#Jockwedding: The Bridesmaids

Selecting the bridal party was one of the most exciting and also difficult part about this whole wedding thing. The both of us are fortunate enough to have a lot of close friends to choose from and if we could we would have everyone we loved be a bridesmaid or a groomsmen. Having nine bridesmaids and nine groomsmen is kinda pushing it already and also we wanted nine because it represented the amount of years we would have been together by 2014.

In one of my rare blog posts, I thought it would be nice to introduce the bridesmaids. Hope this post doesn’t seem too awkward, hope I haven’t quite forgotten how to write.

Bridesmaids and Maid of Honours from The Dahlings

As I went through high school, university and ultimately came out to work, I have been blessed with very close friends who were with me all the way. In high school I had The Dahlings, a group of 11 girls who remained close years after high school. Although it has been tough to keep in touch especially in recent years with careers, relationships and distances to juggle, I still think of them as my Dahlings.

Esther (Maid of Honour)

Esther and I met in Form 1 when we shared the same pesky chinese POL class but only got really close in Form 3, when she and I sat next to each other in the same class. We bonded while slogging for our Interact Club projects, as well as with the rest of the Dahlings,  and we carried this bond into college where we would do lots of firsts together – first time driving on the highway, using a digital camera to take silly pictures, DIY projects.. and we shared many, many dreams together. Esther and I can go on and on about our great big dreams. One big dream was in 2003: Fresh out of form 5, I discovered I was pretty alright at this software called Photoshop, like HEY i can remove pimples and such! I can work this Photoshop thing, no prob. I was also messing around with Frontpage, a software found on the spanking new Windows XP that could make websites and I thought HEY! Let’s do this. Let’s make websites. Prom was also rolling around and Esther and I thought we had what it took to start up a prom dress and accessories review website. We had a digital camera and all that. It would so totally work.

Imagine if we kept it up, we’d be reviewing shops even before blog shop reviews came around. 🙂 Many other great big dreams came after that that never really worked out. But we yearn to get over it and make something happen, one day. 🙂 I like the fact that we get inspired together and it is a lot of joy to have someone who is on the same page as you always.

Despite The Dahlings being strewn all over the globe, I get to see Esther almost every week as she has moved down to Singapore for over a year now. Needless to say, it’s pretty amazing having one of your childhood best friends so near when you have moved so far away from home.

She has been a great pillar of support when it comes to my wedding. She was there to give me ideas, to put me on the right track, to vacuum away any dust bunnies tumbling around my wedding-crammed brain…. I really don’t know what I did to deserve such an amazing person to be one of my two maid of honours. You hear so much about bridesmaid dramas but Esther and Mun Teng have been absolutely amazing and I have never felt more blessed than this.

Mun Teng (Maid of Honour)

 

I love Mun Teng a lot because she is raw and real and funny and basically the most genuine person ever. We were primary schoolmates but we got closer in high school and even closer when she sat behind Esther and I in Form 3. Volleyball and Interact Club played a huge part in our lives and again, like the other girls, we bonded over that.

As people left Subang, came back to Subang and left Subang again, Mun Teng slowly became the one friend that I would meet whenever I am back in Subang. Many firsts with her too…discovering make-up in Form 2 and me making her look like a clown (wish we had a picture), going Genting for the first time with friends, late night mamak sessions during college, going clubbing and discovering that I’m a crying drunk and her laughing at me…the list is endless.

Her brutal honesty is also an acquired taste but the Mun Teng today is a better deal than the Angry Munty we had to deal with back in high school…so we love her all the more now! She’s also Aunty Munty as she nags like an aunty! Haha!

Melody (Bridesmaid)

 

I would say Melody is the first real female friend I had. As in, we met at an age where I was morphing into a woman in the sense that I:
1) Started bitching
2) Started to fall head over heels in love with boys
3) Started to think too much
4) Loved to indulge in heart-to-heart sessions

Mel played a huge role in forming me into the person I am today. When I met her in Form 1, I was still the timid, shy and awkward prefect from primary school compared to her eye-rolling, eloquent, big-girl-magazines-reading and sassy super confident self. It was a breath of fresh air to me! I could be sassy too! She came from a very prominent all girls primary school and I always assumed that’s where she got her confidence from.

We got close as librarians in Form 1 where she would read to me love letters from her then online sort of boyfriend and I would point out cute senior boys to her to which she would tease me about endlessly. Interact Club became our LIFE! With the other Dahlings, we also had many happy afternoons of volleyball training. That pretty much summed up high school for us.. Interact Club and Volleyball!

I’ve had the most ups and downs with Mel throughout high school and as one of those who stuck around Subang after uni, I saw Mel a lot whenever I was back in Subang. When she left for Australia, I felt myself getting pretty upset knowing that it’ll be hard to ‘just hang out’ again.

I do miss Mel a lot.

Amanda

When I first met Amanda in Form 1, she was already hot stuff among the boys. I always tell her that back then I thought she was an ice queen, a real cold…. well, for lack of better word, bitch.

