Wedding Bells

Last Saturday was the long awaited wedding of Johnson and Yock Chin. Thank God that everything turned out well, in the midst of the logistical nightmare that surrounded the wedding. It was also the PHS Carnival on the same day (so there were thousands of people in school, both students and guests), and at night, their dinner was held at the Grand Plaza Hotel, which is near Funan Centre. Unfortunately it was also the day of the full dress rehearsal for the National Day Parade held at the Padang, so most of the surrounding roads were closed. Despite these obstacles, most of the guests managed to turn up on time for both church wedding as well as the dinner.

I started the day with Johnson at 7am, as the best man-cum-designated driver. It was a long tiring day, but it was a great joy to be part of the celebration, and I was privileged to be able to be by their side most of the day, as they went through the various ceremonies. The church was beautifully decorated, thanks to the hard work of Elena and team, who had spent most of Friday afternoon and evening turning our already beautiful sanctuary into a garden of hanging vines, candlelit pathways and lovely flowers.

The word was shared with us by Pastor Maggie, who very creatively wove into the message both the colour theme of the wedding (green) and the important message of how our God draws us near to him in his love. Pastor Maggie had stepped in at the last minute after we had found out that Elder Paul would not be around for the wedding.

This wedding was special because there was not one but TWO special items. First, in church there was a video clip shown where Micky and Sandra had gotten many of our church members to hum love tunes to wish the couple well. It was wonderfully received and brought tears to the eyes of the couple. And then during the dinner, some of us managed to surprise the couple by putting up an a capella song item by Micky, Joe, Clement and myself.

To Mr and Mrs Johnson Tan, our blessings and wishes that God will continue to hold them in the palm of his hand as they begin their married life together. Photos will no doubt be out soon, and I will endeavour to post them on this blog for all of you. The couple will leave for their honeymoon in NZ for 11 days next week.