"This Is How We Do It"

The day and venue of V and Alex's wedding was epic! Trisara is a secluded 5-star resort with breathtaking views of the ocean. When we were driving up the hill and caught the first glimpse of the ocean, I literally gasped. It was so beautiful. I couldn't believe we were there. We were among the first guests and immediately started taking pictures. The groom was there greeting us as we sipped on ginger tea and took in the surroundings. I kinda told Alex I would cry for 2 reasons: tears of happiness for the beautiful wedding and tears of sorrow that our vacation and trip would be over! Maybe not the classiest thing to say but it was the truth. Although we went halfway around the world to see our friend get married, they picked paradise and none of us could complain. In fact, it was quite the privilege (as always!) to be friends with V!

The ceremony was performed by the groom's older sister and she was phenomenal! More on that later. Orchids were everywhere but they really couldn't compete with the water and trees all over. The bridal party was a great looking bunch! The girls wore fuschia (?) cocktail dresses in different styles. And Addison the little flower girl was adorable as always!

  

We knew V would come out in style but we did not anticipate how dramatic of an entrance she would make. While the rest of the wedding party entered from the lounge, V and her father came out from the second floor of one of the towers on the right, crossed a bridge above the manmade waterfall and took the stairs down. Relatives (i think cousins?) played pachelbel's canon in d on violin and piano. T & I were tearing up at the sight. The gown was custom-made by designer seamstresses in Singapore. I should have asked about the shoes because they were awesome. Anyway, the tears didn't end there.

When the ceremony began, Alex's sister enlightened us with the rigorous credentials needed to become ordained. It basically only required checking a box in a free online form. Despite her inexperience "marrying people," she did a great job capturing what is so special about V and Alex as individuals but also as a couple the last 4 years. She mentioned that she was Alex's legal guardian at some point during school and that he never crossed boundaries with her and was just a great example for the entire family then and now. I looked to T and we were both in tears. When he brought V home for Thanksgiving, they knew she could hang because she is cool and can handle lots of food and football. I think it is truly remarkable that V and Alex made the early days of their relationship work, while she was in NY and he was in Singapore. It's so great to see that all of that was culminating into this great event celebrating all they've been through to get their lives together. Everyone felt the love the entire night!

The cocktail hour served passion fruit margaritas and some chili moon martini (?) drink as well as Singha and wine. We dined on awesome hors d'oeuvres and signed the guest book, which involved lots of people taking silly pics. When cocktail hour ended, it started pouring; guests had to be escorted with umbrellas to the reception area. When we got to our seats, we welcomed the bride and groom to their first dance. It was a Chinese version of Prince's (and Sinead O'Connor's) "nothing compares 2 u"!!!!! So good. Other highlights of the reception were: Alex singing a song to V (!!! Surprise!!!), V's awesome Chinese dress, the DJ, the DJ falling on the floor, all the 90's pop music (including K singing "this is how we do it" to the amusement of T and the girls singing "shoop" before the DJ cuts it off abruptly) and lighting up lanterns to the sky... What an amazing night! Hope this honeymoon feeling never ends for all of us!