a ring, a promise.

today was Jim and Nkem's big day... their wedding! it was refreshing and interesting to finally witness a scottish + african wedding. of course, before the wedding could start, the decorations must first be done. the church had looked simple at first, but after they were done with it, it was simply beautiful! it also had a very african feel about it. it just shows how a simple touch here and there makes a difference.




first of all, the bride had to enter. and that she did, announced loudly by the bagpipes! (it is after all partly scottish). the poor guy had to stand at attention since early on though, and in the freezing cold too!


it started with the wedding march (stress!), followed by a hymn, then the wedding vows. during the signing, eileen and kay sang 'your love' by jim brickman. it's such a romantic and touching song. i love the way they harmonise too. it really makes a lot of difference. i found myself all jittery during the real thing though, worrying bout the speed, the intro. the practice is always better.

my favourite pic.. thanks chris and trisha..^^

after the ceremony, the new couple went for photo taking in the freezing cold in kelvingrove while we had some tea in the warmth of the church. and in the mere space of an hour or two, the place was tastefully decorated and totally transformed from a wedding hall to a dining area.


after that was dinner served buffet style - with african food! and the bride really danced in... one thing i can say bout africans.. they love to dance, grab every opportunity to dance, and dance really really well, until they set your feet all tingling. i had dinner with chris, eileen and natanya. they made the dinner all the more enjoyable and less intimidating.

after dinner... there was more! the whole dining area was cleared and became a dance floor. the wedding couple had their first dance, and was pretty soon joined by all others. they really seemed to be having so much fun groving around, especially the africans. i loved watching the old couples dance though. they looked so sweet together. we saw some of our friends astound us with their hidden moves too. haha.. some of the scottish males wore their kilt in full assemble. i really must take a picture with one of them before going back to malaysia.

i got to try out my hand using one of those big complicated-looking cameras too. man, they really are heavy. but i think i can really fall in love with them.. coz the different effects make such nice photos. i learnt some interesting stuff too.. bout how to aim the flash to get a more natural photo.. how to operate the lenses.. interesting..

me and trisha =]

my first try at macro lens... gosh.... that's what got me started on my obsession with blur background.;p

wedding cake! the wedding/birthday cakes here are all icing-topped. nice!

grooving on the dance floor. it's so cool~ it would probably never work in malaysia though. it's just too odd.

it was a great day to dress up.;p more than ever, it reminded me of the solemness and sweetness of marriage. people have so many different views on love or marriage.

"marriage is when men lose their bachelor's degree and women gain their masters." -- PhD students

"marriage is not just spiritual communion, it is also remembering to take out the trash" -- Joyce brothers

"if you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married." -- Katharine Hepburn

"a man is incomplete until he is married. after that, he is finished." -- Zsa Zsa Gabor

"a successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person" -- Mignon Mclaughlin

"always and forever." -- One tree hill

"love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle" -- Amy Bloom

"to keep your marriage brimming, with love in the loving cup, whenever you're wrong admit it, whenever you're right shut up." -- Ogden Nash

"marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other who never forgets." -- Ogden Nash

"the goal in marriage is not to think alike, but to think together" -- Robert C Dodds

"happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry" -- Tom Mullen

"getting a dog is like getting married. it teaches you to be less self-centered, to accept suden, surprising outbursts of affection, and not to be upset by a few scratches on your car." -- Will Stanton

"sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that's a real treat." -- Joanne Woodward

"marriage is not a noun; it's a verb. it isn't something you get. it's something you do. it's the way you love your partner every day." -- Barbara de Angelis


my favourite ones...

"a happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short." -- Andre Maurois

"we are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. but part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness." -- Ellen Goodman

"Life has taught us that love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"there's no such thing as a perfect man or a perfect woman in the world, there is only perfect love built together by imperfect men and imperfect women." -- Soulmate

anyways.. to jim and nkem.. hope this day will be the beginning of a wondrous future together. =]


p/s: all pictures from chris kueh. pics taken by chris and trish. thanks loadz.:)