It was Pat's elder brother's wedding last Saturday and we traveled to KL on Friday morning with much of anxieties. Yes, anxiety because Charlotte is going to be the flower girl walking on the red carpet at the wedding dinner! I had been telling her and also training her how to walk, slowly and properly, straight and smile months back but I doubt she knews what she was getting into.When we arrived at KL we were surprised by a beautiful flower girl dress that her uncle had bought for her for that special occasion. This actually doubled my worried if she was able to do as told given that extra investment (>RM200) that the groom made. I crossed my fingers (and toes) until Saturday late afternoon when we dressed her up in that stunning dress. See how beautiful she looked... and she behaved rather well while waiting for mommy and daddy to get ready. She sat down on the floor and read the books that I brought along. How I wish she would behave that way everyday :)The rehearsal was at 5.30pm but Charlotte just woke up from her nap (she was sleeping on the journey to the hotel) when we arrived at the hotel. She was kinda cranky and didn't want to participate. We had no choice but to hold our anxiety further. She finally agreed to a little bit of practise after a good ~30min of negotiation. I knew I had to keep my distance from her because she might get clingy to me again if she saw me nearby. So, I let Pat took over the role and practice with her on the red carpet.
Charlotte was partnering with Zoe (niece of the bride) as flower girls. When Zoe finally came all dressed up, both of them held hands and practice on the red carpet. Although the timing was a bit out, Charlotte was walking very fast and Zoe (4 years old) was trying to hold her back, at least both of them were walking straight. It was very close to my expectation, actually I had only very low expectation because I knew it is going to be a difficult task to ask from a 28months old toddler. For one moment, I though it isn't a mission impossible after all when I saw the good partnership between Charlotte and Zoe. Then I was told they are suppose to hold a basket of rose petals and throw it while they are walking on the red carpet. That's a mission impossible, I thought.
No matter how it's going to be, it has to be done right? What more can I do other than repeating the same instruction over and over again to Charlotte: walk slowly, walk straight, cannot cry, cannot say mommy carry, take the petals from the basket and throw as you walk...I was like a broken recorder, trust me.
Another surprise came when we were given the flower crown to put on the flower girls. The mission was getting tougher and tougher. But again, luckily we had Zoe as an example. Charlotte would do just whatever Zoe was doing. So, Zoe's mommy put on the flower crown for Zoe and then I told Charlotte to let me do the same and she did :)
See how sweet both of them looked. I tell ya, they were the attraction (of course, before the bride and groom arrived) of the entire cocktail party. So many cameras were focusing on them and they too posted for the pictures :)
I was counting the minutes and the seconds for the dinner to get started. I knew Charlotte couldn't hold very long with all the accessories on her. But as usual, the bride and groom did not come until close to 8pm. Of course I knew the dinner won't start as how it was stated on the invitation (7.30pm sharp). Pat and I actually when for a quick shopping in the afternoon to get a new toy for Charlotte. It was meant to keep her on her high chair during the dinner but I had to use this secret weapon when Charlotte started to ask to remove the flower crown. I set-up the game for Charlotte on one of the empty tables available at the cocktail party and she was very excited and interested with that new toy. Very soon after, the game has attracted almost all the children and parents at the cocktail party and all cameras, phone cameras, video cameras were focusing at these children again...
The flower girls and page boy (and other children too) were focusing at the "Catch the Bug" game. It was a hit for the children at the cocktail party!
The "show" started at 8.00pm when the bride and groom finally arrived. It was a very interesting experience to see a 28months old toddler as a flower girl walking down the red carpet. She started walking very well as told. But she had forgotten to throw the flower petals as she walks. Suddenly she stopped and started to throw the flower petal at the spot she stood when I reminded her to do so (I was walking at the side) while Zoe and Christopher were already way ahead. It was so very funny and I think I heard all the guests were laughing at the funny moment created by this innocent flower girl.
That was not all, the funniest thing was Charlotte went up all the way to the stage when the dinner started. She was so proud of herself (I think) as all camera men ran towards and started to capture picture of her again. She posted and danced on the stage happily. We had to forcefully carried her down from the stage when we realized that more children were coming towards and wanted to go up to the stage as well. There were wedding cake and champagne glass fountain arranged on the stage and we didn't want any accident to happen.
see the cheeky look when she was getting up to the stage
I had to say that it was a very fun and exciting experience for me as a mother of a flower girl at this special occasion. I shared the anxiety as the bride & groom, but for a different reason :)
