Are you the groom? Or the best man? Perhaps you're the nervous bride feeling excited yet a little overwhelmed in anticipation of how you will survive the Big Day. With the tips and tricks I have gathered in my years of being bridesmaid countless times, I'll help you survive not only the gatecrashing events but also everything else on til the end of the wedding dinner. Get Some Sleep Beforehand
The night before the wedding, nervousness will set in, and you will be tossing and turning in bed; hence, the best solution is to steal a few winks throughout the day before your wedding. Don’t overtire yourself in hopes you will be able to sleep better at night as you will probably wake up with a migraine or body aches. Drinking alcohol before your wedding day is a bad idea too. Who wants to wake up with a hangover at 5am on the morning of the wedding?
Don’t Turn Up with an Empty Stomach
Out of ten gatecrashing events, nine of them have food pranks. In order not to soil your pants or start feeling queasy, line your stomach with some food, but don’t overeat. A slice of bread with a cup of coffee or milk will do just fine. Prepare Different Ang Baos
For the gatecrashing, always pack Ang Baos with different designs and different amounts to appease the bridesmaids. It also always makes the event livelier if you manage to prank them with an $8 Ang Bao instead of a $288 one! Prepare a Change of Clothes
You're bound to perspire in Singapore's heat and humidity with all the various rites that you participate in. Be prepared with an extra outfit to change into. It sure beats having to wear the same sweat-filled shirt for those couple of hours during the tea ceremony. Have Charcoal Pills and Tissues in Handy
This is for the weak stomachs. I've seen wedding cars stopped at the roadside, with someone resembling the groom, retching away miserably.
Swapping Hard Liquor for Tea
An old remedy used to prevent Uncle Kenny from forcing the groom to drink to his eleventh toast. It used to require a smooth move of swapping the bottles at the last moment, but nowadays, you don’t have to specially prepare those bottles yourself; you can ask your wedding planner or the banquet manager to prepare a few bottles for you beforehand. Another brilliant tip is to walk around with a coke glass mildly laced with cognac to give it the look and smell of a glass full of brandy.
Have an Early Night
Sometimes making up an excuse that you'll be going away on your honeymoon the next day isn't a bad idea to prevent yourself from getting too drunk to even walk straight from the toilet to the bed. Another way would be to ask your bride and your best man to keep an eye out for you, to make sure you don’t go over your limit.
Written by Kally Tay Edited by Priscilla Lai
