October 3, 2019, Thursday
Oyen’s formal Chinese engagement is on October 5 but I requested the setups to be done earlier. I don’t want to rush the decoration and I want everything in place and ready at least a day before.
As early as Sunday, September 31, I already arranged the chairs in our living room. The stylists thought we rented these chairs. No, I bought them from a company called Match. Their showroom is in Pasong Tamo Extension in Makati.
Oyen hired an event stylist to do the backdrop. We told them what Oyen and I wanted and they executed it. Not cheap but we were pleased with the results.
They started setting up at 3 pm.
This Chinese character goes to the center. It means double happiness.
They will combine these real leaves with fake flowers.
It’s beginning to unfold.
Finished. The carpet is ours. It’s the one in Oyen’s bedroom. The colors matched perfectly.
The mom of Derrick arrived with several dozens of eggs, Chinese dates, tea. The eggs would be boiled and peeled on the eve of the Ting Hun day.
She also brought Chinese tea cups, bowls for the egg soup, spoons for the egg soup, chopsticks for the miswa.
I was worried these valuable heirloom pieces might break. According to her these were handed down from generation to generation and used exclusively for the Ting Hun tea ceremony. They were very elegant.
Bowls for the miswa
Gold plated Chinese tea cups
They also brought twenty pieces of apple with stickers of double happiness
Twenty pieces of orange with stickers of double happiness
The man behind the beautiful backdrop, Bryan.
Derrick’s mom, Wilna brought the red table cloth. I don’t have a red table cloth because I mostly use white. I have a few blues, pinks, sage green, etc. but no solid red.
She calls me balae. Every time she calls me balae it reminds me of my mother. I associate this word with old people. I still feel young so I am not yet prepped to be called balae. I don’t know how to tell her to just call me Annie or An.
Oyen hired a make-up artist and hairstylist to do her hair and make-up. They need a table to place the cosmetics, mirror, brushes, combs, and other beauty paraphernalia.
We placed a foldable table in the guest room where Oyen would be prepped up. I covered the table with a cotton cloth.
Ay butas naman. Ewan bakit nasisira ang mga table cloths ko after being washed.
