When people are exhausted and still talking about the wedding two days later, you know it was a good wedding.
The wedding was perfect. Perfectly Dan and Bran, that is.
It had its "Dan and Bran" details. It was lighthearted, yet sweet and romantic. It was quirky. It had a lot of "Dan and Bran" humour. It was so them. Absolutely them.
The girls got up at 5:30am to get ready. The makeup artist was chatty and cheery. It helped us get out of our groggy moods and ready to party. Hair and makeup - check. Dress - check. The night before, the girls (bridesmaids and bride) spent the night at Kat's. It was a short and sweet girls gathering before the big day. We shared a box of chocolates from XOXOLAT, and toasted Brandee with a glass of Moscato D'Asti (Italian champagne). (If you've never had it before, you've got to try it. It's perfect for any type of celebration and it's like heaven to your palate). It was a splendid combination, and the best way to lull us all to sleep before the big day.
While we were enjoying our last few sips, Bran whipped out tiny boxes for all the girls. Each bridesmaid got a lovely necklace as a gift from the bride and each necklace had a different saying - mine said "Good friends see the world in the same way."
Back to wedding day...
The boys arrived around 9:30am. We had plenty of time to get ready and prepare their doorgames. Traditionally for the Chinese, the groom comes to pick up the bride at the bride's home, and the bridesmaids put the groom through a series of "tests" before he gets the bride. The groomsmen are his backup. We made them sing. We made them dance. We made them do silly things. Laughter rang through the house... And continued to ring through the day.
Bride's mommy made everyone breakfast. We are talking about a good 30+ people. Everyone had a bacon + egg english muffin. Mmm mmm, started off the day right with a hearty breakfast. Then, the wedding party loaded into an SUV limo supplied by the groom's brother.
We arrived at Hycroft and started off with the tea ceremony. Then, family had their time with group photos. There was no rushing for this wedding. We even had time to mix and mingle and greeted people coming for the ceremony. When the time came, we shoo'd the bride upstairs to get into her white wedding dress. At this moment, the wedding planner came in with a letter written by the groom. Before even reading it, the bride already started to tear up.
By the time we were about to walk down the aisle, Bran was full-on crying. The three of us did funny dances and told silly jokes in hopes to make her laugh and distract her from tearing up so she wouldn't ruin her makeup. And then, off we went...
The ceremony was lighthearted. The bride and grooms had their waterworks going on and off. The commissioner told the bride to stick her tissue down her dress, which made everyone laugh. And while we did our signing of the registry, the rest of the wedding party bopped up and down to the light, beaty music. It wasn't rehearsed. We just did... what we did. Having fun. Which made the couple laugh too.
After the ceremony, Bran surprised Dan with a groom's cake. Dan's favorite food is fried chicken. He also loves chocolate cake. So, this chocolate cake was moulded into looking like a fried chicken. Pretty funny. The groom loved it! The rest of the guests got to share a couple hundred mini cupcakes - flavoured chocolate with kahlua, pumpkin spice ,and almond with coconut. It was to die for. Everyone left the ceremony completely satisfied and on a sugar rush.
While Bran and Dan did their photoshoot, the rest of the wedding party decided to take a ride on the Vancouver trolley (that Bran and Dan had rented for mainly photo purposes). "Driver, take us to the nearest McD's!". So, we rode in this large, bright red trolley to pick up our Filet-O-Fish's and Big Mac's.
Group photos under the Burrard Bridge and near Vanier Park.
Then, to Brock House for the reception.
We made our entrance to the party dancing to the song "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO. We got the guests involved in a game of "suck the ping pong ball". The best man and I did a little surprise together for the bride and groom. We did our speeches too. And the night ended off with a bang when the groom serenaded the bride with "You're My Inspiration" by Chicago, and later busting out "I'll Make Love To You" by Boyz II Men with the groomsmen doing backup dancing and singing. It was sweet, romantic and hilarious. It was a hoot and everyone loved it. We laughed all night long ...
To wrap it up, we drank till we were all happily buzzed, skipped our way to the photobooth for some picture-taking, and even fiddled around with bubbles and glowsticks at the kids station. We all wrote a little wish or marriage advice and hung it on their wedding tree. And last, but not least at all, we danced the night away...
So, on September 23, 2011, Bran and Dan got hitched. It was absolutely exhausting. But, definitely beautiful, memorable... and perfect.
Congratulations, Brandee and Daniel!
(click on photo for larger image).
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