Thank You

- Picture by Gordon Li -

As we begin our new journey together...

We would love to say our Thank You
for your joyous presence, your generosity and thoughtfulness.

We thank God to have friends like you
who support us through and through.

Please accept our sincere appreciation
for your kind blessings and for being a friend so dear.

with much love,
CJ and C2

Speech from the Bride

Good evening.

I am happy to be married. It's really great to find that special person whom I can annoy for the rest of my life, and make it official.

I remember that long before I met Ching Jin, I prayed to God that my prince charming has to be one who drives a green colour four wheel drive. Don’t ask me where I came up with this idea, why I didn’t choose a more expensive car and why GREEN colour. I still remember the day Ching Jin showed me the car he was driving… the feeling was unbelievable. Don’t get me wrong. I love him more than the green car, and I still do. Today, over 9 years dating him, I believe that it is God and faith that brought us together and keep our relationship strong.

To my husband, Ching Jin, who is such a distinct individual from me, who is a kid at heart, who, I kid you not ... loves to agitate me with nonsense and funny gestures. Being with him is like riding roller coasters. Though a careless lover, nonetheless, I know that he will be a good husband, and he’s someone that when I am with, I know that I am home. Thank you for loving me for who I am.

To Ching Jin’s mum, Meei Meei, thank you for welcoming me into your family, trusting me with Jin and most importantly, treating me like your own daughter even long before today. And the Church ceremony that you have organised, was truly beautiful and a wish come true for us.

To my greatest mentor, Madam Chin, and a group of amazing friends, thank you for being there for me during my highs and lows. I will continue to treasure our friendships.

To my mum and my late grandparents, I would like to thank them for their love and blessings. Especially to my grandparents who had given me so much care and affections during my childhood. My grandmother, who passed away early last year, she will be so proud to see me and Jin taking our 10 years relationship to the next level.

To my lovely brothers and sisters, Chang Thai, Chang Nien, Seow Foong, Seow Wee, Vivian, Victor and Harold, thank you for bringing so much fun, love and laughter into my life.

To my Godsend nanny, Grace: Maraming salamat sa iyong pag-aruga na parang aking ina at ka-i-bi-gan. Ikaw ay la-ging mamahalin at magiging bahagi nang aking pamilya. Maraming salamat sa iyo (Thank you for being my friend, my guardian and my mum. I will always love you as my own family). I will always love you.

Our Godsend nanny, Grace.

To my dad who doesn’t reveal much of his feelings in front of his children, who sets an excellent example to all of us that no matter how tough the situation is, you can always stand up tall and not be afraid. Thank you for raising me and making me a wiser and stronger person.

爸爸，谢谢您这28 年对我的养育之恩。我很抱歉不能够在您身边照顾您。谢谢您对我的包容，支持和信任。Pa pa, you are truly and always will be my hero and inspiration.

And to our cousins, zi mui’s, heng tai’s, guests and honourable guests, we cannot thank you enough for being part of our lives and making today possible and beautiful in so many ways.

Hope you enjoy tonight. Thank you and God bless.

Speech from the Groom

CJ lifted up the first photo we've taken together the first time we met

Hi everybody,

First I want to start off by thanking God because without his blessing, we would not be here today. I thank you for the love and strength that you have blessed our families.

I want to thank everybody who have made this possible, all the guests for coming and sharing this day with us. I want to thank St.Mary's Cathedral for making our wedding so special. Thank you Dean Jason for blessing our marriage. It has meant a lot to us. We are very happy that both our immediate families are here to witness this, CW who is my best man ( I am still waiting for my bucks night and which I know will never happen) and CT who have come back from Australia. I am so happy that my grandmother can be a witness to my wedding. I want to thank friends who have come back from overseas, Dr.Loo and from interstate Ian.

Mum, thank you for your support and love all these years. I know that it has not been easy, raising me and Ching Wei. Wait let me rephrase that, it has not been easy raising me! Your love and forgiveness (and trust me there was a lot of that) have sustained me all these years. Many times when people have asked you how did you managed to raise us and you have answered that it was by God's grace. I have never doubted God's grace on our family but I want to add that listening to God and trusting in him wholeheartedly takes a lot of faith especially when you have two young children to raise on your own.

Among many things which you have taught me, one teaching which I will carry with me is that we did not choose to come in to this world but our parents chose to have us. It is because of this, as parents we need to work tirelessly to provide the best for our children and to be there whenever your child needs you. You have provided the best to us and I want to thank you for this. I will carry these teachings when me and Chang Chang have our own families. Thank you for giving us your blessing and accepting Chang Chang in to our family. I want to thank God that he has blessed us with you.

Dad, I want to start by thanking you for your beautiful daughter. Thank you for accepting me in to your family and being supportive of our relationship with your only daughter. Getting to know your girlfriend's family, is quite a stressful experience. Especially considering that I had bleached my hair blonde. What can I say, I was going through a phase. You have been open-minded about our relationship and I appreciate it very much.

My darling bride, Chang Chang, I must say you look really beautiful tonight. Doesn't she look beautiful? When I was thinking of this speech and what I wanted to say, I asked myself what does this marriage mean to me? This brought back many memories. I still remember the first time I saw you. It was December 2000, I saw you in the car park in Grace Assembly and I remember distinctly that I told myself that I had to get to know you. Was this love at first sight? It turned out that we had many friends in common, Jade who brought Chang Chang to church camp (Thank you.), Niak Hon who is Niak Wu's sister and it turned out that she was Harold Soh's god sister.

