Gee's Wedding

Just went to a friend's wedding in the afternoon, and it was held in a church. I was full of emotions, surprisingly, as I sat through the entire ceremony.

My friend Gee has finally gotten hitched this day, after seven long years of being together with her then-boyfriend-now-husband. She has been one woman I know who really puts in almost 100% of her time in her career, and has taken up overseas postings in other countries. In fact, she's just flown back from India, where she's based now for two years, for her own wedding. We were all guessing if she would turn up in a sari today.

And today, many sighs of relief were passed, by friends and family, that these two lovebirds are finally getting married. See, seven years in an Asian culture is a long time to pass without getting married. Something must be wrong with the couple, others would say.

Immediately, this brings to my mind my own long-time relationship. Just a couple of nights back, over dinner in Bangkok, I was asked by a new colleague if I had a boyfriend, and how long we had been together. I stunned myself when I realized we had just passed the six-year mark. (In fact, that very night, as I was pondering the exact number of years, I realized with deep horror that it was our anniversary that very day - I hastily sent a "happy anniversary" message to the man. Ha.)

Six long years of being together. It's really quite unbelievable at times. It's really quite amazing how we made it through this far.

A good friend of the couple was tasked with belting out some good ol' marriage advice (of course, in the ways of the Lord). It was a pretty sound speech, and there were a couple of things I picked up from him. At that very moment, I wished the man was right there next to me. The man would've come along to the celebration with me, but he had to work today. I don't know why but I just thought he would be the one who could better learn a thing or two from that speech.

My friend Gee looked so tense during the wedding ceremony, but she was smiling again at the end of it. She looked beautiful today. The normal Gee we see dresses up in tee-shirts and jeans and sneakers, sans make-up. But the Gee we saw today was beautifully dressed up in a white gown, veil and all (I almost suspected though she could be wearing sneakers underneath it all...). Her happiness today glowed from her freshly made-up face, and I thought that's how all brides should look. I guess it's true when they say all brides are beautiful.

Well, good thing no one asked me today at the reception when it would be my turn. I might have growled back.

And in an hour's time, we're meeting the bride at Velvet, for her post-wedding celebration. This sounds funny to me. She's asking for it... hahaha.