FORGET a simple white gown - for the traditional Peranakan bride, the more vibrant the colours and heavy the jewellery, the better. Pictured below are Yeo Chye Luan and Goh Chwee Kee at their traditional Baba wedding ceremony in Beach Road in 1950, as well as another unnamed couple in their marriage attire.

Based largely on Chinese tradition, the Baba wedding ceremony could be as much as a 12-day affair, usually in the wife's house. The most important ceremony, the Cheu Thau, is the coming of age ceremony where the bride and groom wear their authentic wedding robes for the first time. After some rituals at the groom's home, he leads a procession of serunai musicians to the bride's residence. After other ceremonies involving kueh ee (dumplings in a sweet broth) and teasing the bride in the hopes of making her laugh so the groom must pay for the dinner, the finale is the dua belas hari where the marriage is confirmed and approved.

Laborious and time-consuming they might be, but it's a shame these lavish weddings are on the decline. If only they ended fairytales with "Twelve ceremonies later, they lived happily ever after."