The day Sammy did a "runaway bride" rendition

I have 2 boys.

So while I might have dreams of having a little girl and dressing her up, the closest I get to do that with a boy is with a tuxedo. 

We were invited to a friend's wedding. She used to be one of our cell members while we were still leading a youth cell. Since she moved away to study medicine, we have had minimal contact but whenever we met up, it was as if she never left.

Before our big move, we got in contact because she was interested in some of our old furniture for her new apartment. We had intended to go for her wedding sans kids because it was in a city an hour's drive away and our kids are still too young to be out at a wedding for the entire day.

Hence, when she casually asked if I was interested for Sammy to be her ring-bearer, I was pleasantly surprised but couldn't give her a definite answer at first. I was so looking forward to having a couple date day but yet I knew that this would be a superb and rare opportunity for Sammy to have his first experience as a page boy, since most of our friends are married already.

Couple time or a chance for my baby to walk down an aisle looking all James Bond-like?

The latter won.

I then spent over 2 hours(!!!) searching for a good tuxedo offer online. It's ridiculous how much time was needed because there aren't many options for little boys' tuxedos and those I saw at first were so tacky, fit only for a Halloween party.

Hence, when I stumbled upon this website I knew that my search was over.  I got the "James Bond" outfit in slim fit. It costs only 45€ including shipping costs from the UK but I only paid 30€ because I had a 15€ discount for using Paypal. How cool is that?

When it arrived at my doorstep, I couldn't wait to try it on Sammy. I think I was even more excited than Sammy was.

 How cool is that? It even had its own case! 

Hey you! Do you wanna be my date tonight?

The tuxedo was a.m.a.z.i.n.g! It fit him like glove! It was exactly how I had pictured a tux on my little boy would look like. Sammy was so excited at being dressed up that he wanted to look at the mirror immediately. He kept saying "Sammy looks nice!" And the "best" part? He refused to take it off!

Needless to say, I started prepping him for the upcoming wedding. I told him that he would have to carry a ring pillow to the front of an aisle. We even practised it at home with a mini pillow. He seemed confident enough. Or so I thought.

Saturday came. We delivered Gabriel to his grandparents and made the hour's journey to Mannheim where the wedding was held. The sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day! A truly answered prayer because the days preceeding that was gloomy and rainy.

There was no wedding rehearsal so I wasn't entirely sure about the order of ceremony. The first thing that caught me off guard was that Sammy wasn't going to walk the aisle with the other flower girls and little boys. Unlike the usual weddings that I'm used to in Singapore, there was no wedding procession nor bridesmaids. It was only the bride with her father.

Sammy was supposed to bring the ring pillow smack in the middle of the ceremony when all eyes were on him.

I guess I should have backed off and called it quits back then. There was no way my 3-year old would be able to walk down an aisle, all alone and out of the blue.

Still, I kept to my guns and decided to just try it out. How bad can it get right?

He gingerly took a few steps with me nudging him. But then he suddenly turned around carrying the ring pillow with him. I tried to get him to turn back again, but he threw the ring pillow on the floor and bawled.

Everything else after that was a blur. All I remember was that I picked up the ring pillow and realised to my horror that the wedding bands were gone. A lady in the congregation passed me the bands which had rolled onto the floor and I had to be the impromptu ring-bearer, in my uncomfortably high heels and all.

Stephan carried the startled poor boy out of the chapel. You can guess what's going to be the talk of the wedding for many years to come!

We still managed to have some couple time though. We decided to bring Sammy to his grandparents after the wedding ceremony since the journey was only 40 mins to their house instead of the 1 hour to our place. Hubby and I had a lovely time together, being able to enjoy the wedding dinner and actually being able to talk to other couples without having to keep an eye on the little ones.

 My charming little kiddo

Looking all cool and self-composed (note: the chapel was still empty)

Our little family sans Gabriel

Finally managed to squeeze a smile out of the little man

Still all smiles

The beautiful ring pillow before Sammy decided to throw it on the floor

Looking pensive at the ring pillow

You can tell he was nervous

Sammy took this shot! I like it cos it shows you how everybody really dresses up at weddings here

That my mentor! The mother of the bride

The very gorgeous bride and her Dad!

Love the details of the dress

Exchanging their vows - seconds before the big ring pillow episode

Love how well-lit the church was

A little girl with lips as blue as her eyes

All DIY table deco

That had a beauty-kisses-frog-who-turns-into-a-prince wedding theme

My personalized napkin

I had so much time to even play with my camera setting!

Me and hubby at our first wedding dinner without kids

Yup! I told him to do that!