Wedding Wednesday: Our wedding video!

I think this is sadly going to be the last post about my wedding. I've truly enjoyed sharing everything about it ever since J proposed on October 14th, 2012. I'm glad the whole thing is forever going to be stored here in my blog, so that even I myself get to look at it anytime! I've shared the proposal, our pre-wedding pics, our save the date pics, all the wedding planning, my bridal shower, and finally the pictures of our big day, not only in Barcelona but also of our wedding reception in Hong Kong! But life goes on, and now a whole new exciting chapter will unfold: parenthood! I'm looking forward to share this new stage with all of you. For this last post, I reserved a very special something: our wedding video! {the short version, that is!}

I cried so much the first time I got to watch this video, it brought back so many memories of one of the happiest days of my life... {My wedding ranked first on my list of happy days until the moment I saw my baby for the first time on ultrasound, that was... THE BIGGEST JOY I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED!}

Anyway, I loved the video a lot, and watched it over and over with J, crying all the time. Marrying J was really the best thing I've ever done, I had never been so happy in my life as in these 8 months since we got married. I hope you like the video, I still like to watch it every now and then :)

Our Hong Kong wedding reception (II/II)

Here is the second part of our Hong Kong wedding reception, which is technically the first, since these are the pictures of what we did on the morning before the actual reception. We went back to the our university, City University of Hong Kong, a very special place for us since it's where we met and became classmates back in 2008, and where we started our relationship in 2010. Our bridesmaids and best men came along to take pictures with us, and it was a really nice morning, being back to that place where we spent three years, now in our wedding gown and suit and with our best friends sharing our joy.

I was wearing the dress I had originally bought for our wedding in Catalonia, but which I finally decided was not pretty enough! I'm so glad I got my other dress, the one I actually ended up using for the wedding, because I think it suited me way better, even though this one is nice, too!

l finally got to have a pink peonies bouquet!!! Peonies are my all-time favorite flowers, and I had wanted them for my wedding bouquet so badly, only to be told by my florist that peonies in October were like impossible to get, and even though we could try getting some from the middle-East, the quality couldn't be assured. That's why I finally gave up and sported a mini-roses bouquet, which was actually lovely and matched the whole dress very well, so I was very happy in the end. But anyway, having the peonies in Hong Kong at last was a dream come true!

One thing I got really upset about was the fact that my make-up artist (who was doing my hair as well), totally made up my hairstyle!!! OMG, I couldn't believe it when I saw the result. We had done trials a couple times, took pictures, and got everything settled, and then she did a completely different thing!! I didn't scold at her or anything, she's a very nice girl and I'm sure she just got messed up, but it was so unprofessional... This is not the hairstyle I had chosen for this day, but oh well...

I'd like to thank Tune, Leo, Raymond, Herman, Chloris, Marie, Connie and Sherry, it was lovely having you sharing this day with us! The boys and Connie had already traveled all the way to Catalonia for our wedding in October, they really are way too amazing!!!

As usual, I have soooo many pictures, and had to chose only a few... Hope you like them and get the feel of what the morning of our Hong Kong wedding reception was like. It was a wonderful day, taking into account it was December 29th!

Our Hong Kong wedding reception (I/II)

As you all probably know, on December 29th, 2014, J and I had a wedding reception in Hong Kong to celebrate with all our family and friends there. The reception took place in a Chinese restaurant which specializes in wedding banquets, where we held a dinner for more than 200 guests. During most part of the dinner, I wore a red dress, and these are the pictures I'l be sharing with you today. Next time, I'll show you my other two dresses, the one I wore on my wedding day, and the white wedding dress I first bought. I loved my red dress, I bought it online for a very good price, and was delighted with it as soon as I tried it on. As you will see from the pictures, Hong Kong and European weddings have nothing in common. In Europe all guests are expected to come in their best gowns and suits, while in Hong Kong, people show up really casual. Chinese wedding receptions also tend to be way more massive than western ones, with lots and lots of guests, several of which are the bride and the groom's parents friends. That's why I feel Western weddings are more centered on the bride and the groom, while in Chinese ones parents play a big role. It was lovely being able to share the joy of our wedding with everyone we love in Hong Kong, but with so many people the truth is it was impossible to properly care for every guest. 

As you can see, I was wearing lots of gold jewelry, all presents from our guests. It is customary in China to give gold to the bride and the groom, and the bride wears it with her red dress. 

A nice family picture with my parents, brother and uncles, and my in-laws and sil

We had lots of performances going on during the dinner, we had two amazing MCs who conducted the whole thing from the stage, and a couple friends with stunning voices that sang some lovely songs.

Aaron and Venus singing beautifully

I have to say I loved the decor of the restaurant. The stage wall was full of white and rose roses, which reminded me of our white and pink wedding in Catalonia! This color combo is one of my favorites ever, so no wonder I was delighted with it. 

This is how we decorated the reception area of the restaurant, with our real-size selves like in our Catalonia wedding!

And last, we had a blast dancing in the stage once the dinner was over. I want to thank our awesome Master of Ceremonies and friend, KC Leung, for all the effort he put into our wedding, and for cheering everyone up with his dance moves.

