What peacock feathers, Boyz II Men, and bubbles all have in common...

The differences between The States and the Big Chicken are innumerable. As in, I could start a list and it would likely continue for forever. Literally every day I realize one more difference between my home culture and the one I'm currently living in.

Neither one is better. Neither one is worse.
They're just truly, very, in every way different. Opposite, if you will, as I've mentioned before.

And naturally, these differences extend to every corner and crevice of culture. So when we attended a wedding (of a couple that we've never met!) a couple weeks ago, it was no surprise to me how very, absolutely, shockingly opposite wedding ceremonies are between my two cultures.

Let me walk you through some of the differences...not every single one of course, because well, that would take forever.
One of the major differences is this guy:


He's like a hired host. A guy who does this for his day job. He makes the ceremony lively, rambunctious, noisy, entertaining, and for lack of an english word, "renao." He's there to make people laugh, to partially embarrass the bride and groom, and to make it a lively event.
Chinese wedding ceremonies are LOUD and in my mind sound similar to a cattle auction. The host is turned up full blast on his microphone, and yells into it as the lights on the stage switch from red, green, white, to blue...
He pokes fun at the bride and groom. Tries to embarrass them. And he's hired to do this. As in, the bride and groom are paying him to embarrass them in front of family and friends. AND he got to wear a peacock feather. How cool is that?!



The wedding we went to was a Christian wedding, which is rare here so as the minister was reading scripture he kept trying to hush the crowd because being quiet at Chinese weddings is virtually unheard of. The crowd didn't know how to react to that!

Sometimes I'm thankful when we're the only ones in the room that speak English. For example, when the bride was walking down the aisle to Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love to You." You just smile, shrug, and act like it's totally normal to play Boyz II Men at your wedding and that every bride since 1994 has been walking down the aisle to their songs instead of Canon in D.



Notice the lights and the round tables covered in cigarettes as gifts to the guests for coming. If that picture had sound, you'd hear lots and lots of talking, whooping, and cheering. And if it was scratch and sniff, you'd smell lots of cigarette smoke and chinese peanuts.

On our way to the wedding, our friend (the minister) that invited us called and asked us if Eden would be the ring bearer. So on arrival they thrust this lily containing the bride and groom's rings into my 4 year old's hands. Token white girl ring bearer helping the bride and groom gain face...check!! Does it matter that they've never met her before? Nope!



She did a great job!


As people were walking their babies around the dining hall, carrying on their own conversations, and laughing in the general merriment that Chinese weddings are, the bride and groom said their vows to one another. Oh and if the noise around them wasn't distracting enough, toss in a couple bubble makers to the left and right of the stage.



After vows were said, the groom sang a song to his bride as they walked up and down the aisle and tossed teddy bears into the audience.

After the commotion of that process passed, I shoved my camera into some stranger's hands and muttered something unintelligible in Chinese about "pressing this button first" as we were ushered up to take a photo with the bride and groom. I'm not convinced that babies are in the bride's near future.


Afterward we were seated in a private room at the restaurant and fed a huge meal, where Eden ate her very first oyster.
Despite the uneasy feelings I had toward the busyness and entertainment factor of the whole thing, it was so fun! I'm not convinced I'd want my wedding to be that way, but I foresee a lively wedding in my daughter's future as she was completely convinced that the bubbles were totally the way to go!