About a year ago, I managed to get sunshineinmysoul to blurt out in confession that her boyfriend has popped the question. Aside from some queries on how to go about getting some procedures done, she asked if Gabe would walk down the aisle ahead of her as a page boy! Although I have to admit that I kind of saw that coming, I was still very much surprised that she would take the risk with a boy who was only going to be two plus years old. The chances of a successful and uneventful march-in were going to be really really slim.
Well, it was going to be about a year later, so I thought I'd just worry about it when the time comes. But when the time drew near, reality struck. How was I going to ensure that the boy complements the whole ceremony, instead of being the cause of any situation requiring resolution. Ok, that was a nice way of saying how I can, as a mother, prevent a situation of having the hundreds of guests witness or hear the deafening wails my son is capable of while the melody of the march-in song tinkles in the background. Nevertheless, I got on with preparations for sunshineinmysoul's big day.
1. Ethan (Gabe's second cousin) lent us the suit he donned for Uncle En and Auntie Kin's wedding. We did a trial fitting for him one night. It was a little baggy but it hung relatively nicely on Gabe's frame. Gabe's waipo got the boy a pair of black shoes to go with the suit and the assembly of the outfit was complete.
3. MOST importantly, I've been drilling him on the descriptives of his role for months. When the date drew nearer, I upped my game by offering him a bribe: for every single successful trip down the aisle, he'll be rewarded with a chocolate biscuit. One hello panda biscuit with chocolate filling. I can't help but feel I'm a zoo keeper rewarding the little animal once he gets an act right. Gabe got so familiar with the instructions he was almost ready to do his part, mostly because of the salivating thought of the chocolate oozing out of the biscuit in his mouth.
The date of the rehearsal arrived. We left Rou with my parents and spent an evening at the traditionally-furbished church. We made friends with the two other children who were going to accompany Gabe down the aisle. The little girl was the best companion/ mother ever. Typical of an eldest girl in the family, she was caring yet bossy all at once. In my opinion, she sealed the deal of making this an easy and pleasant experience for Gabe.
Everyone did a couple of trial runs down the aisle, where the kids were accompanied by their mothers, and the bridesmaid by her bread-dinner in a plastic bag in place of the bouquet of flowers. They learnt to watch out for their cues, which centred around the musicians who were playing the violin and the piano. (Gabe spent a bit of time observing the musicians up close.) They took a break for the couple to rehearse their parts and went for a final round where no assistance was offered to the children. He did great, except that he needed to improve on his pace.
Every time Gabe finished his walk and handed the ring pillow to the pastor, he'll come running to me for his treat.
The runway.
Crowded runway.
Just the kids.
On the actual day, I was in a flurry, preparing everyone (derod and I were part of a song item dedicated to the couple) for the occasion. Honestly, I think I was the most excited and flustered one of the lot, that added to the suspense and uncertainty of how the situation would pan out...
...while Gabe was busy impressing the flower girl.
Anyway, it was time. Everyone took their positions, the music began and the introductory video began playing. The flower girl, first one of the procession, stepped up and got ready to go. Gabe was number two and then it hit him: this was it! He hesitated, didn't want to let go of my hand and requested for me to walk with him. My heart raced as I took him forwards for two steps, let go of him, reminded him to "go to papa", who was at the fourth row beckoning him and disappeared from his sight to wait for him in front. Well, you can see how he fared from this video: walking like he's in a world of his own, avoiding the petals on the floor, glancing around. But he did get the job done, and passed on the ring pillow to the pastor at the end. (Care has been taken to protect the identities of the bridesmaid and bride in the video.)
The sole motivation of his accommodating performance? "Mummy can I have my chocolate biscuits now?" Immediately after he stepped off the aisle.
After the ceremony, we hung around for refreshments and derod took out the camera.
Here's Gabe channeling Shahrukh Khan.
Effects of endorphins from the chocolate biscuits.
Mei made friends! Seen here with Trudy and RP.
I think sunshineinmysoul was also very glad her favourite boy (assuming he's still her favourite boy) managed to make her wedding an uneventful one :)
Pals for twelve years! I'm so happy for you, my dear. Have a great time as J's missus.
2 comments:
what nice memories to keep :)
u are really systematic and meticulous in training him....! congratulations for that!
I'm so touched! Thank you so much my dear, for all that hard work and planning =) Has it been THAT long?? Gee....I still rem how I first met you on that bus...you and your injured leg...Heh. And yes, he's still my favourite boy! And rou is my favourite girl! =)
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