Marriage
I got married to Matthew Moroni Tang on January 2, 2010 at the Seattle, Washington temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a wonderful day that didn't end up being stressful for us. The stressful part of wedding planning was over with, and now we can enjoy our wedding day.
The Temple
Even though it wasn't stressful, it was a long and busy day. I got up around 5:30am to get ready. Hair and make-up took over 2 hours, which was more than expected. We left for the temple around 8:20am, a little latter than we had planned, but it worked out just fine. We got there in good time and didn't have to rush.
Our sealing was at 10am, and was simple, yet powerful, and filled with the spirit. There was just family and a few select friends in attendance, just like I wanted. So by 11am, Matt and I were sealed for time and all eternity; it was a wonderful moment. We just couldn't stop smiling
When we came out of the temple, our friends and family who weren't at the ceremony were waiting outside the temple doors. They made lots of noise and the cameras were flashing. After about an hour of taking pictures on the temple grounds in both my white wedding dress and my Chinese traditional qi pao, it was time for the luncheon.
The Luncheon
We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant nearby the temple. It was just Matt's parents and brother James, my parents, grandparents (my mom's parents), 4 sisters, brother-in-law Edward, Kathy's fiance Theo, and my two nieces (Joyce's daughters). I was pretty hungry and the food was really, really good. I wore my Chinese traditional qi pao at this.
After we ate, everyone except Matt and I went to the Church to get the reception set up. Matt and I got those two or so hours to ourselves, which was really nice.
The Reception
The reception was Chinese themed and started at 5pm, though Matt and I made our entrance a little late, because Matt got sent to the store to get ice and got stuck in a long line. For the first 45 minutes or so of the reception, we stood against this black backdrop with a big gold "double happiness" (雙喜）Chinese characters and had our pictures taken with the guests. By this time we had been smiling so much already, our smiles were a bit different than when we were outside the temple.
Then there was dinner, Chinese food of course! I for some reason wasn't too hungry, and didn't eat much. But Matt sure made up for it by eating two platefuls. Then we cut our cake. We didn't stuff it in each others' faces or feed each other (we had come to an agreement before hand). I think people were expecting it though, so I finally yelled, "Come eat cake!"
Then Joyce and Edward sang a Chinese song that's very popular, "The Moon Represents my Heart" (月亮代表我的心). They did a great job; I really like that song. I'm working on teaching it to Matt now. Then Matt's dad and my dad spoke a few words of congradulations and advice. And then it was time for the dancing! It was so much fun. First I danced with my dad while Matt danced with his mom. We danced for 5 minutes, to "Teddy Bear Corner". Then Matt and I danced to our song, doing the fox-trot, and then people started joining in and dancing too. We had Cha Cha, swing, and some slow songs, which we did fox-trot to. A lot of people asked if we had taken a dance class, because we were all over the dance floor (and yes, we did take a dance class for a semester together). The reception ended at 7pm, but we went around and said goodbye to our guests and enjoyed chatting with them. We left by 7:30pm, and Stacy drove us to our hotel.