put on weight … Ha ha ha … So stress, so high expectation, so challenging a goal … how to put one weight!

4th June

We arrived at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal at 10.05 am.  We were on time because Daddy drove us there.  We took a quick breakfast at the terminal and off we went.  We arrived at Bintan at 11am (Bintan time).  we reached the resort after 20 minutes of coach-ride.  we had our lunch before we checked in.  The food was so-so only.  We had a pleasant surprise when we entered the room.

The resort certainly lives up to its excellence of service quality.  We casually told the staff at the check-in counter that we just got married the day before and everything was arranged within a short 40 minutes time when we had our lunch.  Evon and I were really touched by the nice gesture.

We headed off for sea sports activities.  I booked a jet-ski and got Evon to hug me really tight as I ramped the accelerator to the max and ride across the bumpy waves.   The last time I got onto a jet-ski was with Gerald during XM Away Day in 2006.  Ha ha … Memories.  How time flies.  Of course, I felt more shioked with Evon hugging me from the back …. tsk tsk …

At night, we visited Pasar Oleh Oleh … the night market … Believe me!  There’s nothing there.  Except for Chinese zee-char and 2 open-air eateries, there’s really nothing there!  We bought some crackers for our parents.

5th June

It was a buffet breakfast followed by a stroll by the beach.  The sea view was lovely.  We enjoyed every single moment of it as we walked along the beach, did some sun-tanning and then followed by some video recording … ke ke …

Soon, it was time for spa.  We booked the 90-minutes Swedish massage.  It was terrific!  We felt really good and so relax after the session.  At the gift shop, we bought two T-shirts (right! those couple T-shirts) and a aroma burner.

We had a quick lunch and followed by a gruesome 90 minutes of sales-talk.  The sales consultant was trying ways and means to convince us why we should own a resort membership.  We were puzzled too, on how we managed to endure and pull through that 90+ minutes session of talking and talking.  Guess… we’ve improved …

Dinner at Pantas Grill turned out to be not so romantic with mosquito bites all over our body.  But thank goodness!  The restuarant staff brought us some mosquito repellant!  Aiyo!  I will never want to dine at the beach ever again!  What a torture!

6th June

Time flies.  We got ready to check out at 13:00.  In the morning, we went for another jet-ski session again.  However, this time, we took the package tour and headed for the island tour.  We visited the coastal line of other resorts.  After the sea activity, we headed back to our room, washed up, and proceed to check-out from the resort.

Then we are back to REALITY!  Ha Ha! 

That’s it!  3 Days 2 Nights at Bintan!  That’s certainly a memorable trip for Evon and I.  We truly enjoyed every single moment of it.

Posted in Trip

Many Many Thanks

Evon and I would like to express our deepest appreciation to the following digital and multimedia specialists who had slogged really hard to make our wedding a fun and memorable one.  Without them, we can’t imagine how things will turn out to be.  I present the crew …

Photography - Derrick Ong’s Photography

Derrick Ong

Videography - The Wedding Paparazzi

Blossom Chia
Eva Lee
Meylene (I hope I din’t get your spelling wrong; kick my ass if I did)

Flash Montage - m-anant studios

Marcus Chin

Evon and I cannot further stress how marvellous they have been and exactly just how much they have done for us.  And also, folks who know me long enough will know that I seldom sing praises, and when I do, it only means these bunch of folks are really fantastic!  If they have linked-in, I will be the first to put them on the highly-recommended category …

{ Derrick, Blossom, Eva, Meylene, Marcus }

THANK YOU

Posted in Randomz

The Wedding Day Story

2 June 2008, Monday

Evon and I finally crossed the 10-year mark, in the presence of our parents, relativess, friends, colleagues and business associates. This day, Evon and I celebrated our decade of love.

Lotsa photographs were taken. Lotsa video footages were captured. In the meantime, all that Evon and I can do will be to wait for the final deliverables. We will be waiting patiently (we hope .. ha ha ..) for the next 3 weeks to take a “sneak” preview of the photographs and video footages. Derrick and Blossom … meh meh leh … tsk tsk …

The gate-crashing session at Sembawang proved to me one of the most challenging experiences in my life. The “damage” that was inflicted by the wasabe, jack-fruit and durian was quite likely to leave me in a state of trauma and fear for the rest of my life … haha. Damn! How can they make me eat jack-fruit and durian?

