HONG KONG: A Great Wedding Celebration, Part Two

Saturday 14^th April – A Great Hong Kong Wedding Celebration, Part Two

The last entry covered the hours before one of my best friend’s wedding in Hong Kong. I will try now to cover some of the great moments we shared once the Ceremony started.

3.00pm: We are all at the Shangrila Hotel, with all guests already seated in this beautifully dressed Wedding room:

- Steve, the groom, stands smiling and relaxed on his place.

- The groom’s wedding party, aka The Ushers, aka us, is all set in line, to his side – from shortest to tallest, and yes, I was the tallest one - sorry Rich.

- The five bridesmaids make their entrance, one by one walking the aisle, smiling and cute, as beautiful music is played, on their lovely and elegant dark purple dresses. They take their places to the left of where the bride will shortly be standing.

- Finally, Carol, the gorgeous bride on her beautiful wedding dress, enters the room and walks up the aisle with the cutest of smiles on her face; it is a moment of great joy and excitement - we can all feel it. She is also looking at his groom Steve, as she walks towards him. They are happy, they are excited, they are smiling with pride and emotion. After all these months, THIS IS IT.

As Carol makes her final steps and stands next to him they hold hands, briefly, and share a moment of delight and privacy with their eyes, a smile, a whisper, ‘we have arrived’ they seem to say to each other.

The Ceremony’s Master of Ceremonies takes charge, welcoming everyone present, and we are off...

To respect the privacy of such important moment in the lives of anyone, I will only share that it was a beautiful and modern ceremony yet it carried the formality and detail of the best Chinese tradition, with some very cute and personal moments.

Immediately afterwards we have a few and very welcomed glasses of a great and perfectly cold Champagne, to celebrate the happy union.

The newly weds Steve and Carol toast with everyone

4.15pm: The newly weds Steve and Carol, their closest relatives, the bridesmaids and the ushers stay at the hotel for photos. Meanwhile, the 80+ guests are driven by bus to the HK bay to board a traditional Chinese boat, for an hour long trip along the bay with drinks and canapés served on board. Everything is working like a Swiss watch, absolutely perfect.

6.30pm: We are at the 39^th floor of the hotel and we do a bit of time travelling, in great style this time. This is the Shangrila’s Library room and it looks and feels like an old British-like library, with its dark brown-blueish leather seats and sofas, its floor-to-ceiling thick books ranks and golden ladders on the walls, its flowered carpet and dark green high and thick rounded marvel columns – with another fantastic view of Hong Kong from windows that are decorated with beautiful and light coloured flowers.

You would be excused to expect Winston Churchill would come around the corner, smoking one of his famous cigars any minute now. Instead, you got me:

My usual Saturday afternoon gym outfit.

As the guests get back from what they say was a really special boat trip, drinks are served and everyone mingles around – with some informal photos being taken too.

8.00pm: Everyone moves to the large dining room and take their seats on the great looking tables. 

The Wedding cake and Table #1 of the beautifully dressed dining room at the Shangrila Hotel

Pableras and I have the honour to share the main table with Steve and Carol, Steve’s mum and sister as well as some of Carol’s bridesmaids.

One of the many beautiful moments shared with the newly weds

It was at this moment that I recalled the day Steve told me that he, finally, had proposed - and more importantly that Carol had accepted. It was one day in May 2011 and I was at Dublin airport, soon boarding back to London after a day of meetings. [NB: well, I am not sure it was exactly in May, but I was definitely at Dublin Airport; reason I don't remember exactly is that I went to Dublin pretty much every week between January and August 2011].

They were spending a week in France and I had been asking him all week: “have you proposed yet??? Have you proposed yet??? Come on mate, you cannot go to France and do all this romantic stuff and not propose, that’s just not right” to which he always responded stuff like “crazy talk mate, no plans yet”.

As it turned out, I was right and the conversation was more or less like this. First via blackberry messenger:

17.26: Alfonso: Here I am at Dublin airport yet again. Have you proposed yet???

17.38: Steve: Mate, we were at this place and blah blah blah [NB this is a literary licence I am taking to cut the long story short, but basically they had been to some romantic thing or the other with this or that glamour; all very beautiful, I have no doubt].

17.44: Alfonso: So????

17.45: Steve: What are you talking about??

