The Biggest Day of my life #PatJoSayIDo

Hi Steemians!

Sorry for the long silence as I haven't had the time and energy to look into steeming though once in awhile I managed to grab time off to read through some of your posts. Been such a hectic 6 months for me ending 2017 guiding 223 final year Degree students to one of the largest PR Campaign in my institution. Ain't easy when I have to really look into matters and put in more than 100% for these students.

Apart from that, it was that time as well when we (@patrickleekahooi) and I were planning and organizing our wedding, plus shifting to our current rented place while settling our purchasing of our new condo. So yeah, hectic to say the least! But come 2018, we were excited as 24th February 2018 approached! We got married! Here's some photos of that very important day. Disclaimer: this is the first release of the wedding photos to the public! Have not posted it anywhere else YET. Consider yourself, BLESSED! haha...

as you enter the event venue, Duchess Place, Jalan Ampang, you're greeted with this sign

We had our best friends handling the decoration and photo booth. It's so good to have great talents in your midst, one of them is fellow steemian, @imchriscjw !

Duchess Place, Jalan Ampang. Lovely isn't it? We like it that simple and elegant.

Putting on of veil.... what an honor to have my dad looking so happy to do it!

My 2 awesome bridesmaids! What will a bride be without her bridesmaids huh? I've known these two for 12 years now! It's an honor to have them as my bridesmaids. I remember when we were in the UK studying, they both said "Jo, when you get married, we don't care and we're not asking, we're becoming your bridesmaids!" Oh, how blessed am I! I love them and I trust them with my whole life!

One of me "close up". Haha.. I never thought I would take one of these shots and look nice in it, but I love this shot!

My flower girls! Claire & Isabel both sisters... I initially did not want any flower girls (I did not want the hassle & trouble, love things to be simple) but their mom who is my good friend asked me whether I would like her daughters be flower girls. I said frankly that I did not want BUT if they would like to, I am more than happy to have them. Obviously they wanted! Well, ignore the facial expression in the photo! haha!

Daddy walking me down the aisle... Look at that smile!

Because we are Christians, we had a Christian ceremony and one of the agenda is Worship! I love worship and I love it even more when my 2 favorite people (from World Harvest Church, a church we attend together) are leading the worship, fellow Steemians @michelleloh168 and @scottjeromeyao . Not only did they led worship, they obliged to perform one song each. @scottjeromeyao sang Because You Loved Me in dedication to all the important people in our lives who have made us who we are today and @michelleloh168 a special dedication "The Moon Represents My Heart" by Theresa Teng to my late mother who died of cancer in 2007.

Ahhhh during worship, my yet-to-be husband was tearing up NON-STOP! And being the supporting wife-to-be I was laughing at him!

This is me hugging my eldest aunt who is also my mother's sister. Yep, there were a lot of tears as @michelleloh168 sang that song with a photo slideshow with all my mother photos after an emotional speech by me about her. I promised myself when my mother passed away that I will have a special dedication just to remember her and during my speech, it will be all about her. She deserves nothing less! (I will dedicate a post on my mom soon)

the hubs and I at our 2nd walk in! phew! we only did ONE change. Eh wait, I DID not him, he did not change at all! haha..

Like all weddings, we have a cake! Only this time, this cake...yes...the WHOLE CAKE is REAL and edible! Yummy! Thank you Duchess Place!

We had a Black Emcee aka MC Black! My ex-student :) An Indian of course, not African....

with my Immediate Family

with his Immediate Family

it was an eventful yet very restful and fun day! We did not have those morning stuff going on aka bride-grabbing hence we got the much-needed rest. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as we celebrate this very important day of #PatJoSayIDo with the people we love and grew up with! We were off to our honeymoon the VERY NEXT DAY!

After this wedding in KL, we had 2 more! Yes, you heard it right - altogether we had 3 weddings! the hubs joked that WE'RE FINALLY MARRIED! The 2nd one was held at Kuala Kangsar (where he comes from) and the 3rd at Muar (my mother's hometown).

People ask us why do we need to have 3 weddings. Here's why. KL is where I grew up and where Patrick and I go to church + work. Here, we have 40 tables (400 pax). Kuala Kangsar is where Patrick and all his relatives are (immediate, extended, and extended extended... you get what I mean?) 10-12 tables here (100-120 pax). Then the Muar wedding, my mother's family is a HUGE family and everyone is very close plus my dad after his retirement has been working at Muar part time. Here, we have 21 tables that's 210 pax! It's quite impossible to bring everyone down to one central location hence why we go to 3 locations. Tiring? That's for sure but there's the joy of meeting family members and just getting to know them.

Some people told us not to worry about them and just have one with very close people, knowing our culture, we want to respect the elders too and instead of sulking over the hassle, we find joy in it instead! I enjoyed all 3 weddings but let me tell you, I am super glad it is OVER! Haha... we can now be married and move on with life!

So yes, we're newlyweds! Not sure if we're on cloud 9 and in our "honeymoon" state. But we are growing to love each other every single day and improve in areas that we need to improve on openly. I have many veterans (those married longer) come to me and say, "aww you guys are so sweet, it won't last. Wait till your honeymoon period is over" - I am not sure why people would say such things to newlyweds. I personally think that newlyweds should go through such sweet periods or be in their honeymoon state for as long as they like and no, I do not think that is staying away from reality, in fact, that IS reality! Relationships should always be REAL and one of it is to be in that honeymoon state aka being sweet, romantic, lovey-dovey. I enjoy it a lot! We maintain that sweetness ever since we dated until we are married and for those who know us, we're as much living in reality too. Another person's unpleasant experience does not have to be the foundation for other people's life. In other words, if one is not having a good time in their marriage or their honeymoon stage did not last, it does not mean that another couple would be going through the same path. We all take different paths and journies in our lives and I always believe in allowing each person to go through on their own without imposing on them.

We are happily married. Going through life and learning along the way together having many trusted people around us to go through it together. It's exciting and we are determined to live an exciting life! #PatJoFINALLYsaidIDo

Special Thanks
in the preparations and execution of the wedding, we are blessed and grateful to my colleague and mentor for coordinating the day, good friends as bridesmaids, church mates for decoration and reception, my ex-students who helped the coordinator run the show, ex-student for being the emcee and one of the performers, ex-student for being my videographer, ex-students who took the challenge to take my pre-wedding photos, current student who helped with my slideshows, my siblings who are amazing to always lend a hand, to my pastor who conducted our pre-marital counseling and officiated the wedding, our senior and lead pastor for blessing us! last but not least To all my amazing friends for giving support in ways that I can't thank you enough.