Wedding Wednesday: Our Wedding Music

Merry merry Christmas! I can't believe time went by so fast, and just now that I finished showing you all the pictures from our wedding in Catalonia, our Hong Kong wedding reception is coming up THIS Sunday, December 29th!!! Super excited!

You've seen the pictures from our wedding and by now you probably have a good idea how everything was. But there is a very important part of a wedding pictures can't show, the music, which has the power of making moments truly magical. Both J and I are not music junkies, but we really did enjoy choosing the music for our special day. Here is the list of songs we chose for the most special moments of our big day. I hope this list can help you if you're planning your wedding and looking for some music advice!

Wedding ceremony:

Groom's march in: Trumpet Voluntary - Bach



Flower Boy & Girls, Bridesmaids & Groomsmen march in: Only Time - Orchestra

Bride's march in: Canon in D major - Bach

End of ceremony: Recessional Finale from Water and Music suite

Rice and rose petals: A moment like this - Kelly Clarkson

Balloons: I do - Colbie Caillat

Wedding banquet:

Entrance of bride & groom to banquet hall: (I've had) the time of my life



Entrance of first dish: This will be (an everlasting love) - Natalie Cole



Entrance of digestive: Celebration - Kool and the gang



Entrance of second dish: Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the waves



Entrance of wedding cake: All you need is love - The Beatles

Toast: How sweet it is (to be loved by you) - Marvin Gaye



Entrance of dessert: Shout - The Isley Brothers



First Dance: (Everything I do) I do it for you - Bryan Adams

Now every single time I hear any of these songs I'm immediately transported to our wedding day. Each of the songs is deep within my memory of that perfect day, and they will always be. Wish me luck for this coming Sunday, hoping everything goes as smooth as in our wedding in Catalonia!

Wedding Wednesday: Our wedding banquet

Our wedding banquet had 10 tables for the 100 guests, including our presidential table of 6: J and I, and our parents. They were decorated with Baby's breath (Gypsophila Paniculata), as the rest of our wedding. All the floral arrangements, including my bridal bouquet, were made by La Flor, in Manresa, Catalonia. We chose pink napkins and pink candles for the occasion to match the whole thing: my wedding bouquet, my belt, my bridesmaids dresses... It was a white and pink wedding, my perfect combo! 

Our sitting plan was hanging from the wall on a rope :)

We used a heart-shaped sugar cookie to let the guests know where to sit. The ones for the boys were written in blue and the ones for the girls in pink.

We started eating really late taking into account that this was a lunch. If I remember correctly, we weren't seated until 5pm, and we finished around 9pm. There were several surprises during the lunch: we prepared some videos with our pre-wedding pictures, and also a video with pictures of when we were kids, and then another one of pictures with our friends. 

There were also some surprises FOR US, as my friends from college gave me a huge box with... the marriage recipe! A box full of little gifts and notes on how to achieve a happy ever after marriage, and... lots of coins on the bottom too, some made out of chocolate and some real ones, which made the box so heavy! I loved everything from this amazing box that my friends so gorgeously DIY-ed with so much effort!  

Details! The sitting plan for table 2, the floral arrangements for the guests tables, and the floral arrangements at the presidential table

After the dinner and before the dance, it was time to cut the wedding cake! I designed the cake myself, all of it, by drawing it and then working on it with our cake artist. The layer under the flower ball was made of red velvet, and we ate it for breakfast the following day! You can also see the custom-made bride and groom we ordered, which looked exactly like us, I loved it!

Then it was time for our first dance {I'll let you know which song we chose next week when I tell you all about the music in our wedding...}, and after that it was party, party and party until midnight!

I told you I didn't cry in the whole wedding. Well, I kinda lied. I did shed some tears at midnight, when I gave my wedding bouquet to one of my bridesmaids and BFF, Lea, wishing her a wedding proposal real soon! It was a very touching moment, too bad the photographer wasn't there anymore to take a pic!

Wedding Wednesday: Our wedding: Cocktail party

While the bride, the groom, bridesmaids and groomsmen were in the woods taking pictures, the other guests headed over to the covered terrace, where we had prepared a cocktail party before the banquet, with around 15 different appetizers {including a whole mouthwatering jamón ibérico ham} and several refreshments that the waiters kept passing around.

The most special part of the terrace was the photocall we prepared with real-size cardboards of J and I, dressed in the suit and wedding dress from our pre-wedding pictures. We bought some funny messages and masks for our guests to take pics with "us". We also DIY-ed the background, with around 20 pom poms we patiently set up on the days before our big day.

This last photocall picture is the one my friends uploaded on Instagram, and is definitely my very favorite!!! Super sweet!

Another great thing going on in the terrace was the live music. We hired Marta Trujillo, a very talented local artist, to sing for us during the cocktail. It was lovely to have her singing there, I think it made a huge difference and everyone was amazed by her powerful yet delicate voice.

As I told you on last week's Wedding Wednesday post, my dress ended up full of pine needles in the woods, but my flower girls worked wonders and just like little fairies got everything out while I socialized around the terrace! Here's the proof!

Next week I'll show you our wedding banquet! SO looking forward to share it with all of you!