Wedding Chaperon

I believe most Chinese in Malaysia are familiar with this profession called wedding chaperon a.k.a. Dai Kam Jie (in Cantonese). They have been seen in many traditional as well as contemporary Chinese weddings.

Wedding chaperon, is usually an auspicious married lady with living spouse, children, and grandchildren. She is also a quick thinker, has sense of humor, good at auspicious speeches, and well-versed in all Chinese wedding traditions, customs, and rituals. The wedding chaperon is traditionally hired by the bride's family to conduct traditional wedding ceremonies. In the modern era, I believe either side of the wedding couple's families can hire the wedding chaperon whenever they feel in need for one to perform the task.

Now that we all understand who a wedding chaperon is, lets look into what they do as a wedding professional!

Besides saying auspicious words and wishes, the most important requirement for a wedding chaperon is for her to provide guidance to the wedding couple. She will guide them through the traditional ceremonies and rituals such as the betrothal, bridal bed installation, wedding day prayer, and tea ceremony.

Let us further discuss the wedding chaperon's role in the tea ceremony. In most cases, we only think of serving tea to the elders in the family and that is it. Don't we? However, a wedding chaperon will make the ceremony merrier and interesting by introducing us to some unexpected items (will reveal what it is in just a moment). From what I recall from my sister's wedding, the wedding chaperon actually brought with her a pair of bibs for my parents (yay, the baby's bib but with some wedding-related decors on it!). It sounds funny but it carries a good meaning too! The bibs symbolize the long waited son-in-law for the bride's parents. Check out the pictures below! How cute my parents were?



The wedding chaperon not only presented a surprise to my parents, but there was another surprise for our relatives too. During tea ceremony, it is common for other family members and relatives (who are either older generation or relatives that are older than the wedding couple) to bring gifts to the newlyweds. As a token of appreciation, the wedding chaperon prepared some gold coins (usually a round-shaped chocolate wrapped in gold foil) for the newlyweds to present to the elders. The gold coins symbolize good fortune for those who wished or bought a gift to the newlyweds. What a loss if we did not hire a wedding chaperon for the wedding? We will not only miss out the fun, but also the meaningful symbols for the wedding!

Passion is an important key to becoming a successful wedding chaperon. It is the passion that motivates oneself to achieve certain level of competency in skills and knowledge of wedding traditions of different dialects in Malaysia. Knowing and be able to communicate in different languages does put a wedding chaperon in good place in the competitive wedding market. That way she is able to cater to greater amount of people and conduct various kind of weddings (not confined to just one market).

I personally think that this is the only profession/business that does not require a lot of media advertisement. A wedding chaperon becomes well known because of the words of mouth from their satisfied customers. A friendly and highly qualified wedding chaperon is highly sought after in Malaysia wedding market. To continue the tradition and retain the talented wedding chaperons, the valuable knowledge of wedding chaperon will then pass down to younger generations either through the mentorship program or some professional courses.

Are you currently looking for a wedding chaperon for your wedding in Malaysia? I have a list of experienced wedding chaperon profiles to share with you. Good luck in your wedding planning!



Source: Wedding.com.my
All pictures belong to author's personal collection.

Counting down to 2011 - 3 more days to 01.01.2011

2010 is a great year for me!
1. Married to my wonderful husband and moved to Iowa
2. Worked with my friend to develop Yours Moment website
(not in full force yet as I am still waiting for a software to come)
3. Traveled to West Coast with my girlfriends
4. Visited my family and friends back home in Malaysia
5. Assisted my sister with the preparations for her wedding in November.

Let's review the list!

I was thrilled when my hubby asked if I would like to spend the rest of my life with him (with the lovely hand-painted banner!). Sure I am! We would like to thank all our family and friends who helped us to celebrate the meaningful moment of our life. 01.01.2011 is coming up! Cheers to our first anniversary on the new year day!

Was it hard to say bye to NYC? (A place where many people have been dreaming to visit/live!) Well, it was not too hard in terms of leaving the single lonely nights in NYC. BUT it was hard to leave my wonderful friends, family, and colleagues. They were the greatest companion during all my lonely nights in NY. We celebrated the holiday season together, tried out new restaurants around the city, and even the grocery shopping with my girlfriends was fun! Thank you my lovely NY folks!

Next up was to planning a all-girls getaway! Air tickets - booked; hotel - booked; car - checked; map - ready; and we ready to have fun. That was my first all-girls vacation and it was fun. We had so much fun together. Thanks Eva, Kay, and Julie for joining the West Coast trip! I miss you all. Hope you have a great holiday!

Visiting Malaysia is ALWAYS a big deal! Who doesn't like to spend more time with their dearest family? There is no exception for me either. I miss my family and glad to be able to spend three months holidays with them. I would like to thank everyone who made an effort to visit or just hang out with me. Mom, I just miss your home cook food so much! Yes, I am learning and trying to prepare sumptuous homemade meals for my family. Thanks for sharing your recipes! I will be back in year 2012 (hopefully another long vacation for both my husband and I)!

Last but not least is to helping my sister to get ready with her traditional Chinese wedding. Oh my...by looking at the to-do list, there were just enormous amount of things to do and there were many customs for a traditional Chinese wedding (hopefully we get to hold a modern Chinese wedding with less customs when it is our turn in year 2012)! Despite tremendous amount of things to complete before the wedding, our goal was to have wonderful time with our long-time-no-see relatives and friends. We hope that everyone enjoyed the party and had fun chit-chat with each other!

Let's CHEERS for year 2010!

