Joey & Sandra

Wedding Day Programme

This is the itinerary for our wedding day.

Traditional Chinese Wedding

Traditional Chinese Wedding

Boon Lay-Bt Panjang-Toa Payoh-Sentosa

Here's the traditional standard process of what's going to happen on the wedding day itself in the morning, although we had already simplied it:

The Bridemaids will arrive at Sandra's place early in the morning to execute their plans to "torture" Joey and his Groomsmen when he arrives to pick her up.

When the Groom's Party arrives at the Bride's place (usually in a convoy of cars), they would make a lot of noise by horning their cars to announce their arrival and to build up the atmosphere.

Then, a male representative from Sandra's family (usually the unmarried youngest brother, but Sandra has got no brother, so it will be her youngest male cousin) will be waiting for their arrival and opening the car door for Joey . He will present Joey with a pair of oranges in exchange for an angpow. By the way, this is a day where a lot of angpows will be involved!

The fun starts now when Joey arrives. It is not easy to get through the beautiful ladies and into the house. Normally, the groom would need to show his sincerity by performing some funny tasks requested by the Bridemaids. The key negotiation is the "Entrance Fee" angpow. Be prepared to pay for 2 entrance fees! One for the main door and one for the room door. As for the typical amount of the red packet, it is subjected to the groom's financial ability. :)

After that, it's photo time and a little bit of cooling down after the rowdy fun before heading back to the Joey's house - with the Bride (and the Bridemaids) of course.

By this time, Joey's relatives would be gathering at his house, ready for the traditional tea ceremony. When they arrive, they will start to worship their ancestors. Then the tea ceremony commences. Tea with lotus seeds and two red dates to serve after the ceremony. The women is always positioned on the left while the men on the right. Start by serving tea to the parents followed by the eldest in the family to the youngest. For example, the groom's parents, followed by paternal grandparents, then maternal grandparents, then the paternal uncles and aunties, then the maternal uncles and aunties, and lastly the Groom's elder brothers and sisters. If the Groom has any younger siblings, they can in turn offer tea to the Groom and Bride.

After the ceremony, the couple will be served with some sweet hot desserts by a younger sibling. The sweet dessert usually include a whole egg where they have to bite the egg into half's and feed each other. As usual, lots of photos will be taken.

Sandra will change into another wedding outfit before returning to her granny's place for a second round of tea ceremony. This time there would be smooth entrance.

After all the tea ceremonies is done, the gang will head to their "new" home before heading to Sentosa.

Holy Matrimony (Solemnisation) Ceremony

Holy Matrimony (Solemnisation) Ceremony

Siloso Beach outside Rasa Sentosa

The ROM ceremony will start with a cocktail session at 6.30pm. Guests are expected to arrive by 6.55pm, slightly before the start of the ROM. There will be a lot of mingling with the guests before the start of the ceremony.

The Justice of Peace will arrive and the couple will say their wedding and ring vows to each other before signing on the official paper.

The guests will have some light snacks before proceeding to the Siloso Grand Ballroom for the start of the wedding banquet.

Wedding Banquet

Wedding Banquet

It is a Chinese tradition to hold a wedding banquet, inviting relatives and friends to share their joy for the start of a new marriage. Lots of alcohol is involved this happy occasion. Of course, those who drives will need to take note of their alcohol level and shouldn't be driving if they are drinking as Joey and Sandra will not be responsible for any summons or fine that they incurred on their wedding night.

A typical Banquet starts by having a "First March-In" with the emcee announcing the arrival of the couple after watching their montage. They will walk into the ballroom and onto the stage to cut the wedding cake and then proceed to be seated.

Dinner will commerce. Usually the first dish is served in a special manner. Lights will be dimmed, disco-like songs will be played. The waiters and waitresses will walk into the ballroom with the dishes in their hand.

At about halfway through the Banquet, the highlights of the gate-crashing and tea ceremony will be shown before the emcee announces for the second arrival of the couple. This time Sandra will be in another evening gown outfit (sounds like a fashion show isn't it?). Then the couple will walk up onto the stage to open a bottle of champagne and pour into a beautifully arranged champagne glass fountain. They will then drink their champagne with their arms crossed, which is known as "Jiao Bei Jiu" in Chinese. At this point of time, Sandra does not know how she is going to accomplish this given the height difference between Joey and her.

Relatives and friends from both families are invited onto the stage for the Yam Seng ceremony. 'Yam Seng' actually means 'Toast for Success" in Cantonese. Taking the cue from the emcee, the guests will shout 'Yam Seng' three times - each one louder than the previous ones.

The couple will then give a short Thank-You speech. And the dinner continues. The couple will then walk around the ballroom to take photos with each individual table.

The wedding banquet ends with the couple and their parents lining outside the ballroom thanking the guests as they leave. Hopefully Joey and Sandra will still be sober at that time. =)

After-Dinner Party

After-Dinner Party

St James Power Station - Boiler Room

As most people know, Joey and Sandra are party animals. It will be very unlike them not to have a party for their big day. Hee... so the party will be held at StJames in the Boilers Room.