Karen and Alex

After seven years of knowing and loving each other, Karen and Alexander finally decided to get married. And what a wonderful and beautiful ceremony it was -- so delightful, so refreshing! It all began on Saturday morning, July 28th, when Christoph, Ann-Kathrin, and I set off for Pforzheim. We were priviledged to have been invited to the Chinese solemnization ceremony, a private affair where the bride and the groom served traditional tea to the parents, who in turn showered them with gifts... heh heh heh... no pun intended there Karen :P

We then headed off to church after the lunch reception to witness the couple exchange their vows. The priest, in his short sermon, mentioned something about cars, children, and the garage, which I thought was directed to Alex for his love of fancy cars -- but when asked later, Alex swore that the priest was simply talking about cars, children, and garages in general... hahaha... hmmm... Anyway, silly me, I had not brought out my camera for both these events! So many photo ops, and I missed them *still kicking myself* *now have to wait for Chris to develop the official photos* To make up for this irretrievable loss, I hunted down my camera back at the hotel, and joined in the furroes of picture snappings with the other guests shortly before dinner was served. *Decided to take off my tie and the suit jacket to make myself comfortable, it was rather tiring taking pictures*


Then came the dinner itself. Plenty of stuffs to eat on the main courses. Apparently, I had had a special menu prepared for me (a little bit different from the other guests, since I can't take pork and alcohol), which made everyone seated around me a little bit jealous; especially the maid-of-honour who sat on my left :P Still, we all got along well, and thoroughly enjoyed our feast!



Then, after we thought that we can no longer stomach any more food, we were asked to step outside the hotel for a Balloon-Wishing Ceremony. We gladly left our seats for a while just so that we get an opportunity to digest what we had sumptuosly ate. I have to thank whoever coordinated this -- it surely was at the bestest of time ;)


I also managed to capture part of this on video. Check this out:


After lingering at the foyer for some time watching the balloons fly away (I think mine crossed the river and made its way to Paris!), we decided it was time to resume eating. But first, we had to take a couple of candid shots with Louisa (Karen's mom) and that huge bear who sits by himself at the lobby:


After dessert, it was all about socializing. The cake was cut, we all get to dance with the bride (and Alex got to dance with the girls), the mother of the bride, and whomever one fancies to dance with following the tune of the music. Well now, really, after Karen changed into her chiffon evening gown with matching pearls, who can resist asking her for a second dance, right?


And I have to mention this, when Karen threw her bouquet for the single-women to catch, there was a weird wave of them trying smack the flowers away (rather than rushing forwards, tumbling over each other to catch it)... hahaha! But Alex's cousin's girlfriend caught it :) And because of that weird wave, I didn't manage to get the full flower-flip on video, just part of it:


All in all, I had had a wonderful time. I felt well-taken care of. Everyone from the bride and groom, their parents, relatives, friends and colleagues, all the way to the staffs of the hotel... they were all so friendly and sociable. Got me carried away here... look at how much I blogged!

Also I made some wonderful new friends (they flew in specially from Vancouver and London to be with Karen on her big day): Maggie, Melissa, Victoria, Elliot, Joyce, and Calvin. Guys, I kept my end of the promise with this blog and its contents. I'll check out your suggestions on Facebook next. Then we'll wait for Karen to coordinate the email list *hint*hint* Heh heh heh... To top it off, it was a fine reunion with Leandro and Christine. You guys were awesome! Leo, I'd promise a tribute entry for us on my blog, wait for it within the next few days, ok?


Cheers!
]Kai