PROLOGUE
Tabi basa & greetings everyone. In this post, I would like to share about the recent Martina and Jeremy’s wedding: church and wedding reception at Serian.
Sept 13 marks a special date for Jeremy & Martina, where their love was blessed in a Holy Matrimony at St Theresa’s Church, Serian, with Fr Augustine Singh as the celebrant.
PART 1: HOLY MATRIMONY AT ST THERESA’S CHURCH, SERIAN
PART 1: HOLY MATRIMONY
ARRIVAL
It was another blessed Saturday morning at Serian, when family of both sides came to witness this happy occasion.
We started out day with a mini photoshoot around church compound. It was a rather cloudy morning to begin with. Upon completion, we made our way the church to get ready for the Holy Matrimony. I took the opportunity to capture the moments behind the scene.
SIMAYANG KAWEN KUAN INYA
The celebrant of the mass was Fr Augustine Singh, who is famous for being able to speak fluently in Bidayuh. Before we start the ceremony, Jeremy can be seen waiting patiently near the sanctuary.
I took this opportunity to capture an important father-daughter moment. For him who saw her growing up from just a tiny little baby to a working career woman she is now, it is definitely a great blessing from God.
Fr Augustine Singh’s homily is about life as a couple, where he uses humans eye as the analogy. In short, he mentioned that couples should work together to make their life together a good one.
Now that they are officially husband and wife, it is time for that kiss.
Forehead kiss is the best because is shows a deep affection and symbolyses love beyond physical attraction.
They were both grinning after the kiss, also due to the cheers from the crowd. Bala inya tara boh.
SIGNING CEREMONY
GROUP PHOTO
MARCHING OUT
This one was hilarious. Since most of the guests went outside already, I asked the ladies to line up and pretend that they are marching out. I am glad that the ladies were equally excited as well since it’s their bestie’s wedding after all.
After the Holy Matrimony was completed, we made our way to Kampung Murud Plaman.
PART 2: MORNING RECEPTION
ARRIVAL AT KPG MURUD PLAMAN
Upon arrival at Kpg Murud Plaman, first thing first is to find a parking spot. For smaller cars such as Viva and Axia, they will have an easy time parking here.
For me, kampung environment is the best because it is close to nature and in the morning, I am pretty sure it is chilling. Need to have a good blanket as morning temperature can be very cold.
There, I met the DJs, Jordan, Arthur and Saddam. They won’t leave me alone without any drinks. I believe one of the requirement to be Dayak wedding photographer is to be able to drink since Dayaks (Iban, Bidayuh) will not leave any guests without any drink. But of course, this is only during happy occassion. On normal
A march-in was done, where both of them went directly to their wedding dais, followed by some group shoot with guests that are happy to see them.
LUNCH TIME
Lunch was served to the guests. There were two sections, one halal and the other is non-halal. The non-halal section is where guests can find “Panga Badǔ”, our version of Sinalau Bakas.
PERMISSION TO SING
With permission from the bride & groom, I sang a song, Unchained Melody. It has been a while since I last sang this song in public. I actually sang Dayang Bintang later upon request.
Jeremy also took the centre stage and belted his voices out, in style.
We kept making joke that we can only sing during the afternoon because later in the evening, there will a lot of people and we can’t sing.
Mr Jackson and Mdm Ageok from my village also sang a few songs. They are fellow educators, like Ketua Kampung (KK) Marcos, Martina’s father. Fun fact – Mr Marcos was the headmaster of SK St Dominic Pichin.
I always find it interesting that when we were still a student, we won’t speak Bidayuh with our Bidayuh teaches. Only when we exit secondary school we can speak Bidayuh with them. However, we still call them “cikgu” although we no longer their student. I guess that is we refer to as “respect”.
BEHIND THE SCENE
I noticed that the “dimbǔ” (back of house) area was noisy for some reason. So, I went there and realise it was these ladies that were making all of the noises. I took their photo. Before I left, I led “tara tara tara” and they shouted “ooooo” in response.
We Bidayuhs love to “tara”, especially in a happy occasion like this.
Around 2.30pm, I took my leave and prepare for the evening event.
PART 3: EVENING RECEPTION
THE EVENING ARRIVAL
For the evening session, I wore Bajuh Bidayuh coat instead. I arrived at Kpg Murud Plaman around 6.30pm, and it is getting dark. My grandmother would say, “mbǔh pǔtǔ tana”, meaning the ground is dark already.
