Refreshed After A Wedding

I attended a beautiful wedding yesterday. The bride was a close high school friend but we have only met up a handful of times since then. I felt very honored that she invited me and although I was worried that I wouldn't know anybody else, I looked forward to it.

We arrived 15 mins early but there was already a crowd of people gathered outside the church. Of course, we didn't know anyone and stood awkwardly to the side for a short while before deciding to go inside. There were a few other people sitting by themselves inside - they probably didn't know anybody else either. As I walked past one lady, we immediately went "Hey! I know you....". She was another high school friend and the only other person I know at the wedding. Needless to say, it was wonderful catching up with her.

This was actually the first time that I was attending a wedding in Australia and I had no idea what to expect. As it turned out, the wedding yesterday was not very different to the many other weddings I have attended in Malaysia. The church ceremony was similar and the reception was long, full of speeches and extremely noisy. Even the food was presented in a similar way on what they called a 'Rolling Menu'. It reminded me of the 'Chinese style' because the food was served on a center dish and you could take as much or as little as you liked. I have to say that, the food was much more interesting that the traditional Chinese wedding dinner ones. Thats probably because I've been to so many of those and they all serve exactly the same food. While we're on the topic of food, the many forks and knives had Richard a little confused. In Malaysia, its just the one pair of chopsticks. Luckily he was there with me.

The noise levels too were very similar to those at weddings in Malaysia. I suppose the happiness and joy that comes from a wedding is the same no matter which part of the world you're in. Unfortunately, we were seated at a part of the room that was no getting enough of the A/C and after a couple of hours, it was stuffy and warm. I thought I was dehydrated but I think I just wasn't getting enough air to breathe. I started to get a headache and was starting to feel quite sleepy - until I went out for a toilet break and felt the sudden rush of fresh air when I left the room.

We didn't join the crowd to party on into the night but left at about 10.30pm instead - I was exhausted and all I could think of was crashing onto my bed! I went to sleep feeling happy to see my friend so in love and so loved. And, I felt somewhat refreshed (in a tired sort of way) after a day of looking nice, being around adults and generally having a good time. I am ready to start my week as a mother again - motivated, determined and with patience topped up a little.