This weekend, I was honoured to be a bridesmaid in my best friend's cross-cultural wedding. The celebration was a 2 day affair with the Malay ceremony on Friday and the Chinese ceremony on Sunday. Being quite a creative person, I was more than happy to help out in the DIY projects as some of the off-the-rack decorations do not come in the hues of the colour scheme.

I am very pleased with the backdrop we did for the Malay ceremony. It took us over 5 hours of fluffing, poking and sewing to put this piece of "wall" together but we did pretty amazing I must say.

Preparations for the Chinese ceremony started off at 4.30 am in the morning. Aung and I cabbed down to Ying's house at 3.30 am after having just 2 hours of sleep as we stayed up to rehearse our Master of Ceremonies speech. The bridesmaids went on to prepare the food for the gatecrash while Ying was having her make-up done. 

Most bridesmaids need to crack their brains in coming up with food that are supposedly difficult to stomach i.e delicacies for the customary gatecrash. Since the groomsmen are our respective partners, we had our work cut out for us. The delicacies were basically food they dislike which in our defence, are healthy food - tomatoes, corn and porridge. We were indeed feeling very kind that day.

After gatecrash, we left for Zul's house at the chosen auspicious time.

It was a huge honour being asked to serve as Master of Ceremonies for the wedding banquet, but truth to be told, there is a lot of pressure that comes along with the job. It was the first time I've pulled MC duties - I am more experienced in the flower girl and bridesmaid department. Fortunately, Aung and I both had fun being awkward on stage. One of the perks of being an emcee is getting to sabotage anyone we want, and we would like to thank the newly weds for giving us the opportunity to do so. 

Before the banquet began, we asked our friend KJ if he is willing to lead the "Yum Seng" toast - he happily agreed. When asked to come onstage, he skipped down with a big smile plastered on his face. Aung and I then announced to the guests that KJ is going to do a special native dance for everyone in honour of this very special day. Such a pity only some managed to witness how his expression changed - from a state of pure excitement to plain horror before it progressed to total bewilderment. It was good entertainment all right. Aung and I had a little too much fun. 

I feel happy and proud for this union because it felt like victory - victory over the past 10 years of trials and tribulations they faced. Every relationship has its own difficulties but a cross-cultural one is another level altogether. 

To so many who are against a cross-cultural union, I hope they learnt that different isn't always bad. In fact, it can be really good. When left to ourselves, humans tend to have a very narrow perspective on things. We get so opinionated and confident that we are blinded. "Different" can teach one to be more gracious, understanding and less arrogant. It also reveals blind prejudices. 

In the end, a marriage within two different cultures has no secrets. You need equal or even greater effort to make things work just like in any relationship. These cultural differences can be what bring a couple or simply humans closer, and I believe the world needs more of this - less of intolerance and discriminatory thoughts and actions.