I greeted the parents of Jeremy and Martina and had a chit chat with with the DJs. It didn’t rain heavily when I arrive, but the Saturday evening was rather cold.
Cikgu Mackenzie, Martina’s elder brother became the emcee of the night.
WAITING FOR THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE NIGHT
I asked Carmen, where is two? She told me, they are outside already. She only has one umbrella though. So she kindly sheltered me from the rain whilst I take the shots. Realising it is not too heavy anyway, I told he to focus on the task at hand instead along with her man, Yuven.
THE MARCH OF KING AND QUEEN IN MAJESTIC BLUE
They marched in and for a moment, they became the star of the night as they should be.
Once they have settled in, then, the food blessing commences.
PHOTO-SESSION WITH THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE NIGHT
There were 1 hour window for people to eat and for the guests to greet both Martina and Jeremy, and gave them their wedding gift. Many opt to gift them money as it is easier for both guest and couples to utilise the received money in their life together later.
SPEECHES & CAKE-CUTTING CEREMONY
Finally, it is time for the next ceremony. Cikgu Mackenzie invited his beloved father, KK Marcos to give the speech. His decades of teaching experience, and now a village chief, gave him the edge in oratory department. I always enjoy a well-written and thought-out speeches. He made sure that all the VIPs are being given proper salutations and all key points of the event are being addressed, and thanked the group of people who worked hard for the past couple of days to make the event a successful one.
After KK Marcos’s speech, it is time for Jeremy’s father to give his speech. His speech is much leaner since KK Marcos already covered most of the key items on behalf of the two families.
Now, it is time for cake blessing.
But this time, there was a special event, where the dinner falls on Audrey’s 5th birthday too. Labubu-themed cake was her choice. So, we sang a-capella for her.
Once the cake-cutting ceremony was completed, then both Jeremy & Martina gave a piece of cake to one another, followed by their in-laws as a sign that they are ready to live together as one big family.
Now, it is time for the wedding toast. Tara Tara Tara was the start of the toast led by Cikgu Mackenzie, followed by the second toast “Oooo Haaa”.
SECOND PUBLIC KISS
Of course, the event is not completed without any kiss of the bride and groom. We did a count down for them, 10, 9…. 3, 2, 1. Kiss!
BAMBU ISAN
Then, to make things fun and to strengthen the bond between to families, it is time for “Bambu Isan”. For those who are not familiar, is it basically a drinking competetition between two sides of the family.
The “isan” is basically “parent-in-laws, which includes the aunties and uncles”.
After the “isan’s” had their game, it is time for the “Ipar”, where this is the next level, i.e. the siblings level.
The third game was also available, but for the ladies.
FIRST DANCE
This the time where Jeremy and Martina had the first dance, which was eventually joined by their family members. This is the beginning of the more fun part of the evening.
KARAOKE & NAKUH SESSION
As usual, whilst the guests start singing, it is time for the couple to go around and start “nakuh” the guests.
“Nakuh” is Bidayuh Serian’s equivalent to “nyadong”, which means to serve alcoholic beverage.
We also took this opportunity to take some group photo with the guests.
JOGET TOK BRUPAGI
This part is self-explanatory – drink, dance and sing. After I have completed my official task of taking photos and Jeremy & Martina went elsewhere, I looked for the DJs and Cikgu Mackenzie.
Since Cikgu Mackenzie was rather fatigued after hours of doing the emcee task, I gladly took the mic and became emcee, whilst taking photographs of people having fun on the dance floor.
There was a guy named Edward Purnama (not sure if this his real name or not) who constantly approached me for the chance to sing. I told him we got system, and for those who want to sing, please write down your name.
I think he ended up drunk and “resurrected” thrice throughout the night. Fun guy.
The original hard-stop was 1am, but then it was revised to 2am, and eventually ends at 2.30am.
Being the emcee, I thanked those who came from afar and making the night a success. As a gift for them, I asked them to gather once more for final group photo before departing from the venue.
I took few photographs and promoted my TikTok account for those who is curious on how to contact me should they ever need a photographer or emcee.
EPILOGUE
I had a fun time photographing this event. Though some people thinks that event photography is just click-and-go and don’t interfere much with the event, I prefer to be part of it during the event. Since I am spending my time there, why not have some fun as well?
May God bless both Martina & Jeremy! Arap Tampa dǔ palabikuasa birakat kende duwǔh tok sungkuh barak.
Tukang Rantek,
Del
Claudius Weson’s Emcee Profile
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/claudiusweson