The most unforgettable segment of the entire wedding was the moment Evon and I stepped into the Grand Ballroom for the very first time. Yeap, our first march-in. The Grand Ballroom was so nicely decorated, so beautiful and so mersmerizing. That moment, as we stepped onto the red carpet, was eternity.

“It’s really my dream wedding … it’s perfection”, said Evon in a bright and chirpy tone despite after long day. “It is like a dream come true and I am really very happy.”

An interesting thing to note was that the wedding dinner turned out to become somewhat like an alumni gathering for our current and ex-colleagues. We saw so many familiar faces both from the past and the present. Their smiles and their lovely words of blessings made us felt so loved and cherished. We believed everyone would have witnessed the love and joy that’s in the air.

Tomorrow, we’ll be off to Bintan for a short get-away. The wedding preparation and the AD event had worn us out badly. We certainly deserve a good break. Stay tuned! We’ll be posting some photographs shortly.

Byeeee ……

Posted in Wedding AD

2 June 2008 - Our Wedding Day

Finally!  It’s here!

Charlie & Evon - 2 June 2008, Monday

Celebrating Our Decade of Love

Posted in Wedding AD

An Eventful Week

It’s been an eventful week for the both of us as we race against the time machine to ensure that all the wedding preparation activities get completed on time.  So many things .. so little time. Urghhh!

24 May 2008, Saturday - 过大礼 Preparation

Mother and I went down to pick up the customary wedding goodies that we ordered about a month earlier. Each of these customary item bears a special meaning and has a specific purpose that revolves around prosperity, harmony, health and love.

I got to know an interesting practice in the Hokkien tradition. Because Evon is marrying into my family, the gift and return of the dragon-phoenix candles (龙凤烛) is such a way whereby the groom’s family will give a pair of dragon candles and a pair of phoenix candles to the bride’s family. The bride’s family will keep the pair of dragon candles and return the pair of phoenix candles — (收龙放凤), to symbolize “an exchange” of their daughter for a son-in-law.

26 May 2008, Monday - 过大礼 Ceremony

The day started off with a heavy downpour. Back in the olden days, the elders will only draw two conclusions. Either it symbolizes wealth and prosperity or it is simply just an indication that the groom is a stingy chap. Haha! Be it the former or the latter, let the readers decide.

I was fortunate to have Uncle Alick and Aunt Julie to assist me throughout the whole event. In the morning, we collected the wedding cakes from Bengawan Solo at Clementi and headed off to my grandmother’s place to offer prayers to my ancestors. Thereafter, we set off for Evon’s place at Sembawang.

Despite the rain, we were on time. I wasted no time to hand over all the customary items for Evon’s family to her parents.

From left to right, that’s me, Uncle Alick, Evon’s Daddy, Evon’s Aunt and Evon’s Mummy.

The ceremony is also about gift-exchange. Evon’s parents also handed us some customary items and returned part of our gifts for my to bring home. This symbolizes what I slinglishly called “Got come Got go” (有来有往), thereby establishing a harmonious tie between the two families.

Evon’s parents also gave her a set of customary bridal gifts. I had a good time laughing after I saw what I thought to be something extremely hilarious.

I recalled many many moons ago, I actually used that a red potty as the fireman’s helmet …. oh what a deprived childhood one may wonder.

28 May 2008, Wednesday - 安床 Ceremony

We woke up at 5am to prepare for the 安床 Ceremony at 6am.

Mother kept an article that was published several months ago by a geomancer who provided guidance and tips to these traditional customary practice. The basic principle was to put on a new set of bedsheet, pillow cases, quilt and quilt cover for the bridal bed, then followed by placing the bridal lamps on the bedside tables and having a tray of chinese goodies each with auspicious meanings to be placed right at the centre of the bed.

