The next morning,Alicia was sitting in front of a mirror staring at herself.She was dressed in a traditional red qipao. It had a beautiful golden phoenix crafted on it.The qipao had been delivered by the a.s.sistant of the designer.She had come and a.s.sured her that if the garment was not of her choice then it could be changed.Alicia,however had instantly fallen in love with it and claimed that there was no need to change.
She had put on light make up as she would need to change her clothes later.The pink gown that she had chosen on the morning of the registration of her marriage,had also been delivered to be worn for the wedding banquet.Today"s wedding was a mixture of traditional and modern marriages.The main wedding was supposed to be attended by the ones near and dear to the family and follow the traditional practices and the banquet was going to be a reflection of modern grandoise.
Pan Xinlei dressed Alicia"s hair into a beautiful braid with flowers entwining in her hair.As per the customs,usually an elder woman of the family would tie the bride"s hair.But since Alicia had no family,Pan Xinlei was the eldest among her friends and had volunteered for this.
Ru was wearing a black suit with a red s.h.i.+rt inside and happily staring at his mother getting ready.Once her hair was set,he quietly went and handed a box to his mother.He had specially chosen this for his mother yesterday..Alicia opened the box to see a beautiful golden hair clip.It was shaped like a b.u.t.terfly and had small chains hanging below with glittering crystals at the end.She gave a big smile to Ru and thanked him saying,"Would you like to put it for me?"
Ru nodded with excitement and carefully attached the pin to his mother"s hair.Alicia looked at this serious side of Ru and her heart melted.Picking her wedding bouquet she carefully cut a small bunch of the colorful flowers and pinned them to his lapel,making his face s.h.i.+ne.
The three bridesmaid"s were wearing gowns in a pastel pink color with different patterns.The color had been chosen by the designer but the style was different for each of them.They marveled at the
beauty and could only cherish the gowns and appreciate Ryu Long"s generosity.The kids from the orphanage had also prepared their own little gifts and presented them to their Big sister Alice. s.h.i.+ Ai was the last to present a gift. It was a beautiful sketch of Ryu and Al when they had been in the dining room yesterday...
Alicia happily accepted the gift and showered well deserved praises on the little girl making her happy..
A small band had been appointed to play songs for the wedding procession to lead the bride to where the groom was waiting.Usually the bride was taken to the groom"s home but this custom had been changed a bit.Soon,it was time for the wedding.Uncle Ye came at the door and entwining their hands he led the bride and the wedding procession moved towards a small terrace garden where the groom was waiting..
Standing under an arch of rainbow colored hydrangea flowers,Ryu stood wearing the traditional wedding garb.He looked stunning and with the arch above him looked like the G.o.d of Rain and rainbows.Behind him stood his groomsmen consisting of Ru,Matt,Neil ,Ah Hai and CEO Yang.He turned around at the sound of a band.The first glimpse of his bride brought an unmatched smile to his face and eyes making him look even more attractive.
Once uncle Ye handed the bride to the groom,they went ahead and prayed together to the Jade G.o.d.They then kowtowed three times,paying homage to their parents and elders,The Bodhisattvas and earth and heavens.
The wedding was now blessed by tradition and everybody congratulated the bride and groom.
Alicia and Ryu walked together were surrounded by the guests were then invited by Ms Xia for official formal photographs.The wedding planner and her a.s.sistants guided the guests towards the hotel"s gardens.
Many guests had been invited to the wedding banquet.Yesterday and the traditional marriage today had been for people near and dear to Alicia and Ryu. But the wedding banquet today was a show of wealth and power.The media had received an invitation this morning and they had already rushed their best reporters to the hotel.They had not been given much time to prepare their digital cameras with high definition or distant view lenses.But once they reached here,they were told that they would be furnished with official photographs and granted exclusive interviews at a later date if they did not disturb the guests in any way.They were allowed to click pictures when the bride and groom came out or went in as they had been stationed at the entrance of the gardens but held back by barriers..There was a buzz of excitement in the air and everyone was feeling it.
The higher management of Lance inc.,dignitaries and officers from the government,celebrities and sportsmen and many other high ranking individuals were reaching the venue.The press had enough fodder to keep them occupied with the guests arriving at the hotel.All visiting guests were VIPs but they had only received the invitation and no address of the venue.For security reasons,every VIP had been provided with helicopters and secured vehicles to escort them.Many of them felt offended at this treatment but once their helicopters flew over the venue,they had no complaints at being essentially kidnapped by the mighty Ryu Long.From the overhead,the gardens below looked like heavens...Multicolored hydrangea flowers had been wound around bushes entwined with sparkling little white fairy lights.All the tables were covered in silky cloth with beautiful crystal centerpieces and held a mult.i.tude of flowers.Even at a higher alt.i.tude you could feel the sweet scent of the flowers...
