Wedding Wisdom: Lips to Lips

Today, I'll be covering a rather interesting topic: The Kiss.

I'm not talking about just any kiss, I'm referring to the wedding kiss. Unlike the more intimate and private lip work between a boyfriend and a girlfriend or between a husband and wife, the wedding kiss is mostly a public affair. Everyone and her dog gets to see the groom kiss the bride... all the more to do it well.

The Wedding Kiss DOs and DON'Ts

DO kiss the bride slowly and with a little passion. The reduction in speed is for the benefit of the cameras and video.

DO NOT just give her a peck on the cheek. You peck your auntie on the cheek, you may kiss your mum on the forehead but you kiss your bride on the lips!

DO put one arm around her waist and cup her face with your other hand before planting your kiss on her lips.

DO NOT look elsewhere when kissing each other. A good kisser always closes his or her eyes during lip contact.

DO put both hands around your husband's neck when kissing him.

DO NOT forget to wipe any sweat from your face before kissing your bride.

DO refrain from touching your bride's hair because she has spent the entire morning making sure each curl is where it should be. DO NOT touch her face, for that matter.

DO NOT wipe her lipstick away with your lips. Most of the kissing is done by body language, not how hard you press your lips against each other or how much lip suction you apply on each other.

The above principle apply to kissing at Church, during the toasting ceremony and whenever it is called for during the wedding.

Last but not least, DO REMEMBER to remove her veil before performing the kiss!

Venue Review: Parking: Overseas Restaurant, Armada Hotel

Overseas Restaurant
Armada Hotel

1st Hour: RM 2
Subsequent hour: RM 2.50
Event patrons/flat rate: NONE

Venue Review: Parking: Holiday Villa Subang

Holiday Villa (Subang Jaya)
1st hour: RM 4
2nd/subsequent hour: RM 2

Event patrons/flat rate: RM 4

Venue Review: Parking: KL Hilton

KL Hilton

1st hour: RM 6
2nd/subsequent hour: RM 4

Event patrons/flat rate: RM 8

Pro Talk: March-in Blues Leaves Impression

The momentous march-in, when the groom walks into the dining hall with his bride looking oh so happy together on their wedding day, sets the mood for the evening.

For many relatives, friends, colleagues etc. this is the first time they set their eyes on the married couple. This is your first opportunity to strut your stuff.

We've witnessed many couples walk into the dining hall looking as if the world owes them a favour. Faces blank, strides long and hands not interlocked with each other.

Your dinner guests will be indirectly affected by your initial outlook. What should be a happy, romantic evening may end up as a sombre dinner outing.

Before they make their grand entrance, we now take our clients aside for a short briefing:

1) Always smile. Smile like its going out of fashion. Let everyone know that you've been waiting all your life for this eventful day and you're real joyful about it.

2) Always wave. You are both guests of honour and ALL eyes are on you. So wave to your guests, wave a lot, acknowledge their presence. This simple act will make you look good on both the photo and video camera.

3) Walk slow. How slow? About 2 seconds for every stride. This will allow your guests to have get an eyeful of both of you. A slow entrance will also give your photograpers and/or videographers time to reposition themselves for better angles.

4) Familiarise yourselves with the route. It's a short, very short journey to your VIP table, but remember that for dramatic effect, the lights will be dimmed and one huge spotlight will be aimed at your face so you won't get to see much ahead of you.

5) Hold hands all the way. Never leave your bride behind.

6) Always seat your bride FIRST! Contrary to contemporary belief, chivalry is not dead. Pull the chair out for your bride, seat her comfortably and only then do you allow yourself to be seated. For chinese weddings, the groom seats on the left of his bride.

There you have it. These are some of the many reasons they call it the Grand Entrance. Besides endearing you to your spouse, following these steps will also make you look really good on camera.

Wedding Wisdom: Don't Let RSVP Get Out of Fashion

Be Courteous: Don't let RSVP get out of fashion

When guests don't RSVP, they simply give a negative impression to their host, 'I don't really care that your dinner is more important than my schedule. I'll let you know if nothing else more important comes my way.'

A lot of thought goes into the Guest List. The RSVP is all the more important when it involves a sit-down dinner. Each seat must be accounted for to make the celebration a memorable one.

RSVP or its french origin, répondez s'il vous plaît, means literally 'please reply'.

The majority of Malaysian guests have never practiced this virtue. We fail to recognize that our hosts spent many sleepless nights planning one of their most important event of their lives. When you are invited and refuse to give your reply within a specified time stated in the invitation card, you're just being very rude.

Back in the command centre, your hosts will have a terrible time trying to arrange the table seating, confirm the number of heads to the banquet manager, etc. This can be a nerve-wrecking experience especially to the bride since she's usually the one who manages the guest list AND she's got a whole bunch of 'bride stuff' to do.

My experience as a groom has led me to believe that those who RSVP within the time-frame given is in real life, men and women of honour. They are courteous and polite, thoughtful in knowing that others have put in so much time and effort for them, the least they could do is RSVP