A completed course & some new clothes!

Last Thursday Ben and I had our second and also last marriage preparation course. It was still full of questionnaires but this time apart from questions like “who do you think should do the laundry” we had a personality assessment. It might sound scary (like what doctors do to patients at a mental hospital) but it turned out to be very helpful and surprisingly accurate!

all the questionnaires

    According to the results I am a “perfect melancholy” with a “peaceful phlegmatic” side, and Ben is a “popular sanguine” also with a “peaceful phlegmatic” side. I like everything in order and am usually cautious about things and reluctant to try new stuff; Ben is more adventurous but doesn’t really plan or think things through beforehand. Haha, it sounds like we are perfect for each other. We are attracted to each other’s characteristics which we don’t have, at the same time we still share some in common. Thus our life strategy should be: try everything with caution, and don’t be lazy! ^^

We are perfect for each other.

    Please allow me to quote from First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 13: 4-8 here (Nicola read it out loud to us at the lesson, and we were all deeply touched).

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud. It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. It always proceeds. It
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails…

    Now let’s write about the men’s attire! I’ll hand the stage over to Ben.

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Personally I do not often wear a morning suit. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever needed such a thing before; so Saturday’s adventure was certainly a new one for me. It was difficult, first and foremost, to arrange a date when all the groomsmen, the best man, the groom and the bride were all available. When the date was eventually set for Saturday we selected Godalming’s Anthony Hirewear based on a recommendation from my mum.

Godalming Station

    When we got there (all 5 men and a bride-to-be) the staff at the very small shop were rather surprised! Their website invites groups and drop-ins but I don’t think they’d anticipated the scale of workload we were presenting them with. I would later find out that they usually expect the bride and groom to come alone first, and then have the groomsmen come later. Unfortunately our rather unique timeframe didn’t allow for this.

    Despite their initial reluctance and slight exasperation at our collective lack of knowledge regarding suits, suit hire and what it was that we actually wanted, they soon warmed to the idea of sorting us out and became very friendly and helpful, surpassing the standard set by their highly worded recommendation.

    They suggested morning suits which I happily agreed to as I like the idea of a posh coat and tails for such a special day. As the groom I was the first model and we quickly settled on a black coat with striped trousers and a gold waistcoat, a classic English design apparently. We originally opposed the striped trousers and asked if we could switch for plain black, “no” was the answer. Because of the lack of contrast, a black trouser-coat-combo looks silly in pictures, so stripy it is. As groom I will wear a gold cravat to distinguish me from the others all wearing red which keeps our Christmas theme. A detail that may be hard to notice in the pictures is that the waistcoat is embroidered with Chinese dragons, a fitting touch we all felt.

the first two tries: red cravat & grey suit

The final piece!

with bestman Doug

Hair down!

Groomsman No.1: Ben’s 1st younger brother John-Jo

Groomsman No.2: Ben’s 2nd younger brother Ali

Groomsman No.3 (usher): Ben’s 3rd younger brother Marcus

a close-up shot of the waistcoat: dragons

    All in all it was an interesting day and all our goals were met. We were taught how to tie cravats, (just like normal ties but with a fatter knot) and we got our order booked. I’d like to take a moment to thank the willing best man and groom’s men for their co-operation and unfailing patience and also the staff of Anthony Hirewear, Godalming who were thoughtful, welcoming and skilled in all areas of their trade and are highly recommended for all your formal attire needs. Ok, next stop, car hiring!

Dinner at My Old Place

My family-to-be!

The Carter Boys – 11 years later~

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♥The Flashback Corner♥

Ok, for this flashback corner here’s my version of the time Miki and I met. This is going to be embarrassing so readers prone to squirming at outpourings of emotion look away now! (I will be looking away as I type.)

    As Miki explained I was happily sitting doing my homework at university with a group of friends from class. As a second year Chinese student I was beginning to feel like I was making some headway with the language and getting to grips with the basics quite well. All of a sudden this unbelievably cute Chinese girl walked into the hall dressed in a thick white coat and blue top. I didn’t know who she was but I thought I’d very much like to get to know her. In typical embarrassed fashion I fixed my eyes on my book as she sat next to me and studiously avoided saying anything at all, it was then that Richard, already a mutual friend told her to look at my work, “perfect!” I thought, “My Chinese is sure to impress!” I leaned back so she could see and heard “You wrote that character wrong.” My heart sank and I looked again at my homework. Oh no. I had meant to write “how are you?” and because the last character was wrong it read “you good horse.” Caught out on an elementary mistake so simple by this lovely girl, what a way to start!