Bride & Groom

What an unusual day. So many unfamiliar customs and a lack of a common language just adding to the confusion or possibly the excitement depending on your disposition. A brief order of events:

~ Luke and Drew (best man) leave the apartment at 08:00 and set off a fire cracker
~ Luke & Drew plus male friends arrive at Cary's mother's house and set off a fire cracker
~ They ask to enter the house to collect the bride and are refused entry by the bride's friends until they carry out a series of forfeits, including singing a song and doing 20 press ups
~ They force their way into the house and have to find a red shoe
~ Having upturned Cary's mother's bedroom to find the red shoe, Luke puts it on Cary's foot and they leave the house, setting off a fire cracker before returning to the apartment
~ At the apartment, Diana and I await their return, and in the meantime, have welcomed 5 people into the apartment who could be helpers, guests or intruders. We really haven't got a f*****g clue at this stage
~ One of the guests/helper's/intruder's phones rings at which point they spring into action, shortly followed by a firecracker going off. This signals the arrival of the wedding party, confirming the identity of our 5 mystery people as helpers. What a relief.
~ The wedding party arrives, are served soup
~ Diana has to make the marital bed and is filmed doing so. No one is allowed to help as it would detract from the luck she brings as an elder with many children and a long and happy marriage
~ Next is a tea ceremony where Cary serves tea to Diana and I and formally addresses us as Mamma, Babba (mother and father)
~ We are whisked off to the bedroom and told to make a speech to video for the happy couple. We both wing it having been given no prior notice
~ Lunch in a restaurant
~ A few hours to kill before the wedding dinner
~ Wedding dinner. 250 guests. Lots of ceremony including Cary and Luke serving tea once again to their respective in laws, but this time in front of a big audience
~ Bridal party go round every table, having a toast with them using rice wine (52% proof)
~ We do likewise using tea (0% proof)
~ By the end of the toasts, the bridal party is pissed whilst we are stone cold sober

That in a nutshell is a Chinese wedding. Different, but great fun.