Everyone was mesmerized at the splendor and even the hardest of hearts could feel and see the display of love that Ryu Long had prepared for his bride.Many cynics believed that Ryu Long had gone overboard with this and the decorations would outs.h.i.+ne the bride.Everybody knew that Ryu Long"s aura was unmatched and no one and nothing could outs.h.i.+ne him..but If there was such a woman then wouldn"t she be a celebrity already.No matter how beautiful the bride would be,her big day today was going to be overshadowed by this extravagance.
Even the beautiful celebrities who were present in the crowd felt that they had been relegated to the backseat when faced with the garden"s beauty..
The media reporters just then received reports that the bride and groom were about to appear.The photographers had their cameras glued to their faces to catch the first glimpse of the bride...
However they forgot to click pictures when the bride and groom finally appeared.They had no idea how long they stood like that but they came out of their trance only when the couple had reached the entrance of the garden...they immediately scrambled to click pictures and were only able to get a few side profiles...Thank the heavens they were going to get official pictures or they would have been fired for being incompetent...
A hush fell over the crowd as Alicia and Ryu entered the gardens..Only the sweet sound of water falling from the water fountains at the corners could be heard..
One of the guests subtly pinched himself to check if he was alive or had he really gone to heaven to witness such beauty.Never could have anyone imagined that Ryu Long"s aura and presence could be overshadowed and that too by a woman.But now,all eyes were glued to his bride..Even the women who usually had eyes only for Ryu Long dared not blink and miss this beauty..
Dressed in a pink gown with small diamonds sewed into the dress,Alicia looked like a G.o.ddess..The small fairy lights reflected off the diamonds made her s.h.i.+mmer from head to toe.Her hair which had been left open to cascade down her back was adorned with a simple b.u.t.terfly hair clip on one side.She wore a simple necklace and earrings.However they looked dull under Alicia"s glow.
Soon,slow soft piano music started to play and the couple started to move towards their table.The guests slowly came out of their trance and finally accepted defeat..They were wrong,this beauty could outs.h.i.+ne even the brightest star...It seems that Ryu Long had some kind of amazing power...He had s.n.a.t.c.hed an angel from the heavens.Neil,who was playing the host saw every reaction and with a self satisfied smile invited the couple to the dance floor..Once the couple were on the dance floor the banquet proceeded to in a lively manner..After the first dance,the bride was pressed to dance with the groom"s brothers..The festivities continued and soon the food was served.The courses served were innumerable and a delight to eat...Ryu Long had made sure that no one would forget his wedding.
On the other side,Neil,Matt and Ru grinned happily that their efforts had finally succeeded and Alicia and Ryu were now together forever.Now they just had to encourage them to get a small brother or sister for Ru...Ru also looked thoughtfully at his uncle.He wouldn"t mind having an aunt to dote on him as well.After all the saying was "the more the merrier."He was going to start praying for an aunt soon!
In a small corner,a little girl asked her prince charming for a dance and he smilingly accepted shocking his peers...Ah Hai held both her hands on the dance floor as they moved to the music and then she twirled around while holding his finger making her eyes s.h.i.+ne brighter than the diamonds.After the dance,he was taking her back,when she stopped him and pressed into his hands a small sketch of herself and him in the park yesterday..Under the sketch were words that said,"My Prince Charming.".Ah Hai folded the sketch carefully and put it into his wallet promising to cherish it.. and soon s.h.i.+ Ai bid him goodbye as all the children left for the city...
Outside the Garden:
As the banquet started inside,the press members prepared themselves for a long and tiring day.Such grand celebrations usually lasted well into the night..However they were in for a surprise.The wedding planner"s a.s.sistants guided them into a banquet hall inside the hotel with the a.s.surance that they would be informed if the bride and groom left the premises.There they were served in the same way as the guests were being served inside and were invited to dance and have fun.Many veterans had tears in their eyes at this hospitable treatment.Most celebrities invited entertainment journalists to gain publicity with their wedding but then treated them like unwanted insects.Though they were paid handsomely to write flowery words nothing could beat the feeling of respect that they had been given...Money or no money,this wedding was going to be the hottest topic for the next few months and always a benchmark for other weddings.
All hearts had only one thought:
"n.o.body could do this in a short time except the mighty typhoon"