The wedding turned out to be one of the happiest days of my life. Although it was not perfect (which wedding is perfect?), I am proud of the fact that we had made the most out of it. So here is a brief recap of how the day went.

I woke up at five thirty in the morning. Aunt 9 who flew in from Texas and I took a walk around the park to catch up on family matters. We went back to my mom’s little apartment to get ready. Our family left together from my sister’s house at a bit passed eight to get to the bride’s resident in Flanders, New Jersey for the ceremony. We arrived a few blocks from the house to get everyone together for the walk-in tradition. The ceremony was kept short, simple but no less moving. The bride looked gorgeous in the red traditional dress (ao dai). She was indeed the brightest star of the day. The most memorial part of the morning is when both side of the family were in tears. They were happy for both of us.

After the ceremony, light brunch was served. At that time Dung and I escaped the scene with the photographer for some photo shoots at the gorgeous campus of Princeton University. We hit a bit of snag trying to find the place we wanted because we weren’t familiar with the area. Big thanks to the photographer for being patience with us. Not sure how the photos will turn out, but he did a great job of getting us relax and felt comfortable in front of the camera.

The reception, which took place at Golden City Chinese Restaurant, was to start at six thirty, but we were there at six because the campus photo shoot turned to be longer than what we had planned. Thanks to my wife’s sister and her future husband for setting up the whole place for us. When we got there the place looked warm, intimate and elegant. Guests began to arrive at around six thirty and the place almost filled at seven thirty so we got the party started.

Big thanks to our beautiful MC with a lovely voice for holding down the program. After visiting my blog and having read our Love Notes, she was able to incorporate some of the lyrics into her introduction. Father of the bride gave a warm, heartfelt speech thanking our guests for coming. My speech also turned out decent after I had a few drinks.

What kept the wedding exciting had to be the music band. Thu Hoai and the Magic Night band brought down the house. Thanks Thu Hoai for covered Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Niem Khuc Cuoi” with such a romantic vibe as well as the special dedication to my mother with “Me Hien Yeu Dau.” The young crowd at my table loved her version of “Vi Do La Em” without even clear understanding of the lyrics. Big props go to the band for keeping everyone on the floor all night long. We started our first dance early on so that folks could come out and dance. We even chucked out the traditional formal greetings so that people could have more time to enjoy the music. Dung and I went around and greeted everyone individually.

The music was great. The wine was tasty. The cake was awesome. The food was fantastic. Everyone seemed to enjoy the party. Most folks stayed and danced until eleven thirty at night. Everything was perfect until the next day. About a dozen of folks including myself got sick from the food. I am still recovering and hopefully I can go on to Jamaica tomorrow. I apologize to anyone who came to the reception and got sick from the food. I made the call to the restaurant immediately and the owner blamed it on the weather. Although the food was good, I wouldn’t even reconsider Golden City Chinese Restaurant for future occasions. Once again, I truly apologize.