But as we went through high school, I started to see the cold layers melting away revealing this super funny, kooky, nutty, genuine person. One of the things that is constant about her throughout the 14 years that I’ve known her is her loyalty and it is one of the things I really love about her.

She has left home for a really long time but every time she returns from Australia, we still get on like a house on fire. And when you have a friend like that, you know she’s one of your best friends. You never say goodbye, you just keep talking from where you last left off.

Shevie

Shevie is beyond a cousin to me. Not only is she my god sister but growing up, it has always been us three kids: Jolene, Mervyn and Shevie. We were siblings! Mervyn and Shevie fought. Mervyn and I fought. Shevie and I never ever fought though I may have raised my voice at her a few times when we were kids. Sounds like Mervyn was public enemy no. 1. Haha!

I won’t say she is the sister I never had because she pretty much is the sister I have always had! We got on great as kids and we still get on great as adults. Despite not seeing each other as much as we would like, we are still on the same wavelength which is pretty damn awesome. I’m also very proud to see that this younger sister of mine is bursting with creativity, confidence and passion and that basically sums up who she is today!

Lie Yuen

It’s hard to imagine that I met her for the first time back in A-Levels when all I remember and love about her is from uni. Now THIS is the sister I never had. We were each other’s family in uni along with my other girls Cze-Yin, Nien, Brenda, Zhu Zen, Poh Yee, Socknee for the five years in Sungai Petani. We were housemates from my first year right up to my final year and the amount of things we learned about each other is pretty bottomless.

We did so, so much together. I talk so much about how I love my high school girls right, so dentistry is also five years, as long as high school. This is high school + living in together, some real bonds were formed right there!!

Usually huddled in my bedroom, we would talk about our families, our insecurities, our dreams, our fears, our friends. She would always layan all my excitement be it a youtube video, new cosmetics, something weird on the internet… anything. She was always there laughing with me.

Sure, we annoyed each other as people who get close to each other do, but I truly truly am grateful that I had her with me throughout uni. I have never been that close to a friend before. I think the most similar relationship (in terms of communication) that I can think of is my relationship with Chee Kiang and that’s saying something! Haha!

Elizabeth

I met Elizabeth when we were in form 3 or form 4 as she was also on the board of directors of her Interact Club at a neighbouring school. She had a genuine friendliness that was wayyy beyond her age.. that was what I remembered most about her.

College and university happened and while I still thought fondly of her, we drifted out of each others’ lives.

It was only when I started working in Johor Bahru that we reconnected and she is one person who can talk to anyone and everyone. She has a very big heart that never judges and is ready to do anything for a friend. She knew all my girls from Subang and is pretty close to them and I could bring her to meet anyone I came to know in JB too! She is THAT friendly. For a period of time, she hung out at our apartment pretty often so much so that I told her she might as well be our adopted daughter.

While Chee Kiang and I share a lot, A LOT of friends together, Eli is someone that we have together. I know she sounds like a daughter haha but I don’t really know how to explain. I guess you can say we click with her equally.. and that’s saying a lot! Also, do you know how rare it is to have someone you know from home living in JB like you?

Pei Nee

We met at work at the end of 2011 at my last posting as a first year dental officer. She was doing her first posting in JB at that time. It might be quite hard to believe but my first impression of her was that she was a bit of an ice queen too. Similar to Amanda, the layers melted off to reveal the funniest, sweetest, most down to earth person ever.

I quickly caught on that we were on the same wavelength in the way we talked and the way we thought. She had a cheeky edge too and I absolutely love her sense of humour. Similar to Eli, you can bring her to meet anyone and by the end of the night, she would be closer to the person than you are! That just speaks volumes of how genuine she is. As savvy as she appears, she has a little naivety to her which is extremely endearing.

Dennis (bridesMATE!)

Lastly, having to decide between She Dee, Sush, Chien, Min Dee, Melissa, Abby, V-ng Yan, Li Peng from high school, Cze-Yin, Brenda, Nien, Socknee, Zhu Zen, Poh Yee from uni, Jillian and Yi Pei from work, my cousins Jacqueline, Yen Yen, Kai Ning… it hit me. I had to have my korkorbear as my bridesmate!!

When I first knew of his existence, Dennis was my primary school’s head prefect, two years my senior. We became fast friends when I entered Form 1, even more when I entered the Interact Club where he was the Vice President. As a 15 year old, he had wisdom wayyyyyyy beyond his years. Whatever boy problems I had, he was there to decipher them for me and he was one of my strongest pillar of support throughout high school. Any dilemma I had, he had a solution. He was like my oracle. The older brother I never had. He was the older brother most of us in the Dahlings never had.

While he remained our close confidante throughout high school, he was a very serious grounded boy. The ultimate teacher’s favourite. After high school, a new side of Dennis started to take shape. Mamak sessions through the years were filled with stomach hurting hilarious stories that Dennis brought back from his many adventures traveling the world. Like Elizabeth he too has a big heart and with an open mind, he embraces new experiences and crafts them into amazing tales to share with us.

Can’t wait for the day when they are all in the pretty dresses I picked out. 🙂