Chan's Personal Blog

Today I had the privilege of attending Jordan and Cherie's wedding. It was an outdoor wedding at their parent's farm that I thought was quite meaningful. If I had to guess, I'd say there were about two hundred people there? It's a good thing they own a large field that could be used for parking. Anyways, the weather worked out great for the wedding. It wasn't too hot, and it was perfect for people wearing suits (especially black ones). The forecast said there was a 60% chance of rain, but it never came. Thank God!

I've said it once, and I'll say it again, there isn't anything quite so beautiful as a wedding with a Christ-centred couple who have godly parents. It sounds very corny and cliche, but it's true. There's a certain generational blessing that comes from a lineage of good Christians.

In either case, after the ceremony, a few of us G2Kers regrouped downtown to kill some time before the reception. We wandered about in a few stores, and I've noticed that you get better service from people if you're dressed up. The reception was at the Empress, so we went to the Bengal Lounge which was inside the hotel. This place served alcohol, so the attendant had to get I.D. from all of us. Thanks to my asian powers, I appear a lot younger than I actually am, this is why the attendant went, "oh wow" when she saw my I.D. and found that I exceeded the legal drinking age.

The Bengal Lounge was quite nice. The decor they had made you feel like you've travelled back in time to an older Victorian era. I felt like wearing a top hat and a monocle, sipping tea, and discussing the wonders of steam power and rail with my fellow industrialists. Everything on the menu however was very expensive. A glass of wine went for $20. A three-ounce martini went for $11. I went with a Coke which cost $3.75.

After that, we went to the reception which was stunning. They had rented the Crystal Ballroom and hall for the reception. I had never been in there before. The food was equally impressive. The showstopper was the Albertan Beef Tenderloin. It was cooked medium rare, sliced thick, and immersed in gravy with mushrooms, and it was melt-in-your-mouth goodness. That was probably one of the best cuts of beef I've had all year.

As the evening progressed, the mic was opened up to the wedding party to give toasts and such. It felt more like a roast for the bride and groom . They had some pretty funny material. Shortly after they had a multimedia presentation highlighting photos of the bride and groom. I've noticed that the more weddings I go to, the more elaborate these presentations are getting. The competitive side of me thought: I may not be able to pull off a better wedding ceremony, and I'm definitely not going to be able to pull off a better reception, but I am sure as heck going to make the best dang multimedia presentation for my wedding . That will be my niche.

My favourite line from the evening was from the MC who said, "the single men of Victoria would like to thank Cherie for bringing over all her single girlfriends from Vancouver." I think I've figured out why some of my friends from Victoria who have moved to Vancouver are reluctant to move back here j/k.

The evening ended with dancing in the wedding hall. We took a pretty funny picture of a friend (who's going out with someone) dancing with another girl, and this picture is going to be pretty handy for blackmailing purposes in the future. Muhahha.

We were wondering if the loud music was disturbing other people in the hotel. A few rooms over were the dining area where high tea is served at the Empress. When we left the wedding hall, we were surprised that we couldn't hear any of the dance music. They must have some really good soundproofing in that hall.

At around 11:30pm, a group of us decided to leave. I was tasked to escort Marley back to her car since it was late at night. It was amusing that she had forgotten where she parked. After wandering a bit, I gathered a rough description from her about the surroundings of where she parked. I made an educated guess, and we went to the Broad St. Parkade. Sure enough, her car was there, but the gates were locked. Some guys were at the gate as well, and apparently the parkade closes at 11:00pm. Furthermore, to get the gate open, we had to call the attendant, and it cost $5 for this service. When the attendant came, we thought it would cost $5 for his trouble of coming over to open the gate. We were shocked when it was $5 per car that was locked inside the parkade. A group of clubbers appeared behind us, and when they found out about the cost, they started arguing with the poor attendant who was just doing his job. When we got to Marley's car, we found a ticket for $8 because the car was left in the parking lot after it had closed. So, this cost $13 for parking which was ridiculous. The Broad St. Parkade is on the blacklist.

Anyways, today was a really fun day. These weddings are especially fun because a lot of people from my grad class usually attend these events, so they're like mini grad reunions. This is a fitting end to my summer break as the new Fall semester draws near.

Congratulations Jordan and Cherie, and thanks for having me again. God bless!

On a side note, based on my intelligence, 20% of my grad class members are married. That is quite amazing.