I decided to make an extension website in dedication to a new addition to our family. My brother and fiance will be getting married on:
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The reception was at the Shoreview Community Center, which is north of the wedding site.
It's a day after the "BIG" wedding, which I felt like reflecting on this once in a life memorable occassion for my family. What does it feel as a bestman-brother of the groom? Relieved....wow, the energy level last night was up there! I didn't expect the evening to turn out to what it was last night.
As "Best Man", I had the privilege to do a Scripture Reading (Genesis 2:18-24), which I love to do as a avid reader of the Bible. I helped picked this verse out along with another that was supposed to be a Gospel reading. Instead, it was another Book from the New Testament-1 John 4:7-12 on "God's love", which I picked it because of "knowing" God-relating to that deep loving personal relationship with the Heavenly Father!
Brotherly Toast!
Due to the last minute and "unsmoothe" Mc'ing, I wasn't able to say my toast that I wanted to give. This is for you bro and Khua:
"I would like to Welcome Khua to the Monteagudo Family! Ceo, as your older, but shorter brother-it's been awesome! First, I would like you to forgive me for everything I've done to hurt you (e.g. Ice Cream incident-I threw my baseball glove and knock down the "Mickey Mouse" Ice Cream you bought from the "Ice Cream Man" that came "ringing" in our Bridlewood Neighborhood when we were kids. You cried as I walked away angry about something that I already forgot to this day) growing-up in front of your friends and love ones here. I will never forget the "good ole' times" collecing baseball cards growing-up. Your hobby went from collecting cards to girls as you got older. Well, you found your girl, which you gotta hold on to her like your MVP-you most valuable card. As you kept your best card in a card holder, keep Khua her in "God's hands of love"-like the Scripture message at the wedding earlier this afternoon. You said in your speech earlier today (reception) that your marriage will be "hard", yes-it's not "pessimistic", but it's "reality" as Khua said during your pre-marriage counseling to get the "discount"! However, from personal experiences, I would like to reccomend you to use the Bible as your guide through your marriage. It has helped me guide to where I am and continue to do so in my-life as a single-guy! Ceo, remember the Baseball Price Guide? It helped us know how much the cards we collected were, so it determined whether or not to trade it or not! Well, Khua is like that valuable card in your special case that you'll never give away! The Bible is like the Baseball Price Guide that will help you in your marriage. To everybody here, feel free to talk to me about how the Bible has helped me, which I promised it will help you in your life. Congratulations Ceo and Khua!"
Joshua 1:8 (Old Testament) "meditate in the word morning and evening"
I had the opportunity to MC with Khoua's uncle-Soua (to translate and speak in Hmong for the predominate Hmong audience) the reception, which was an awesome experience. Yes, I have to admit it didn't go smoothly as well I hoped, but that's something to expect in all weddings. With the "last minute" preperation for this "BIG Day", I guess it went well. The focus was my bro and Khua!
After the wedding reception, there were thoughts of "you should've done this..." That is why I made this website to make it up to thank those who played a "BIG" part that didn't get recognized!
Thank You!
-Pastor Vera and Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church staff or "servants for God" (pianist-Heather, soundboard lady, janitor--Dick, etc..)- for hosting/officiating the wedding and letting us use their facility for this special occassion to be blessed by our Heavenly Father
-Eileen, church wedding coordinator, who too charge in the rehearsals the day before and during the day of the wedding
-Molly, photographer, who did a very good job at the wedding and reception!
-May, who sang "All My Life" (wedding) and "?" (reception torwards the end)
-Yo (sp?), who made the beautiful cake-along with his wife, Xia (UMM Grad 02'). He is Cutlery grad from France! My brother connected with him after attending Yo and Xia's wedding last Spring (date?) and like the cake they made!
-Decorators: You know who you all are! Including the Bride, who came early (around 10a) to help decorate the Reception Hall. Mom-thank you-for the work and time you put into the homemade decorations on the walls at the reception hall. We got the 4 "Greek/Roman style" Columns and wine glasses from Midway Party Rental on St. Paul's University Avenue. Also, the decorators (?) who helped use what was left to decorate the car that Yoga (friend of Ceo) drove the newyled couple!
Other: Penniel, and all of the Bridesmaids!
-Ushers: Bud, Souk, Zje, Kim, Pajnhiag, Nengchu, and Vicke-"Cali folks"
-Food Coordinators: Khua's older sister (?) and whole family that helped made the delicious Hmong dishes (purple sticky rice, ? salad, etc..>) Also, my Aunt Toni for getting the special sauce for the "Lechon" (only Filipino dish) during the wedding and Sean for helping prepare it.
-Shoreview Community Center
-Dan Good Catering from BeBop Sports Bar & Grill from Blaine, MN for doing the "Cash Bar"
-Su "Snoop", Lenny, and Pang for Dj'ing or doing the music-especially getting the sound working after the reception was delayed 30 minutes due to "technical difficulties" (see wedding tips down below)
-Gingiss formal wear in Maplewood for providing the suits for the grooms men
-many others behind the scenes that we don't know about!
Significant Day!
Also, after the wedding, I took notice of the "signficance" of this day that I wished I mentioned at the reception:
-7 days after the Groom's parents Wedding Anniversery (Cansiano and Necita were married 33 years ago on January 10th)
-before the Groom's Birthday (31st of January)
-first month to begin the 2004 New Year!
