the wedding banquet

went for my ex-staff's wedding banquet yesterday. it was good. good to see everyone in the unit again. and i certainly had a good time catching up with everyone. but what was interesting was the flood of emotions that i experienced...

• firstly, impatience. after having gone through so many weddings, i admit i felt somewhat impatient when the whole process unfold, the wedding march, the showing of the video clip, the toasting, etc... such processes has somewhat become a `routine' for weddings and wedding dinners. and i have to constantly remind myself that it is the couple's day and that what they do is for themselves and we are there to be part of the celebrations. 
• secondly, wayang/ waste of time/ childish. when they showed the video clip of how the bridesmaids made the bridegroom and his team of bestman do all sorts of antics before he could be allowed to see the bride, i thought, omg, what a waste of time and how bluddy childish these people are! the inclusion of these antics was a recent phenomena and was never a part of the custom. so, being a traditionalist, i was never an advocate of such games.
• thirdly, meaningful. i noted the many traditional practices such as setting up of the altar, the paying respects to the ancestors, the exchange of ang pows between the groom and the ku kia, etc. these, i thought was rather meaningful.  
• and last but not least, old. everyone at the wedding dinner looked so young. kiddish, for that matter! and i was reminded that my cousin's son had also recently gotten married. and with that realization, i felt somewhat old...

haha... so much for all these emotions and thoughts that went through my mind. end of the day, it is about how the bride and the groom commemorate their day. what was important was that the mix of traditional and less traditional items in the whole day meant something to them as well as to their elders. 

:-)

picture from http://www.123rf.com/photo_12123475_double-happiness-symbol.html