Note: I've disappeared from the blogging scene from a while and now it's time to get back on the bandwagon. I've fallen off a few times. This is the longest...

Janet & Darren's Wedding, Burton-on-Trent, U.K.

April showers bring May flowers. Spring time in the northern hemisphere is always lovely. Even lovelier when there's a wedding in the lush, green English countryside!

My sister-in-law, Janet married her handsome beau, Darren Luff on a beautiful spring afternoon on May 22, 2009. We flew across the Atlantic for this happy occasion.

The most important part - prepping the bride

The beautiful bride - she's ready to be married!

With Papa & Mama


Darren's Mom & Sister with Papa & Mama


Darren & his Dad (right) and friends


Janet, Amy (Maid of Honor) and the girls

Pre-Wedding Game and a Trickery :)

Game 1: The goal was to get an apple out of the bucket...


With your mouth

Game 2: Roll an egg from the waist down to the ankle (from the inside) without breaking it. The punishment? Push ups for the last person to get the egg out of his pants. Yup, he was the victim.

Game 3: Just for Darren. He had to pick Janet's hands among these ladies'.
He did exceedingly well :) Or, was it a lucky guess?

The Ceremony

Sealed, signed and delivered


Just married :)

Showers of confetti for the newly weds - hip, hip, hooray!

The kiss

The Reception

The wedding cake

The buffet spread

That's a pretty long knife or was it a sword?!


Father of the bride's speech

Groom's speech


Best man's speech

After Dinner Party

Weeee.....catch this ladies!


Shall we dance? Not just any but a Scottish barn dance

Some serious Ceilidh dancing going on in the ballroom before calling it the night

CONGRATULATIONS DR. & MRS. LUFF!

A Fall Wedding

Gracie Pang & Andrei Rjeousski
Paletta Lakefront Mansion
Sunday, November 18th. 2007

An answered prayer, he is to me
My greatest blessing, she'll always be
He is my miracle sent from above
She'll always be the one I love
(an excerpt from the wedding invitation)

It's official! The radiant, beautiful bride and her handsome miracle - Mr. & Mrs. Andrei Rjeousski. Here they were, braving cold winds and unusually cold fall temperatures during the 15 minute outdoor ceremony. Of course, the guests were also keeping a brave face but we had the luxury of gloves & heavy coats. Gracie said that she didn't feel cold because she was too excited and happy. Tee..hee...hee! Now, that's the power of love.

Random photos taken right after the ceremony. Gracie's Aunts from Kuching also made the trip. It was a long flight from Malaysia and understandably they were still jet-lagged. Nevertheless, they looked beautiful and resplendent in their cheong-sams that day. So did Aunt Annie, the mother of the bride :)

Finger food and cocktail drinks while waiting for the bride & groom to have their photos taken by the professional photographer. Gracie's family spent the night before preparing and cooking "ngo-hiang" (savory spring rolls), prawn crackers and satay sauce. An excellent mix of Western & Eastern fare to nibble.

The Reception

The bride's parents, the groom's parents and the special couple at the main table.

Tomato Bonccocini & Asparagus Salad with Aged Tuscan Balsamic Drizzle, Seared Shitake Mushroom, Braised Ginger Coriander stuffed Supreme of Chicken with Miso Glaze and Vanilla Ice-cream Crepes with Creme Anglaise and Fruit Coulis Drizzle.

In between meals, there were several speeches, plus a fantastic slide show of the couple through the years.

The After Dinner Party/Dance

The couple's first dance as Mr. & Mrs. Rjeousski; followed by Gracie's dance with her Dad. Awww...


Who caught the bouquet?




Who caught the garter?




Congratulations Gracie & Andrei, may this be the beginning of a beautiful and wonderful life together.

A Chinese Wedding Banquet

Just came back from Philip & Lee Kimg's wedding reception at Meisan Restaurant, Holiday Inn Kuching. Burrp! A typical 8 course meal. 8 to signify "fatt" or "luck". Once again, I ate too much. I think I need some Enzyplex a.k.a. digestion pills later on.

I am struggling to keep my eyes open as I write this entry. Adrian is working half day today as tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S. In 24 hours, Americans will get the effect of "tryptophan" from turkey overdose while I am having my "tryptophan" effect from the 8 course meal right now. Yawn....!

Ok, here goes.

This is our lovely emcee for the evening, Stephanie Siaw. Good job tonight!


The newlyweds listening to Stephanie's announcement after their grand entrance.


Crispy roasted chicken - Meisan style.


Steamed fish. That's our waiter's hand cutting up the fish for us.


Braised sea cucumber, fish maw & broccoli. I have lost count of how many dishes we're at..?? Sleepiness begin to set in.


Intermission...a short break from eating.

Philip & Lee Kimg cutting their wedding cake.

Here they are with their parents on stage - filling up the champagne glasses for the toast.


The big toast or "yam seng" from the guests to the wedding party and vice versa.


Several big toasts on stage is never enough for a Chinese banquet, so we gotta have our own "yam seng" with Philip & Lee Kimg and their co-workers/friends from Johor Bahru. The first table of the night to go all the way.....YAMMMMMMMMMMMM SENGGGGGGGG! My hand isn't there since I am taking this photo. Well, this photo is my "toast" to the bride & groom.

One important mention before I end this entry and crash into bed.

My Mom and Dad at the reception tonight. Married for 40 years on April 2008. Soon...soon!

A Toast to Jo-Anne & Luis

This has been a year of wedding parties for us. What a delight! We enjoyed a day at WESTBURY MANOR earlier on. Rain showers or rather showers of blessing greeted us when we woke up this morning. It was still drizzling when we reached the Manor and were quickly ushered to a room on the second floor. We had danish pastries, coffee, tea, juice, etc. for breakfast. After mingling for a while, we were asked to proceed to the opposite room.

Jo-Anne's niece & nephew: the flower girl and the ring bearer

Here comes the bride!

Luis & Jo-Anne exchanging their vows

Doves in white baskets all ready to be released in this special ceremony to remember Jo-Anne's beloved mother & as a symbol of spirit, peace and love.

Later, we were fed a large spread of pre-luncheon cocktail while the wedding party went to another room for the Chinese "tea ceremony".

30 minutes later it was time to eat again. We had seven different entrees to choose from. I had the....the...

Long Island Duck Marnier

We paused momentarily for Jo-Anne & Luis' first dance as husband and wife - Mr. & Mrs. Luis Ferreira. How sweet!



Ready, set and eat!

Jo-Anne's sisters: Gerry, Esther and their Dad

Luis reaching for the garter

Bouquet toss

Garter toss. The little boy caught it. Wonder what he's gonna do next???

Michele who sat with us cheekily said they had to keep it "PG rated" so the boy had to choose an older single male person to do the good deed. Haha!

Adrian & I with the beautiful bride. Hey, where's Luis??? We wanted a photo with him too :(

A lovely party favor from the bride & groom.


Note: The only thing we regretted not doing was stroll around the Westbury Manor estate. Because of the rain, we missed going to the gardens and the opportunity to photograph this beautiful Victorian mansion. Maybe next time.