Sunday in Shanghai meant time for the wedding. My friend and his wife had actually officially married the prior September. The wedding was the party for family and friends to attend. As it wasn't my day, and I don't feel right about posting pictures of their day to my blog, I'll describe the day and post the few pictures of the day I'm comfortable sharing.
I slept in late and joined up with my friend's family at his apartment around 1 PM. I was the first to arrive and killed time finishing the book I brought (Stephen King's "Insomnia"). His apartment is across the street from where I stayed, so the walk was short. I rode with his family to the hotel where they were celebrating the big day and we continued to catch up on each other's lives.
The wedding itself was much different than any I've ever attended. They were still rehearsing the details of the entrances when I arrived. I don't know if this was intended or not, but the venue reminded me of a fashion show. Tasteful and very elegant. The setup was pretty amazing.
The Chinese have some fairly unique wedding traditions. In the US, when you ask your friends to be part of your wedding party, their duties typically include planning the bachelor/bachelorette party, helping the wedding run smoothly, and giving a speech. In China, they drink on your behalf. The tradition in China is for the bride and groom to visit every table and do a toast (or two or three). Well, after the third or fourth toast, the bride and groom are getting pretty tipsy. This is where the bridal party steps up. Once the bride and groom have had enough, the bridal party downs the remaining drinks on their behalf.
The ceremony, as you can imagine in an atheist country, was not officiated by a religious official. Instead, it had an emcee. The ceremony was brief - roughly ten minutes - and we jumped right into dinner. As dinner wrapped, the show began. One of the groomsmen had devised a variety of games for the couple and the audience to play. The first game was the bride had to roll a hard boiled egg from on foot to the other foot, through the grooms pants. The only thing that would have made it more interesting is if she wasn't allowed to use her hands....next time! The next game was a scavenger hunt of sorts. Several of the attendees drawn at random from the name cards they used to find their table stood on stage and had to rush into the audience to find items called out by the emcee. The list included a tie, a woman's shoe, a pink shirt (which left several men in the audience shirtless), and a belt. The winner received a gift bag, one of several awarded throughout the night. In fact, everyone at my table (the only all-English table) won a gift bag except for myself, and the guy who did not put his name in the basket because he had used it to dispose of his gum. My luck with raffles continues.
Another Chinese tradition is for a group of people closest to the bride and groom to attend an after party. Typically, this is in the hotel room and the games trend to the prurient to help the couple become introduced to each other. Family planned to attend this one, so that was out of the question. Instead, we went to a local nightclub and danced and enjoyed a few spirits late into the night. I think I found my new favorite size of whiskey.
I slept in late and joined up with my friend's family at his apartment around 1 PM. I was the first to arrive and killed time finishing the book I brought (Stephen King's "Insomnia"). His apartment is across the street from where I stayed, so the walk was short. I rode with his family to the hotel where they were celebrating the big day and we continued to catch up on each other's lives.
The wedding itself was much different than any I've ever attended. They were still rehearsing the details of the entrances when I arrived. I don't know if this was intended or not, but the venue reminded me of a fashion show. Tasteful and very elegant. The setup was pretty amazing.
The Chinese have some fairly unique wedding traditions. In the US, when you ask your friends to be part of your wedding party, their duties typically include planning the bachelor/bachelorette party, helping the wedding run smoothly, and giving a speech. In China, they drink on your behalf. The tradition in China is for the bride and groom to visit every table and do a toast (or two or three). Well, after the third or fourth toast, the bride and groom are getting pretty tipsy. This is where the bridal party steps up. Once the bride and groom have had enough, the bridal party downs the remaining drinks on their behalf.
The ceremony, as you can imagine in an atheist country, was not officiated by a religious official. Instead, it had an emcee. The ceremony was brief - roughly ten minutes - and we jumped right into dinner. As dinner wrapped, the show began. One of the groomsmen had devised a variety of games for the couple and the audience to play. The first game was the bride had to roll a hard boiled egg from on foot to the other foot, through the grooms pants. The only thing that would have made it more interesting is if she wasn't allowed to use her hands....next time! The next game was a scavenger hunt of sorts. Several of the attendees drawn at random from the name cards they used to find their table stood on stage and had to rush into the audience to find items called out by the emcee. The list included a tie, a woman's shoe, a pink shirt (which left several men in the audience shirtless), and a belt. The winner received a gift bag, one of several awarded throughout the night. In fact, everyone at my table (the only all-English table) won a gift bag except for myself, and the guy who did not put his name in the basket because he had used it to dispose of his gum. My luck with raffles continues.
Another Chinese tradition is for a group of people closest to the bride and groom to attend an after party. Typically, this is in the hotel room and the games trend to the prurient to help the couple become introduced to each other. Family planned to attend this one, so that was out of the question. Instead, we went to a local nightclub and danced and enjoyed a few spirits late into the night. I think I found my new favorite size of whiskey.
It was a great wedding and I'm glad I could be a part of it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment