Options

I like making decisions and taking a stand. I hate being in limbo. Yes, decisive I am. It works to my advantage at times, at other times not.

I appreciate that some circumstances warrant keeping one's options open. Admittedly I am not great at that. But I do so when situations require me to act in such a manner. Having said that, the window is normally a relatively short one. My instinctual trait is to make my mind up and move on, not linger. Sure, I have had missed opportunities because of this characteristic of mine but by and large, being earnest has had its upsides more than the down.

I am at a crossroads at present. Some have advised me to keep my options open for now. It's a trying time, but it's definitely good to be receptive to good counsel.

Photo of some of my friends and I serenading Jessie and Yoong at their wedding, courtesy of Zach Chin Photography.

Jessie And Yoong

13 wedding industry friends attended the wedding banquet in celebration of Jessie and Yoong's nuptials on Sunday evening. A lot of us started as industry colleagues and over time have become friends, which makes attending such celebratory events together much fun. Incidentally, Jessie is the co-owner of favour company Xocolati.

We are also a fairly sporting bunch. In wanting to create a lasting memory for the bride and groom, the 13 of us serenaded the newlyweds, in Mandarin nonetheless, with only 5 in the group actually being able to speak Mandarin! We never even practised as a group, in fact, we only had 3 practice sessions with with less than a 50% turnout each time. But we pulled it off, thanks to everyone having practised at home to a 'minus one' provided by our friend and wedding chanteuse Janet.

Jessie and Yoong were touched by our gesture and seeing the expressions on their faces made the endeavour extremely worthwhile. Much congratulations again Jessie and Yoong!

Photo of our songsheet with lyrics in Chinese and English phonetics.

A Validation

For those of us working in the wedding industry, being selected by a peer to be part of his or her wedding team is a validation that speaks much of the calibre of work that we are capable of. It is a gesture that we appreciate as there is no validation greater than that given by an industry colleague. And it is on this premise that all of us at That Special Occasion wish to thank Jessie and Yoong for including us in the journey towards your big day in November.

I have been friends and business associates with Jessie of Xocolati for many years, and it was with great pleasure and delight that we undertook the task of creating her wedding attire - for the civil ceremony, pre-wedding photography and the upcoming wedding in a few months' time. All of us in the industry constantly hope that our clients will trust us and listen to our advice, and Jessie played the perfect client to the 'T'. After an initial consultation, she left everything to us really, confident that we will do our best to make her the most resplendent on all 3 occasions. Always punctual for fittings, with our fellow colleague Zach of Zach Chin Photography in tow from time to time, the process of creating her dress and gowns was a thoroughly enjoyable one.

The photograph here is of the happy couple after their civil registration at Thean Hou Temple in Kuala Lumpur. The stage is now set for the pre-wedding shoot and come November, we look forward to participating in what will certainly be a milestone in your lives. In the meantime, have fun at the shoot!

Photo courtesy of Jessie Yap.