Sept 19, 2020. The weather was overcast, with the sun peeking through here and there. I had slept lightly the night before because my mind had been occupied with the sheer magnitude of what I was about to do and thoughts of "I can't believe this day is finally here." I will say the night before my wedding was just as emotional as the actual day. I'm glad I stayed over at my parents' the night before, just so I could fully relish my last moment of singlehood alone. I was more than ready to take this next step in my life with no reservations, but that didn't stop my mind from feeling peaceful and chaotic at the same time. I guess that's what happens when you only have a general outline of what's to come but none of the actual details.
The day arrived, and everything was ready. My parents' place was spic and span, and our outfits were laid out ready to be worn. I hired the Love Team to do my hair but decided to do my own makeup because I always thought this micro backyard wedding was just a temporary placeholder until the *real* wedding. (Little did I know, we would turn out to breeze through life without throwing the big wedding reception I'd always picture myself to be throwing.) The wedding commissioner showed up on time, and I was happy with his demeanor and overall professionalism. The only small hiccup (there's always at least one at a wedding, isn't there?) was I couldn't get my Sonos speaker to work (of course I made a wedding playlist for my own wedding, are you kidding!). Kin-Tin showed up slightly later than I would've liked (he had to pick up his parents) but at least he showed up (ha ha) looking very dapper in his custom suit. I, on the other hand, wore a very sheer, short-sleeved dress that had the silhouette of a Chinese traditional wedding gown, only in white and short in length. The walk to the "altar" was short and sweet. We were surrounded by family and the vibe was momentous, cozy, and light. When we exchanged vows, Kin-Tin kept mishearing the commissioner at one point and it took him a few tries to get through, lol. He told me afterwards that he had completely zoned out and his brain was refusing to function.
The tea ceremony came after, and I liked how it all came together. I really appreciated the fact that I was able to have my wedding at my parents'. Something about it just felt right. I may or may not have teared up during the tea ceremony (my memory is a bit hazy now). After that, we scooted over to Fortune Terrace, a Chinese restaurant by the Oval. We got seated in a private room with one large table. While we were waiting for the food, my cousin surprised me with a video that my bff put together of my closest girlfriends individually wishing me congrats and it was so sweet!! I definitely teared up at that, I remember. It made me feel a bit sad that I couldn’t celebrate with them all in person like I’d always imagined but I’m a huge believer that life happens the way it was meant to happen.
Since getting married, the question I've been asked most often is, "Do you feel any different?" Yes and no, and this has to do with us having lived together prior to marriage. Even when we first moved in together, it was a very smooth and easy transition because we didn't have any glaringly resentable bad habits that we found in each other. Any surprises we had, we quickly adjusted to. Now that we’ve been married for 2.5 years (I meant to post this MUCH earlier but life happened), we are still learning new things about each other and I think our calm, efficient nature continues to make us a good team. The real test actually comes when a child is in the picture, but I’ll save that for a future post!