Evon and I wrapped up the ceremony with some nice words of blessings. Well, we can’t put up the photos of the bridal bed after the installation ceremony. A stern warning specific instruction from the elders that no one is supposed to look at the bridal bed or step into the newly-wed’s bedroom until after the couple spent their wedding night in the room .. ke ke … So, please be patient okay? tsk tsk ..

+ + + + + + + + + +

We’re nearly there …. Coming Monday 2 June 2008 … we march towards Hotel Intercontinental … celebrating our decade of love!

Posted in Randomz

Preparation for 过大礼 Ceremony

Donkey years ago, back in those olden days, 过大礼 is the day whereby the groom-to-be, with the escort of a ”Big Aunt”, will pay visit to the bride-to-be home.  The purpose of the visit is for the groom to present the bridal gifts to his future parent-in-laws and to ascertain the confirmation of the marriage.  In simple words, “Hey! Your daughter is mine!”  Each of the bridal gift carries a special and auspicious meaning and is supposedly meant to bring prosperity to everyone in the family.  In return, the parent-in-laws will also hand over a set of gifts to the groom for him to bring back to his parents.  This gesture of gift exchange symbolizes acceptance as well as the start of a harmonious and cordial relationship between the two families - 有来有往.

Next Monday, 26th May 2008, is our customary 过大礼 Ceremony.

I went back to Clementi early this morning to join my parents in the preparation of the 过大礼 ceremony. 

I brought along the bridal gift box (聘金盒) which Evon and I purchased during our Hong Kong trip last year. Back then, both of us were shopping along a street in Wan Chai and we happened to come across a chinese traditional wedding bridal boutique. Any traditional items for the wedding, you name it, they have it.

What’s really interesting is that we can’t believe there’s also some sort of “wildcard” in the context of traditional wedding items. If for some reasons we are not able to get hold of any of those items, we can substitute these item with a “Everything-in-One” red packet … (包罗万有). Trust me, this wildcard is presumly most powerful tool and will definitely come in handy.

At noon, Mum and I went to Chin Tin road to collect the bridal goodies packs.  Mum placed an order with the shopkeeper a month ago .  There were four boxes of food stuffs (don’t ask me what food coz I don’t seem to have the slightest clue), 2 sets of incense and candles for prayers to ancestors and also 2 sets of the Dragon-Phoenix candles.  These items are the essentials of the 过大礼 ceremony.  Be sure to miss out none!

Interestingly. for the first time, Mum admitted she’s getting really excited and anxious.

Alright, so much so for this blog. It’s time for me to go tidy up the place. Evon will be back from her company trip tomorrow and I really don’t wish to get into trouble for messing up her kitchen and the toilet. Who knows what she’s going to get the sisters to do to me and my brothers on the AD.

Posted in Wedding Preparation

All Ready for 安床 Ceremony

The 安床 Ceremony will take place on 28 May 2008, Wednesday. Father and Mother picked this auspicious date after checking the almanac a couple of times. Evon and I spent the last couple of days shopping for new bedsheets, pillow casing, quilt and the quilt cover. Everything’s ready and we are ready to rock

May we be blessed always.

Posted in Wedding Preparation

Coincidence :: An Interesting Episode

Parents would certainly want to be in their glamorous best when hosting the wedding banquet of their children. Especially so for the Moms. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that they’ll go all out to doll themselves up nicely to qualify for the best-dress award.

Yet, what can be so coincidental in which the groom’s mother pick the same dress as the bride’s mother? Worst still, what can be so amusing to have two Moms put on the same cheongsam for the wedding banquet?

This tricky scenario seemed to be a test for Evon and I on how we deal with our folks. It’s like two cars traveling in opposite direction along a narrow road. On the road, there are traffic rules (not that everyone will follow them) to adhere to. However, in this particular scenario, it’s a delicate issue to tackle.

Anyway, this issue was somehow resolved and both sides have since moved on. But, it’s not without some form of damage done. May time heal the wounds.

Tip 101: Couple-to-be, please take time and make an effort to bring both Moms to shop for their evening gowns together. This will certainly be one way to tackle such coincidental situations.

Posted in Wedding Preparation, Wedding Thotz