Thea & Lennon's Civil Wedding

When we first decided on the date for our civil wedding registration, we were aiming for March 3, 2026. However, due to government regulations, we could only book our slot within 90 days of the desired date. By the time we reached that window, March 3 was already fully booked. I later learned that it was considered a prosperous day for Chinese couples to get married.

With all our plans needing a rework, and since we couldn’t secure our preferred date, we ultimately decided that March 3 would become our Church Wedding date instead, while we would simply pick any other day for the Civil Registration. (We originally had no plans for a church wedding, but after relentless convincing from my parents, we finally budged.)

We weren't really prioritizing a date for our civil registration, as we were quite busy with work and occupied with church wedding planning. That changed one night as we were getting ready for bed, when we suddenly discussed having our civil registration on January 5, 2026—our anniversary date. It felt perfect, like a full-circle moment: after three years of dating, we would get married on the very same day.

We made this decision just a week before January 5, which meant I had to find a local photographer in Macau on very short notice. After searching through various social media apps, I was fortunate enough to come across DS Prod Photography, which perfectly captured the aesthetic I had in mind. Thankfully, they were available on January 5—I booked them only five days prior.

As the following days passed, Lennon and I remained busy with other things. We were on completely different shifts, so we didn't have much time together for preparation. Luckily, the day before, we both had the day off, so we finally had time to look for and purchase our wedding rings. Since we started the day quite late, we began our search around 7 PM. After roaming around Macau side for a while with no luck finding suitable rings, we decided to go to the same jewelry store where Lennon had bought my engagement ring.

It was almost closing time, but thankfully we were able to purchase our rings just before they shut their doors. Since it was already late, no flower shops were still open—I had initially wanted to make my own bouquet.

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We woke up quite early the next day, as I needed time to prepare and put on my makeup. By the time Lennon and I finished getting ready, we only had about an hour before our booked slot. So we rushed to a nearby florist and had my bouquet quickly arranged on the spot.

We then hopped into a cab and arrived at the civil registry hall way past our scheduled time. Thankfully, we still had our appointment slot, as the queue was based on couples' arrival time rather than booking time. When we arrived, I was completely overwhelmed by the sea of couples in white dresses and suits. After we registered our arrival at the counter, we saw our number in the queue. Our photographers suggested we step out for a photoshoot first, since the wait would take about an hour.