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| Ceremony at the Knox Chapel - courtesy of Dr.V. Chan |
Our little Derrick is all grown up and married!
We have known Derrick all his life since he was a few months old baby. Our families go back a long way as his mother and I served on the same church board for many years.
We often had meetings and bible studies while Derrick was sleeping peacefully in the car seat placed on the floor.
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| Lighting the unity candle together - courtesy of Dr.V. Chan |
It was a joyful event when we were invited to his wedding celebration a couple of Saturdays ago.
It was a beautiful blue sky without a cloud in sight!
The wedding ceremony was held in the Knox Chapel in Toronto.
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Derrick could not ask for a better day for his wedding!
Right after the church ceremony, there was a reception at the Four Seasons Hotel located in the Yorkville area in downtown Toronto.
Due to another commitment we had to attend in the early afternoon, we were unable to witness the ceremony at the church. We did make it to the Four Seasons Hotel for the reception.
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| Tea ceremony at Derrick's wedding |
Though both have been raised and educated in the North American culture, the bride and groom still observed part of the Chinese culture with the bride dressed in red during part of the celebration.
It was delightful to watch them taking part in the traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony at their wedding celebration receiving blessings, marriage advice and gifts bestowed on them by their senior close relatives just before the dinner reception.
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| Delicious appetizers before the dinner reception! |
There were quite a number of close relatives from both sides who flew in from across the continents to attend this wedding.
While the Tea Ceremony was taking place for the relatives, the majority of the wedding guests were served cocktails and delicious appetizers in another room. Many guests were busy taking part in a prepared activity that reflected the couple's interests.
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| The crossword puzzle Derrick prepared for his wedding guests |
For his wedding proposal, Derrick created a special puzzle for Angela who thought she was working on her regular crossword puzzle but discovered Derrick's proposal in the answers! Imagine how surprised Angela was and how romantic was that!
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| These beautiful ladies were busy solving the puzzle! |
Many of the guests took the crossword challenge very seriously spending a lot of time and energy trying to solve it.
Would there be another proposal hidden there for another love struck young man ?
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| The new couple with their friends |
We had the opportunity to have a picture with the new couple and congratulated them in person.
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| Table setting at the wedding reception |
After the Tea Ceremony, the door to the wedding reception opened and guests entered the elegantly prepared dining room.
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| An elegant table setting for the bride and groom - wedding reception at Four Seasons Hotel, Toronto |
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| Entering the banquet hall, guests were greeted with jubilant music by Soul Band |
We were greeted with a live band - Soul Power playing upbeat wonderful music.
We were surprised to hear really good hits from the 70's such as Killing Me Softly and Stand by Me! The Soul Power band was playing some songs that we ( the more mature folks) could recognize!
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| The bridesmaid and Groomsman danced their way into the reception |
The bridal party entered with each pair of the groomsmen and bridesmaids dancing their way into the reception hall, each making their own special moves.
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| The bridle party at the reception |
We gave a loud cheer and applause when the new couple entered!
After grace was said by the Pastor from their Christian fellowship, we were served our first course.
All the courses were delicious and beautifully presented!
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| The colour of the rose indicated our main course selection |
I really liked the idea of having our pre selected main dish indicated on our name tag with a specified coloured rose on the upper right handed corner :
Red rose - means roast beef
Pink rose - roast duck
White rose - bake fish
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| Derrick and Angela on their happiest day of their lives |
Half way through our dinner,
the father of the bird spoke about the bride.
We learned that the bride is a very calm person who never seems to be stressed out under difficult circumstances - an excellent character trait for a doctor!
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| The father of the bride |
He talked about how difficult the birth it was for the bride's mother and described some touching moments that brought tears to Angela's eyes.
( Angela was not the only one choking up; many of us were too.)
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| Dr. Leung - the father of the groom |
After the main course, Dr. Leung, the father of the groom spoke and talked about how happy he was for
his son's wedding and partner choice.
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| The beaming mother in law |
The mother of the groom was beaming all evening!
The immense happiness she was feeling was evident from her broad smile all night!
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| Sharing their romance journey and long distance courtship |
The new couple got up and shared with the guests their romance journey.
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| The first dance as a husband and wife |
They almost did not make it to this day as they had split up after a couple of years.
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| The mother in law embraced the new bride |
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| A beautiful floral centerpiece |
But their commitment to maintaining their long distant courtship brought fruition to their union.
A great lesson for many couples who are in the same situation!
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| Wedding guests enjoying their dancing to live music with the new couple |
It was a fabulous wedding celebration! We were honoured to share this special event with Derrick, Angela and especially with Marie, my best friend for many years.
May God bless the new couple as they start a new chapter in their lives together!
R.T.
A Wedding Reception
Four Seasons Hotel
Toronto, Ontario
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