That was what happened when my wife's nephew had his wedding at Berjaya Resort in Langkawi. Groom from Ipoh and wife from KL, but wedding in Langkawi. It meant additional costs for hosts and guests alike, but helped in promoting Cuti2 Malaysia.
Guests came from abroad and from other states (including the host parents of groom and bride). Being a keen amateur musician, bride's father arranged for live music entertainment provided by him and his former band members, including a couple of professional musicians from Singapore. Groom happens to be an accomplished pianist, guitarist as well as singer (the last of which most of us did not know until the wedding dinner). His father-in-law proudly announced, 'That's why he is my son-in-law, while his father was quick to add, 'That's why he is my son! ... though I am tone deaf.'
The expected number was 100 guests but actually increased to 180. The hosts were taken by surprise when colleagues of both groom and bride accepted their invitations despite the distance. A number of friends came all the way from Adelaide. Relatives came from US, UK, Hong Kong and Australia. My daughter, Cheng who is groom's cousin, managed to get leave for a week, came from Holland. Another cousin and an uncle came from Sydney.
There was a pre-wedding dinner for relatives and close friends hosted by groom's parents. On wedding day itself, the programme started with Tea Ceremony (groom's relatives, followed by bride's), Wedding Ceremony at the beach followed by Cocktail and then Wedding Dinner. We were serenaded by Singaporean professional acoustic guitarists, the singer sounded like Louis Armstrong. Later, during dinner, bride's father played the drums for most of the night, with his former band members.
Logistics seem to be the main problem, whether the guests came by plane or by ferry. Those who did not rent a vehicle had to depend on the hosts or friends who did. While my son and family took a flight from Subang Airport, my younger daughter took a train to Batu Gajah, to join our car journey early Friday morning to Kuala Kedah to catch a ferry. When we arrived and arranged for overnight parking, we just missed the 9.30 am ferry and had to settle for 10.45 am. Some relatives stayed in Berjaya Hotel itself for the convenience. We stayed in an apartment in Kuah town and my son hired a van instead. The return journey easily takes an hour. We had to depend on him because he is familiar with the routes, having worked in Langkawi occasionally in his former job.
My son managed to arrange for a small birthday party for his son before we left Langkawi.
Most relatives could not make it as expected since it was an impromptu decision. While parking the van, we noticed a parking attendant writing out summons. We asked him and he replied that it is coupon system and that we can buy them at the Fuji shop. While in the shop, I could hear the wife complaining to her husband, 'What are you doing? Reading the papers... we sell coupons, yet we get summoned!' A friend from KL who arrived at the restaurant before us, got a ticket, simply because he didn't even think of it, being on a Sunday. I am sure many visitors got caught for it being a working day.
My daughter's week long holiday this time was spent mainly with us, starting from KLIA when she arrived early Tuesday morning, B.G., then Langkawi, then Kuala Kedah to PJ, then KLIA the next day. Because she missed swimming, I took her to Ipoh's olympic-sized pool. I was surprised she could swim non-stop for about 40 minutes. She enjoyed it so much that she sheepishly asked if she could go again the next morning! She was most surprised at the low ticket price of Rm1, with free parking too! Sometimes, we have to be told that life is good in Malaysia.
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