17.45: Alfonso: Not answering my question...

17.50: Steve: Well, you will have to book a flight to Hong Kong for Easter next year, put it that way.

As soon as I read that I stopped and called him,

17.51: Alfonso: Enanooooooooo!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!... ‘king hellllllll!!!!.... Finally!!!!!!.... And she said yes and everything!!!!

Steve: hahaha thanks mate, you idiot.

Alfonso: Oh mate, I am really pleased for you both. It was about time!! All this stuff you were doing in France and I was thinking ‘she’s going to dump him if he hasn’t proposed by the time they board the flight back’.

Steve: no mate, that was always the plan. I couldn’t tell you before her though.

Alfonso: fair enough, but you know, she would have dumped you, I am pretty sure!

I briefly also spoke with Carol to congratulate her – and also to check if she knew was she was doing. Thankfully it seemed to me she perfectly knew what she was doing, phew.

That was then and this was now, almost a year later, or thereabout. I can only but wonder how many stories they must have gone through in the build up to this day, to this moment where they have finally done all the “wedding stuff” and it is their time to fully enjoy and celebrate with their family and friends. As I say, it was an honour to share the evening at their table. Carol, Steve: THANK YOU BOTH.

THE MEAL: As with the ushers’ lunch earlier in the day, the food throughout the dinner is of outstanding first class, accompanied by delicious white and red wines. Here are some examples which will speak for themselves:

That was SOME STEAK - thanks Pableras for your input in the selection stage!

One of the most amazingly mouthwatering chocolate mousses ever, fact. Hhhmmmmmmmm.

THE SPEECHES: Throughout the evening there are a number of very personal, emotional, funny and beautiful speeches shared with everyone.

Wedding Day Master of Ceremonies, Rich, hands the micro to Steve for his moment of glory - and what a moment that was- while Steve's sister Leanne stands next to him, to make sure he doesn't joke about her childhood years again.

Hoping to respect the privacy of all of them I want to only specially recall that of Steve’s mum Frances, who stood up and took the micro from her daughter, Leanne. 

As soon as she spoke I had goose bumps from head to toes. I cannot recall a time where such naturally simple yet immensely beautiful words, spoken proudly and most honestly from the bottom of her heart meant so much and could have this effect in other people’s hearts.

To me, considering everything that had happened in recent years, it was an unexpected yet extraordinary trip to the bottom of my heart where I realised, once again, what the important things in life really are, and who we should, above all, love and respect.

It is a truth repeated too often, that we don’t know what we have until we lose it. But I truly believe in making the most of things while we can; they don’t have to be amazing, one-in-a-lifetime 'things'; they can be everyday’s things, whatever, a smile, a whisper, giving a hand to someone, a chocolate cookie, whatever, as long as they work for you - as someone said before, and Woody Allen put on film, 'Whatever Works'.

But, most of all, why not try to being thankful for the good things that happen to you, cherish those moments with all your heart and don’t let tough moments bring you down for ever, adapt to them, learn from them and rather, why not try letting LIFE BE GREAT, every day.

For those words Frances, I thank you wholeheartedly.

As dinner came to a close and desserts were served, the groom’s wedding party closed the speeches for the day and, to top it off, we managed to get the entire room with 90+ guests standing on their feet and wishing loud “Long Live the Bride and the Groom” – all this is in the more Spanish way of 

“VIVAN LOS NOVIOOOOS!!!! VIVAAAAN!!!!!" 

"VIVAN LOS NOVIOOOOS!!! VIVAAAANNN!!!"

"VIVAAAAAN LOOOOOSSS NOVIOOOOOOOSSSS!!!! VIVAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!"

Past 11.30pm and until sometime between 2 and 5 am the following day: we partied, we danced, we sang, we drank (a little), we hugged; we laughed, we almost cried, we jumped, we fell, we crawled, we laughed again; we drank (a little more), we plugged our iPods once the hotel staff asked the DJ to leave (strange HK rules!), we crawled once more; we took taxis, some went home, some had McDonalds (yes, we did; what can I say), some went clubbing... and above all WE FELT ALIVE, YES WE DID.

It was a great day and night. One that we will all remember for years to come. Thank you Carol, Thank you Steve – you guys rock. See you soon wherever that is!