Logistics

Here’s a topic that’s boring to say the least, but a necessity beyond your believe. Logistics for KL were simple everyday needs that you would not think twice about, but it would have been chaos had we not planned it properly.

Condo Security:
I stay in a condo, and like all condo security, guests have to register first before they are allowed to enter – so how the hell do you get 50 guests + 10 heng dais to register one-by-one without causing a massive delay? The normal procedure would be for the security to call up to the condo, walk the guest to the lift (because the lift lobby had a security pass) and escort the guest up. I could not see that happening during the heng dais arrival. So what we did was to pay the security chief an allowance and we gave him the guest list complete with car number plates.

All the guests had to do was go to the entrance, obtain a sticker and enter. Another security guard was on standby at the lift lobby to let the guests in. Can you imagine the chaos if we hadn’t done that?

Maps:
Ensure that all your vendors, especially the early morning ones (makeup, photographer, videographer), all had your home phone numbers (in case your mobile phone is out of range), complete address and maps to the houses and venues. You don’t want to be standing at the side of the road waiting for your photographer to arrive.

Contact List:
Ensure that all the important people has a contact list of the bridal party, the important vendors and the important relatives so that in case of emergencies, everyone can be contacted without needing to disturb you (ha-ha). I didn’t even have my mobile phone with me throughout the day which was great; I just went with the flow and enjoyed not thinking of what to do next.

Bridal Car Needs:
You got your car decorated and everything is nice and waxed. But check to see if you have topped-up your Touch & Go, gas tank filled and have tissues in the car. Think as well to include a bottle of water with a straw in for your own rehydration on the way to the venue. How would you like to stop at the petrol station to get petrol on the way to the ‘zip san leung’? If possible, ensure that all your heng dais do the same.

Planning is essential.

Photos by Bonnie Yap Photography

Money Money Money

We’re not talking about money for the wedding; we’ve covered that already. You need loads of it… FULL STOP.

I’m talking about the money that floats around on your wedding day! There is so much loose cash moving everywhere that you need to have someone you trust to keep an eye for you.

At the tea ceremony, money is given out and taken in and jewelleries are flying out of their boxes. You need someone to safe-keep and keep tabs for you at all times. Amidst hugging, kissing and smiling, the last thing on your mind would be the safe-keeping of your stack of angpaus.

For the tea ceremony, we each had someone to pass us our angpaus and also to keep our angpaus. Our head chi mui and head heng dai was on duty and they did a good job keeping track of everything.

The only thing we forgot was to give an angpau to the chi mui and heng dais (ha-ha); they couldn’t be keeping the angpaus and giving it out themselves! But that was exactly the case during my party – we totally forgot to give them the “thank you angpau” so my head chi mui had to go round passing it to everyone.

For the dinner, we had aunts on both sides keeping count and taking note.

On the same note, please pick someone whom you not only trust for the guest registration but someone who will be there on time and on schedule to look after the table (at least 45 mins prior to the scheduled guest arrival time). Not someone who would be too busy dressing up or chatting with other guests or is more interested in the bar. You will definitely need someone who is willing to spare their time for that important task.

Money situations at the registration counter can become major family debacles so please ensure that negotiations have already taken place prior to avoid any misunderstandings on that day. Who gets to keep the money? Who is to take home the angpaus? Have everything sorted out before the big day, so that there no daggers flying around during your reception!

You will find that some guests rather give you or the parents the angpaus personally but please still have the angpaus passed to your assigned person. You don’t want to be losing your angpaus on the dance floor!

Photos by Bonnie Yap Photography