Pretty fun times the whole day!
1. The entourage assembles
To door crash the brides' home, the entourage assembled at our place. Started off with some coffee, then lead the entourage to the scotch table I had assembled the day before for this morning's wake up beverage. Balvenie 21 Years, Blue Label, Nadura were among the choices. So after all had a drink to freshen up, off we went!
2. Heading to Old Mills, presetup
With a stretched limo that had no AC, we headed towards the home. Not much games played, Hermie handled them all himself - so I guess he got off easy.
Having extracted the bride, we now make our way downtown. Arriving at Old Mills in style, we take some pictures of us coming out of the car, then off we went to setting up the various things. Things went pretty smoothly, and by an hour or so, every vendor were briefed (there was a pretty agenda Hermie came up with), the entourage had finished helped setup the table cards and chair to be 138 instead of 140 (so two people had to stand at the reception, haha), and we all happily down beers in preparation for the tea ceremony.
3. Tea Ceremony
... the picture says it all :)4. The Wedding Itself
Infinitesimal... that was a weird word... haha. But nevertheless, it was a good vow from Hermie and did make the speech memorable. Though I have to say, I liked my sister-in-law's speech alot more... hahaha. The cool part was that I also got to sign the marriage certificate (which I wasn't expecting, nor do I know if what I signed was indeed the marriage certificate). But either way, that was pretty cool.
On another note, as I was listening, I thought it was intriguing that including ex-Seattle's buddy vows, both these vows talk about the reasons that they are marrying one another... and I go, hrm... isn't that what I have always had. More on this though another day.
5. The photo taking session after the wedding...
This was the tough part of the wedding. Honorary best man, with his trusty sidekicks, would need to pull off the feat of arranging the groups for 50+ photos. The requirement to stay on time would meant that it needs to go very smoothly. When the photographer saw the list, they went... hrm... it's not the largest they've seen, but not the smallest either. But since it's Hermie's wedding, so it is written, so it shall be done!
Sister-in-law's friend and PHD-to-be cousin were pretty awesome here, marhsalling and organizing the folks while I row called the guests to the patio. Tres efficient, the list of 50+ photos... all done within an hour or so, exceeding all expectations!!!
With that, the tough part of my day is completed... wuhahaha, on to the boozing!
6. The Best Man's Toast
So now came the toast that as honorary best man, I was to make. Having not done much to prepare for the wedding, this was the piece I figure I should nail. From the sounds of it, looks like it went well. Maybe one day I will post what I wrote, so I don't forget it (or I wonder if it was taped, and I can see how it went from the other side of the podium).
7. The Piano and the Song
As part of the surprise, Hermie would play a song live to sister-in-law. Now the surprise part was that she was completely oblivious to this. Not even the bridesmaid knew about this secret mission. There were only a couple who knew the full details, with a few others knowing the pieces here and there. At the debrief, honorary best man had worked with the DJ and Matire'D on the logistics (well, mostly the DJ and Matire'D), so the only part left is the execution.
Bridesmaid was pretty awesome here. Having only been briefed on the plan as the plan was unfolding (aka, as the piano started rolling out), we devised a plan to add more randomness/chaos to distract sister-in-law's attention.
So to help with the situation, we orchestrated an on the fly smoke screen, to give Hermie time to scoot across to the other side of the hall to the piano. So after the cake cutting ended, I had already moved into position by occupying her chair and pretending to not know where to move around while bridesmaid small talked with her, the smokescreen was in progress. It was a half-baked plan, almost foiled by my own brother... lol. But it did the job once Hermie I think realized what might be going on. To seal the deal, when sister-in-law wanted to go to the rest room. Both me and the Bridesmaid unanimously said 'Nope. You are not going'... hahaha. I can still remember the surprised look sister-in-law had on her face when we said that.
So as this conversation was going on, like all others, Sister-in-law didn't notice the piano coming out, just like the 'selective attention test with the gorilla'. I guess the different part was that no one was actually paying attention to the back of the room because everyone was focused on the cake cutting, except the photographers and videographer who knew that right after the cake cutting, they would need to be near the other side of the room.
It was not until the DJ started to introduce Hermie at the piano, that everyone turned and went.. woah - when did that happen.
Decoy Mission Complete!
The other funny quote:
DJ: Herman will now play Anna's favorite song.
[Piano starts, Hermie plays the famous wedding song]
A: That's not my favorite song.
[Piano playing continues for a few more bars, now transitions into Bruno Mars, sister-in-law now listens intently to every word... cuz it is her favorite song!].
It was pretty well played and sung - much better than the practice sessions... hahaha. But with such a strong performance, the comment one of Hermie's friend said captures it the best - "[You] just raised the bar for all guys getting married"... or to put it another way, all the guys were like wtf, while all the girls were like awwwwww.
This performance will be a hard one to top... .. .
Heh heh heh - Mission Complete!
8. Fun Afternight
As the final dances progressed, me and bridesmaid devise another adhoc plan of getting a celebratory shot to fill in the timing gap between leading on the parents and guests to the dance floor. It worked out perfectly and seemed all too natural. This was how good the night went. No major blips at all (or at least I could tell. hahaha). So with my honorary best man duties were officially ending, after a round of bringing all the folks to the dance floor, my job was complete and it was time to loosen my tie. That shirt and tie was basically choking me the whole night, so boy was I glad to be rid of it. Next time I wear a tux or formal wear, I will highly be debating whether I buy a shirt that fits me perfectly + cuff links + buttons, or go through another choking ordeal. Not to mention the tie wasn't really fitting anyway (silly elastic band ties - they never really work well).
But after loosening up, Phd-to-be cousin mention that I should button my shirt up, so instead of doing that, I decide to moon her instead... wuhaha. Now shortly after, being the awesome uncle, I cover myself up when taking pics with my baby niece... heh heh heh. What a responsible uncle!
Closing out the tabs with the photographer and taking care of a few things moving around, it was just a good wholesome drinking and dancing fun. Below is a never seen PG13 shot captured on my phone in one of the shot rounds:
Pretty eerie, but I sorta like the effect, as agreed with one of the entourage members.
With last call looming, bartender + Matire'D line up for us another few rounds, then with the majority of the remaining folks intoxicated... the responsible ones took the respective folks home.
What a fun day overall! Congrats Hermie and Anna!
Pictures taken with my camera (big thanks to Phd-to-be Cousin and Cousin's Fiancee) are here:
6/12, at Home
6/12, at Old Mills
1 comment:
i like how i was mentioned so many times in your post! :D
xoxo, PhD-to-be cousin <3
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