almost down the aisle part II

Traditionally, the tea ceremony would take place at the bride's family's house. But because of time constraints and because my mom's kinda lazy, we opted to have the Chinese tea ceremony at the W Hotel, where our main ceremony and reception would take place.

My Gramma was absolutely thrilled that we were having a tea ceremony. She had that silly smile on her face all day long! (I pretty much had that smile on my face too!) It made me so happy to be able to make my Gramma so happy too. She's my favorite person.

My Grampa came from Hong Kong for the wedding. (He's my mom's dad; my Gramma's my dad's mom.) He cracks me up because the older he gets, the more childlike he becomes. All he's concerned about is where his next meal is!

During the tea ceremony, Hunny Bunny and I offered tea to our elders. My godmother (not the crazy fur lady - that's my crazy fur lady aunt!) led the entire ceremony, offering words of good fortune, success and health to those who accepted our offerings of tea.

In return, Hunny Bunny and I received gifts and red envelopes with lucky money.

On a side note, Gramma's got some great stems, don't you think? One of my (many, many) aunties kept trying to get her to adjust the slit of her dress because she was showing too much skin. Ha!

My mommy and daddy were beaming when it was their turn. My brother joked that instead of accepting the tea from HB, my dad would throw it in his face!

D'oh.

Luckily, dad was in a good mood.

Here are some of the gifts we received during the ceremony. The 24K gold ring was from my grandfather - I don't think he actually knew what he gave me. I have a feeling someone else picked it out and just told him to hand it to me. He was mainly concerned about the roast pork that everyone else was nibbling on!



The diamond tennis bracelet was from my parents. I couldn't believe how HUGE the diamonds were! Daddy said it was over five carats. Holy moly! The 24K gold dragon/phoenix bangles (there's a matching one on my other wrist) are also from my parents. They're traditional wedding bangles and are extremely delicate - not for every day wear. They're meant to be passed down from generation to generation.

My dad present HB with a limited-edition Omega Snoopy watch! It's super duper cute! Daddy's a bit of a watch collector and had this watch for several years. I think HB liked it.

My eldest auntie gave me a 24K gold bracelet (on my other wrist, sorry!) that my great-grandfather had given to her when she got married. I was so touched that she would give something so meaningful to me. I barely remember my great-grandfather. In my mind, he was a well-dressed man who always had candy in his pocket for me!

And finally! It's time for the snacks! My dad is serving up some wedding cookies or, as we youngsters like to call, "the pink hockey pucks."

Just another hour until the main ceremony... eep!