Guangzhou Style Wedding:
The first thing that struck me as different was the fact that the wedding was located in the Guangzhou Restaurant. I am not used to skipping the ceremony of actual marriage. The next thing was the gift given at the door. We were expected to bring a small red envelope with money inside as a gift for the newlyweds. Their gift was an envelope with 20RMB in it and a small box filled with sweets and peanuts. The meaning behind the contents are a play on the words for each thing. The candy is supposed to represent how sweet marriage is and the peanuts mean good luck in having a baby. The name of peanuts in Chinese is hua sheng and sheng means having a baby.
After sitting down with some of Long’s classmates, lunch began to be served. The plates were brought one by one and everyone would take a little. While lunch was served, there were several performances. All of Long’s classmates weddings consist of performances because they are all music majors and their friends are music majors. The bride is a music teacher so her young students performed. Her best friend and some other friends, sang songs. They were actually very good.
The food was Guangzhou style as well. The first dish served was an egg soup with seafood. Next came roast pig…with the head I might add. Some other dishes included, shrimp, chicken feet, crab cakes, fried egg rolls, chicken, and of course noodles. Long noodles for a long life. Every special event must have noodles.
The bride and groom are always sufficiently drunk by the end of the wedding. They must go around to each table and toast with everyone. That means each table equals one glass of wine.
After the wedding, Long’s friends from the table we sat at, all discussed which KTV we should go to. We went to one but it was all booked so we went to another. KTV on a Sunday afternoon is apparently a family fun event. Guess I’ll know for next time.
The day started at noon and ended around 6. Overall, it was a good time.