Once we go to know each other, I discovered a warm, quiet, sincere and funny girl. I still remember when you were wearing braces and did not want to smile because you were embarrassed of the braces. I can prove it because I still have the picture. I made it a point to try to make you smile as big as possible.

Bie, as I was thinking about what this marriage meant to me, you have been part of my life through these years, through happiness and sadness, laughter and tears, you have shared it all with me. Thank you for being there for me and loving me. I have been told that successful marriages takes a lot of hard work. It has not been easy but I promise you that I meant every word of our vows and I will be there for you. You are my confidante, partner in crime and love and best friend. They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, when I first met you I was 58 kgs, now I am 70kgs, thank you for making me the happiest man in this room.

I often remark that our passports have only been used to travel between Australia and Malaysia. All of my friends and family have travelled around the world. I just want to say with family and friends like each and everyone of you, we are proud and happy to do this because you mean a lot to us. It has been a privilege and honour today, thank you for coming.

Wedding Banquet at Tai Thong Imperial Garden

The restaurant was surprisingly beautifully decorated on our wedding day. Much better than what is reflected in the photo above.

I have first come to know about Tai Thong new branch from Tai Thong official website. We booked the place having great faith that it will be a good venue with good food. In June 2009, I made a trip home to visit the branch. I became really worry. The place looked a little run down! I had a sleepless 12 months leading to our wedding day thinking that I have made the wrong choice.

So I started to put on my rational hat, trying to convince myself that it was because on the day I inspected the venue, the back door was closed, and the restaurant was not decorated with e.g. table clothes, napkins, decorative and red carpet. Hence, not very presentable banquet hall.

In the past 12 months, I also had problems trying to look for banquet photos taken in TT Imperial Garden, and could only find two.

Nonetheless, our prayers were heard! With the help from our wedding planner, Jovita and florist, Chris Ng (from Arada Design), the place turned out to be really beautiful and presentable.

The banquet manager had also fulfilled his promise to open up the back door on the terms that we order enough for 310 pax (29 tables including VIP table, plus two reserves). He has also given us a walk in area to register guests and to serve cocktail.

It was truly a relief the minute both CJ and I marched in the banquet hall at 8pm that night whilst Edwin McCain's 'Could not ask for more' was aired. I enjoyed the setting, the red carpet, and the atmosphere! Our VIP table was... breathtakingly pretty.

Most importantly, our guests have had a wonderful night. The food was fantastic, and to CJ's family satisfaction, there was no noticeable difference from the food tasting session. One of our guests made this comment on the amount of sharkfin she had in her soup bowl. There were also a few who took home some leftovers.

The only hiccup we had was the food presentation session provided by TT. As both CJ and I sat down at our table, the sound of Chinese musical instruments rolled, followed by disco light presentation. There, a group of people dressed in transitional Chinese costumes including a Ching Emperor and his concubines, marched in from the back of the restaurant all the way to the stage. Jovita and our photographer, Fiona, did have a good laugh at both me and CJ when uneasy expressions started showing up on our faces. Funny enough, that also became the highlight of the day, and our guests kinda enjoyed that.

It was truly a beautiful and memorable night that we know we will often speak about in future!

Church Wedding

Finally, it's the moment where many girls have been dreaming of. I have not really imagined myself walking down the Church aisle mainly because I wasn't a Christian until April last year. I have to say, the experience was truly splendid.

Traffic was smooth that day. It took us less than 30 mins to travel from the Gardens Residences to St. Mary Cathedral. The weather was very pleasant and sunny as well at 3 in the afternoon. As we arrived at the Church, we were welcomed by CJ's grandma and mum with big hugs. The Church was beautifully adorned with white flowers decorated by Chris from Arada Designs.

The tea ceremony for CJ's family started shortly in a room behind the Church. It was again a short and quick one catered for CJ's grandma and mum, followed by a family photo session. Until then, I started to feel a little nervous about walking down the aisle for it's something I never really anticipated for until that very moment.

A traditional tea set lent to us by Aunt Ai Guat.
It was used by her in her own wedding at least 15 years ago.

As me, dad and my bridesmaids were lining up at the Church entrance at about 4 pm, Dean Jason walked in with a big smile on his face whilst putting on the cassock. He was happy because we were accordingly, very punctual (for Malaysians). Fiona, our photographer, quickly instruct dad to put on my veil before the bridal march, Canon in D rolled, so she could catch a few shots. As we marched down the aisle, I could see my handsome groom watching and smiling. The music was beautifully played by Deanna on one of the oldest pipe organs in the country. The melody was truly mesmerising! As CJ reaches out his hand to takeover mine, Dean Jason invited everyone to sit. The wedding ceremony began.

The magnificent music band and lead singer.

W. Lin and Ping gave the readings.

Singing 'Beautiful Saviour'.

Exchanging of vows...

... wedding band ...

... a kiss and a hug.

CJ felt relieved after the ceremony.

We didn't know there was a confetti throwing session.

My beautiful and wonderful cousins.

Our new extended families.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Tee