And the list goes on

The guest list is shaping up into a decent one despite a number of drop-outs. I'm sad that some good friends won't be able to make it - either to the church, or to the banquet or both. But I'm pleased that we'll have some special guests who played very important roles in my life:

1. Mrs. Luse, my piano teacher, who didn't whip me into shape for my Grade 7 and 8 exams, she drew me gently into shape. She never raised her voice but always guided and persuaded. She has excellent skills of persuasion - when I first studied under her, I expressed clearly that I had no wish to take another piano exam. A year later, I somehow signed myself up for Grade 7, which is a big deal since I'd failed Grade 5 and had barely passed Grade 6 under a teacher who left me with zero good memories. I scored a distinction for Grade 7 and didn't look back.

2. Father Ambrose, the funny priest who inspired Lin Kiat and me at our Engaged Encounter weekend. It's a pity his mother, who was my father's English teacher, passed away many years ago and cannot be there. I remember spending Christmases with her and her family. My parents were at Father Ambrose's ordination so it's great he should be at the wedding.

3. Our family dentist, Dr. Wang. He's been seeing me since I sprouted my first set of teeth, which I still believe was better than my present one.

Seating everyone perfectly in tables of 12 is a logistical nightmare. Everyone wants to sit with someone in particular or maybe someone doesn't want to sit with another person, and that couple should really sit with that person and...and... . I can draw links between everyone and still end up with gaps that cannot be filled or a table with only nine people.

Speaking of links, here's a mind-blowing one:
One of our guests, Dr. Seow, a leading orthopaedic surgeon, is a close family friend of Lin Kiat's; he happens to be treating the mother of our florist; and our florist happens to be the best friend of my god-mother (also my witness) and is also the god-daughter (or maybe the florist's sister is the god-daughter) of my mother's best friend from school!

Seven more days of planning and fiddling with the list. Seven more days of dress fittings, meeting friends and rehearsals and ringing up vendors and making arrangements with the church. Seven more days of fright and fatigue.

Wait, I think it's six days. When Saturday arrives, it will be showtime.

Posted by Monoceros at July 14, 2003 12:08 AM