We could not decide on the time, when do we have it? Before the civil ceremony? After? The next day? Oh gawd. On top of that, we had to consider things if we could fit it in with the schedule, could the photographer and videographer squeeze it in? Did we have to extend their time? Was it going to cost more?
Finally, we decided we were having it after the civil ceremony and location shoot, an hour before the reception. Civil ceremony was at 2.30pm. We needed the civil ceremony to be short and sweet, then we had an hour of location shoot. A few minutes to calm down, and the tea ceremony was at 5.30pm at the hotel. I stayed at Melbourne's Crowne Plaza the night before the wedding, and the wedding night. It was central, in the city, not too far from the reception. So thankfully, it worked out well.
When Grumpy and myself arrived at the hotel, I had to quickly change into my red chinese cheongsam made by my mother-in-law. After fitting in to the dress, my mum fed me with 'tong yuen' which is little coloured balls, made out of flour, cooked in water and syrup for good luck. She made the 'tong yuen' very early in the morning, as I told her she had to be at my hotel room by 7am, that was when the make up artist arrived.
The cheongsam is made out of Thai silk. It was a short cheongsam, just above my knees, with two slits at the sides. The top of the dress was made out of lace. My mother-in-law and her crew bought the fabric from Thailand. I did not pick the design. In fact, I had no idea what to expect out of the cheongsam. But when she arrived and showed me the dress, I was absolutely delighted. It was simple and so beautiful.
One of the important ingredients of a wedding tea ceremony, is of course, the tea pot and the tea cups.
My mum loves paintings of ducks, little figurines of ducks, baby ducks, etc. She went to Chinatown in KL to hunt for the perfect tea pot.
Dopey's girlfriend, Little Miss Oh-So-Sweet took the task of helping serve the tea. She handled it really well.
Serving tea to my father-in-law
Grumpy serving tea to his mother
Receiving some gold jewellery from my in-laws
Apart from gold jewellery, we received ang pao's from our family. Our photographer Adrian was very amused with these Power Puff Girls red packet.
After we were done with Grumpy's family, we served tea to my parents.
And finally, the only recipient of ang pao's from Grumpy and myself, was my one and only younger brother Dopey. He served us tea, and was very happy to finally call Grumpy his brother!
I personally found the tea ceremony slightly stressful. Partially because the thought of having both our families confined in a little hotel room was not ideal. But looking at the photos, I guess it was not THAT bad! :)
All images by Adrian Tuazon Photography
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