-Leap Year (my mother mentioned this team as I was writing this)
-Martin Luther King Holiday tomorrow!
*my dad had a speech at the wedding about the "two cultures" (Filipino & Hmong) bridging together with Ceo & Khua
MLK Day means a lot to mean because of my racism experience growing-up in Minnesota (see story). As an assistant to help my local church in Morris, Minnesota in "reaching out" to international students at the local University of Minneosta-Morris campus, I took notice of the diversity-especially culturally (Khua's int'l student friends from Uganda, Sierre Leione, and Nigeria) at the wedding/reception!
Wedding Tips
Here are some tips for the "next" wedding:
Delegate the work to as many people as you can to relieve the pressure/stress on yourself:
-Clean-Up Coordinator w/as many helpers
*have someone check on the garbage at the reception hall throughout the evening. During clean-up, some of the garbage cans were filled to the top. When it was time to empty the garbage, a lot of the cans were filled to the top. I took one out and the wine leaked through a broken hole, which spilled to the nice carpet of the reception hall.
-Food Coordinator: Know who is in charge, so the MC could know when the food will be ready and when to serve seconds.
-Ushers: Have several delegate the table to come-up to get food at the "potluck" style supper.
-Decorators: Order pizza or arrange some food for them for helping-out!
*I last-minute order pizza from "Pizza Hut", which took 45 minutes and it finally came aroud 1-1:30p.
-Technical/Sound Check: Expect the worst! I went to a wedding last summer in Chicago, which they could'nt dance because of the "technical difficulties". Instead, we just did an open mike, which I thought was better! Have a back-up plan, which I wished I got a microphone from the community center earlier prior to the unexpeced "technical" problem the DJ had prior to the reception, which I couldn't MC till 30 minutes later (5:30p)!
-Gift Pick-Up Guy: Have some one in charge of getting people to help transfer the gifts in and out of the reception hall. It's an important job because some contain money in the envelopes, which you don't want to get stolen! Have a good "spacious" vehicle (like the Ford Excursion!) to handle all types of gifts for easy loading and unloading!
-Vehicles: Have as many "runners" with vehicles to do last minute unexpected errands (e.g. bought latex gloves for Food preperation, take parents from reception decorating to get dress at home, pick-up ring bearer and mom, etc..). My personal suggestion would be to not rent a vehicle because of the time/financial ($180-$50 was charged extra because of forgetting to fill it up prior to dropping it the next day-tired and forgetable!) cost in getting it and getting rid of it!
more on this topic...issues: marriage
Testimonies:
-The 200 copies from Kinko (anonymous location) was only $15 as the guy gave "favor" (it's God!) after I told him with a friendly smile it was for my brother getting maried late Friday evening-day prior to the wedding!
-my throat was acting up Friday morning and throughout the day. I wanted to make sure I would be able to speak when I MC on Saturday's wedding reception, so I was going to get some Therma Flu or some throat healer medicine Saturday evening after making those copies. I went to Walmart, but they were closed by the time I got there before 11p. I then asked God in prayer to heal it, which I wanted to depend on Him-the Physician or Healer-not on medication all the time! The next morning after drinking tea and eating an orange before going to bed, I didn't have that throat feeling of hard to swallow! I feel it was God's healing and to show me that I shouldn't depend on medication all the time, but Him! Praise God!
-After the wedding, I had to return the Ford Excursion (rented from Hertz: Int'l Aiport, which is another story:
I gave the keys to the decorators, which was handed down from person to person. My brother hoped to have Yoga take it in-time to pick them up after the wedding. However, we didn't know who had the keys after they finished decorating the reception hall from 10:30a (supposed to start @10a, but my family arrived late that morning with the decorations) Prior to the wedding, we were going to have the "decorators" decorate the car "Just Married", but we couldn't find the sign (my mom bought this long time ago to be used some day!). Instead, they just put some white hand made tissue "like" paper around it-beautiful! They did this during decorating the reception hall. Eventually, (I was praying) we did find the keys 30 minutes prior the wedding!
Another praise report was after the wedding when I returned the Ford Excursion with my dad at the airport this morning-Sunday, January 18th @10:08 (was supposed to be at 10am)-my dad and I were running late-tired from last night! We got to the aiport: Hertz rental around 10:01am. I had to do some paper work (miles check, which the guy at the lot just put 10am) and back-up the "BIG" vehicle to let my dad through the crowded rental vehicles. By the time I brought the card (mileage/time) to the desk/office, it was 10:08am! As my dad and I left the lot, I look at the receipt of the "1 Hour Late Charge". I was about to "blow-up" with anger as I was about to "complain" about leaving earlier to drop the rented vehicle. Instead, I remember a verse "slow to anger" from my reading the Bible (as I mentioned above in this website under "Toast"), which I "meditated" on prior to breakfast this morning. As I was praying and talking to God in "spirit" about this situation that I just layed before him (Matthew 11:28 "come to me who are weary"), I felt peace and stayed quiet on the drive back waiting to call Hertz! I called the guy after going through the compurterized touch tone system, and pleaded about this "1 Hour late charge" with only 1 sentence. The guy with a "soft heart" (due to prayer of course!) took away the "1 Hour Xtra Charge" of $47 and reduced the bill from $237 to $178 (still a $56.87 charge for not filling the 3/4 of 44 gallon with gas; *note: The Ford Excursion uses only 10.7mi/gallon-a gas hog!)
My Parents' Story
After the wedding, we talked about how my parents met...
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