Guangzhou December 2008 – The Wedding
The primary reason for a big chunk of my mother’s side of the family to be in Guangzhou, China was to attend the wedding of my cousin Kelvin and Queenie, a girl who grew up there. Because I had only arrived mid-morning of that same day, I didn’t attend the morning tea ceremony and I missed the fun and frivolity of the ritual of fetching the bride.
For the reception that night, it was held at a Chinese restaurant (or should it be just “restaurant” since we are in China? Hahah. Seinfeld fans should recognise that joke).
In China, they do things differently. Like for example, on every table there was a free pack of cigarettes.
The stage where a brief speech was made by my cousin Kelvin …
And speaking of doing things differently …
A fake cake was cut just for the show of it.
And champagne was poured into a pyramid of champagne glasses but no one got to drink from it.
But a wedding is a wedding, no matter the culture and the place – it was a happy occasion for all.
Stay tuned for more China goodness. 
11 Responses to “Guangzhou December 2008 – The Wedding”
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Well that certainly is very different – free cigarettes on the tables! But I’d like to know more about the fake cake – why is it fake? Do they have a real cake? Why cut a fake cake?
I’m intrigued.
Congratulations to the newlyweds!
haha, fake cake & champagne that nobody get to drinks. No wonder weddings is a thriving business. But it’s always nice to attend a family wedding
Yah, I always wonder about the newly weds going through the motion with the fake cake cutting at the weddings here too. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a real one and everyone gets to share a piece.
Katie: no, they didn’t have a real cake. The fake cake was it! We didn’t get to eat cake but we had yummy Chinese desserts instead. Why they even bothered with the “Western” cake is beyond me. Heheh.
Lisa: yeah yeah, with a lot of my cousins and uncles/aunties there, it was really fun.
blur ting: hahah yeah! but this was definitely the first time that I’ve seen the fake cake. Normally everyone would get a slice no matter how small.
I always find it interesting to find out how weddings are celebrated in different countries/cultures. A couple I work with recently tied the knot; he is Australian and she is Kenyan. THey are having two weddings, one here in Aus and one in Kenya. I have looked at pictures of the Kenyan wedding and it is amazing!! Lots of bright colours, lots of dancing, and the whole wedding takes place outside. They even have a tradition where the groom has to kill a goat before the wedding to prove he is worthy of marrying the bride!
the cig packet is damn cool lah!! i want… to collect!!
(not that i wanna smoke hor!! i quit oredi hor!!)
girlstar7: that’s a real fascinating story! And yeah I love finding out about other cultures too.
blinkymummy: hahah! you can make your own “double happiness” packet since you are so skilled at cutting words out of a red paper. Hahah!
Eh, the fake cake and the fake champagne fountains comes as a package for weddings in Malaysia as well!!! They actually advertise it as part of their ‘perks’ – a 5 tier styrofoam cake with dust!
They really did not understand when I tell them to keep the damn styrofoam cake away as I am bringing in a real cake. And they used martini glasses for my champagne fountain…and not realising that I am using Veuve Cliquot they did not actually serve it out as they thought it were sparkling grape juice!!! Oh, and the wedding package also comes complete with two bottles of sparkling grape juice for use on the champagne fountain.
[...] next morning after the wedding, the family and relatives decided to head to Bei Jing Lu, or Beijing Road for some [...]
Hahah! No kidding?! I thought it was purely a China thing but now it looks like it’s a Chinese thing huh??? Heh.
Sparking grape juice! That’s freaking awesome.