Laura & Nghia
My high school friend Nghia got married on the weekend. I was the Best Man. It was the first time for me being Best Man or any groomsmen for that matter.
We were good friends in high school but due to our career choices, we didn’t really keep in touch after that. However when we did get together occasionally, it would be like old times again. Still, it came as a surprise that he chose me as his Best Man. I was very honoured and humbled by this.
The day started with a traditional Vietnamese Tea Ceremony at Laura’s house, followed by Nghia’s house. It was very emotional, surprisingly. Both bride and groom cried during their vows to each other. I guess skipping breakfast can be quite painful.
Lunch at the grooms’ house followed. After lunch the photographer made all the groomsmen change in front of the cameras (photograph & video). This photographer was hardcore. When I first met him, he had 4-5 different camera’s strapped to his body. They were black and of all shapes and sizes. I guess different cameras for different lighting, type of shot, air pressure, phase of the moon etc. He was using them one after the other. The way they were slung over his shoulder, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he reached over and pulled out an mp5.
Anyway, we thought he just wanted us to undo a few buttons, do a few poses and pretend we were getting changed. But no. He made us fully change in front him. He commented that we all had blue undies. Then he told one of us to stand behind the other person… I thought I was at a wedding photo shoot, not a gay porn video.
Then came the church ceremony. The only thing we rehearsed. Was no where as emotional as the tea ceremony in the morning. Though by no means any less significant. It went fairly smoothly except Nghia was daydreaming at one point and forgot to repeat what the minister said.
Next was Centennial Park for photos. That was painful. Never had I been asked to do so much posing, huddling together & pretend to talk to each other, laugh at each others jokes, walk slowly pretending to have fun, etc. If I’d seen another camera by the end of it I would have snapped and caused grievous bodily harm. The bride and groom took it well though. And it appears the heavens were co-operating too. All day it rained whilst we were in a car or indoors and became fine and sunny when outdoors. A blessing perhaps?
Finally came the reception. It was held at the Mandalay Estate in Lane Cove. Very poshy looking double storey house converted into a function centre. There was a garden where people could mingle prior to the formal dinner. The whole night was jam packed with entertainment. There were Uruguay folk dancers, flamenco dancers and traditional Vietnamese singers. Finally there were the speeches, which almost didn’t happen due to lack of time.
Nghia originally told me I didn’t need to do a speech. But as Best Man I felt it was my duty, plus I wanted to give them a little something from the heart. I’ve never liked public speaking so with the small amount of material I had to work with, I did my best to whip up a speech. The speech was fairly well received. I think the delivery of it helped to make it a better speech than what it was. People laughed of which I was relieved about (though they could be laughing at me). It wasn’t as funny as Nghia’s brother’s speech but I felt it was more sincere. Overall a fantastic and tiring day. Could not be any more happier for Nghia and Laura :)
Below is the speech:
Hello, for those who don't know me, my name is Chi. First of all I would like to thank Laura and Nghia for choosing me as the best man. It truly is a great honour. For everyone else here, if you enjoy this speech as much as I enjoyed writing it, then I offer my sincere apologies.
I feel that since I’ve been given the privilege of potentially living 5 of the most embarrassing minutes of my life on stage, the least I could do is return the favour by embarrassing Nghia for the next 5 minutes.
But first can I just say how absolutely gorgeous Laura looks tonight. It is a sad day indeed for all the single men out there. As for all the single women, I’m sure this day will go by with barely a ripple in the pond, so to speak.........just kidding buddy. ;)
So how did Nghia and I become friends? I first met Nghia back in high school. I remember him as the tall asian kid. He was a bit of a wild child in his youth. Never followed convention and always did things his way. For that was how he met his first flame, whom he bought from our school fund raising slave auction, to be his slave for a day. Such a romantic bloke that Nghia, Laura is one lucky woman.
As time went by he grew out of his rebellious phase. He became gullible and started doing things which some would say, did not require much common sense.
I remember this particular camping trip we went on back in high school. There were 5 of us and along with all our luggage, we managed to somehow cram ourselves into our friend's little Mazda 121. The drive there was... uncomfortable to say the least. However, we had a little in-car entertainment on the way curtesy of our friend Nghia. You see, he'd never heard of a shellfish called a pipi. For those who don't know, a pipi is a shellfish that lives in the sand, like a clam that you can dig up, cook and eat. In the car on the way there, we talked about going pipi hunting. Nghia being the curious boy that he was, asked what a pipi was. Seeing the bemused look on his face, we decided we couldn't let this golden opportunity pass. So we told him a pipi was a vicious little furry animal that lived in the forest which you hunt with spears! And so for the rest of the car ride, there was gullible Nghia, peering out the window into the trees that we drove past, desperately trying to catch sight of these elusive vicious furry pippies :)
The fun didn't stop there however. It was raining that day. When we got to the campsite Nghia revealed to us that he didn't bring any shorts. We were like "What!?!" No shorts to a camping trip?!?! Apparently he had only brought jeans.....to a camping trip.....that so happens to be near a beach. So being the optimists that we were, we told him everything will be ok. Just fold up your jeans and we'll be right. So we set up camp for the night. It was a shocker of a night. There were record rainfalls in our area. Our tent started to leak and was threatening to be blown away in the gale force winds. Luckily we survived that night. But woke up to the news that Nghia had placed his bag of clothes directly under a drip in the tent all night. The result of which is a bag full of Nghia's clothes (with his jeans), totally submerged in water. As enticing as the prospect of seeing Nghia strutting his stuff in a wet T-shirt sounds, we decided the better alternative was to head home. :D
I believe it was destiny that Laura and Nghia got together. You see, all through high school, Nghia and I were both computer geeks. We both loved computers, computer games, computer magazines and we both had a computer. Thus it came as a surprise that one day he told me he had decided to pursue a career in Medical Science. This was a major fork in the road for him. I always assumed it would be computing. But what a fateful decision that turned out to be. Because he never would have met his lovely future wife, Laura, otherwise.
I remember the time when he first told me about this girl he was interested in at uni. I asked him what she was like. He replied "she's tall!". Of course, when I finally met Laura, I realised she was not only tall, she was also graceful, beautiful and truly one of the nicest people I know.
Despite everything I’ve said about Nghia, as I’m sure you already know, he’s a genuinely nice guy. And when two genuinely nice people fall in love and decide to share the rest of their lives with each other, it truly is a happy occasion. Finding your soulmate in life is rare, yet when I look at Laura and Nghia, I know they have succeeded. It warms my heart to see you both so happily in love. And I’m glad to be here today to share this joyous occasion with you both. So, if everyone would please rise and raise their glasses, I would like to make a toast. To Laura and Nghia, may you live each day like your last, and live each night like your first. Cheers!
posted by Chip @ 10:35 PM
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