Photo belongs to Author own collection.

How many dresses do you have for your wedding?

How about 3 dresses? It is not unusual for Malaysian Chinese brides to have more than 2 dresses for their wedding. You might say it sounds like a fashion show; but it is true for the bride.

The idea of owning a gown is yet not so popular in Malaysia. Unlike brides in US where they buy wedding gowns for their weddings; Malaysian Chinese brides usually rent their wedding dresses from bridal studios. The bride traditionally wear three wedding dresses. The common set comes with a white wedding gown, a cheongsam/qipao (祺袍) or kwa (traditional heavily embroidered formal red wedding gown popular in Southern China), and an evening gown (bride's going away dress).

When does the bride wear a wedding gown, a cheongsam, and an evening gown?

Traditionally, the white wedding gown with veil is worn during the wedding ceremony. The second dress, a traditional Chinese wedding dress, to be worn at the wedding banquet. And lastly, the bride will change to an evening gown (also known as the bride's going away dress) before the bride leaves the banquet.

Nowadays, the bride will wear her white wedding gown for morning wedding ceremony (出门). She will then change to a cheongsam or kua for tea ceremony (敬茶). And lastly, she will have all three dresses for wedding banquet/reception. Wedding gown for opening, evening gown during the banquet, and cheongsam at the end of the banquet.






How about you? Are you having at least three dresses for your wedding?



Photo Credits:
1. Traditional Kwa from Elegant Event Design
2. Cheongsam from Datang Wedding Dress Co.
3. White wedding dress from That Special Occasion
4. Purple evening dress from Dress Feeling

* Moment-Capture Thursday *

Wow...Photographs by Adam Ong, a Malaysia-based wedding photographer, just blown me away! The very first time I saw his engagement, pre-wedding, and post-wedding photographs with newlywed Steven and Emily on facebook, I knew I must share these lovely pictures with my dearest blog readers!

Here you go:

Engagement Portrait

Love the spontaneity of the couple's laughter and of course the natural lighting!
Adam, you just captured the right moment at the right time!

Pre-Wedding

Don't you think Emily looks gorgeous in her red gown and the really long veil?!

Post-Wedding Session in a romantic spot - Paris, France

Beautiful!

Beyond beautiful...the people, the setting, and the LIGHT is PERFECT!

Love the color of Emily's dress! Isn't it mint green (candy color)!

Adam, you rock! I can't wait to find out more beautiful pictures from your new blog or in person! Thank you for sharing. And last but not least, CONGRATULATIONS Emily & Steven!

Brand New Bridal Magazine (Malaysia)
Marry Me!

A new born trendy and exciting wedding guide in Malaysia - Marry Me!

Marry Me! is an entertaining, educational, and informative wedding guide specially published for today's couples who love to know the latest wedding trends, fashions, beauty, wedding planning, budget control, and advice and tips. This magazine is scheduled to publish quarterly and will cover 60% of editorial articles and 40% of advertisements.

Four issues a year:
Spring Collection (January)
Summer Collection (April)
Autumn Collection (July)
Winter Collection (October)

Marry Me! aims to be personal and intimate; it features interviews with different designers, photographers, and celebrities to share their romantic love stories and forthcoming weddings. Also, they will be working closely with Malaysia's leading jewelers, bridal shops, and other wedding vendors to promote their latest products and services while offering Marry Me! readers complimentary vouchers to their services.

Marry Me! Magazine is published by White Clover Media Sdn Bhd with Netster Consulting as its consulting web associate partner. The magazine will be distributed in Klang Valley, Penang, Langkawi, Malacca, and Johor. Their distribution centers are participating Starbucks Coffee Shops, Marriage Registration Offices, and Skin Care Retailers (Sasa). To find out the participating distribution center nearest to you, please click here. Grab a copy before it runs out!

For detailed information about this magazine (including advertisement information), please continue reading their rate card.

For inquiry, drop them an email at marry.me@wedding.com.my or simply click here to visit their official website.



Happy Reading!

Outdoor Wedding Venue
~ Ciao Ristorante, Malaysia ~

I have been always looking for an outdoor wedding venue for my sister's upcoming wedding in 2010. Aha...I finally found one (well...this will not be the only one, I will still keep an eye on other outdoor wedding venues!) in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - CIAO RISTORANTE. Thanks to 'Jules Eating Guide to Malaysia', a blog created by Julian Si.

From the name , I am sure you are able to guess what kind of cuisine are they serving in their restaurant. [Tips from wikipedia: The word ciao is an informal Italian verbal greeting, meaning either "goodbye" or "hello".] Yes, that is it...It is an Italian Restaurant established since 1991. It is strategically located at a colonial bungalow along Jalan Tun Razak; with a serenity space, a large garden for all kind of functions (up to 210 persons for seated dining), and ample parking lots for its patrons and guests.

I love the setting of the venue very much, especially the romantic ambience at the garden. I am a "great ambience lover"! I will easily fall for places with beautiful setting, as well as their romantic ambience. I have created a collage based on photos taken from their portfolio online. It includes Ciao's garden entrance, garden walkway, fountain setting, tented events, decorations, and etc. Please see below.




However, I have no comment in terms of "foodie sensation", as I never tasted before (but I'll definitely drop by when I am back to KL for vacation next time!). For more about the food tasting part, feel free to drop by Julian's blog at juliansi.blogspot.com =)

More details about Ciao:

428 Jalan Tun Razak,
50400 Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia
03-9285 4827

Ciao's website


Enjoy, people!