Chinese Wedding Invitation and Ceremony
My Chinese friend Cassie is having her wedding ceremony on April 10th, and this week she hand delivered my invitation:
Isn’t that marvelous? I love it! It’s quite stylish in my part of China for this kind of wedding invitation to be used in place of a paper invitation. Cassie is a modern and stylish girl. The invitation is engraved with their names (the top two lines), the phrase “100 Years of Harmony/Togetherness” (the larger middle line), the name of the hotel where the ceremony will be held, and on the bottom line, the date of the ceremony. It was given to me in a nice satin lined box, along with a little box of candy. Of course, this wouldn’t work for a couple who needed to list all their parents info, formalities, etc. But, I quite like this style of invitation: interesting to look at, and to the point.
I say she is having her wedding ceremony, not her wedding, because she was actually married last October in the license office. Couples who want to get married must be of age (20 for girls, 22 for boys), and take their ID cards, hometown registration papers and a few photographs to their local marriage license office. Their documents are checked, a license is issued and an oath taken. And that’s it, now you’re married. And in my city, it only costs about $1.50.
Many couples get married and then have the ceremony at a later date. This is partly because you should go to a monk, fortune teller or astrologist to choose the best date for your marriage. It’s based on your and your fiancée/fiancé's date and time of birth. Or it may be a generally lucky day, such as days with lots of 8s in it. The hotels and ballrooms fill up those days, so you might get married on that date at the office, but have your ceremony a year or two later. Cassie tells me it is not uncommon to celebrate your marriage and your child’s first birthday at the same time.
I have also found out some things I didn’t know about single moms and the status of their children, which really helped me understand some of the common decisions made regarding these women and children. I will write more about that later this week.
Isn’t that marvelous? I love it! It’s quite stylish in my part of China for this kind of wedding invitation to be used in place of a paper invitation. Cassie is a modern and stylish girl. The invitation is engraved with their names (the top two lines), the phrase “100 Years of Harmony/Togetherness” (the larger middle line), the name of the hotel where the ceremony will be held, and on the bottom line, the date of the ceremony. It was given to me in a nice satin lined box, along with a little box of candy. Of course, this wouldn’t work for a couple who needed to list all their parents info, formalities, etc. But, I quite like this style of invitation: interesting to look at, and to the point.
I say she is having her wedding ceremony, not her wedding, because she was actually married last October in the license office. Couples who want to get married must be of age (20 for girls, 22 for boys), and take their ID cards, hometown registration papers and a few photographs to their local marriage license office. Their documents are checked, a license is issued and an oath taken. And that’s it, now you’re married. And in my city, it only costs about $1.50.
Many couples get married and then have the ceremony at a later date. This is partly because you should go to a monk, fortune teller or astrologist to choose the best date for your marriage. It’s based on your and your fiancée/fiancé's date and time of birth. Or it may be a generally lucky day, such as days with lots of 8s in it. The hotels and ballrooms fill up those days, so you might get married on that date at the office, but have your ceremony a year or two later. Cassie tells me it is not uncommon to celebrate your marriage and your child’s first birthday at the same time.
I have also found out some things I didn’t know about single moms and the status of their children, which really helped me understand some of the common decisions made regarding these women and children. I will write more about that later this week.
Comments
That invitation is gorgeous!
That invitation is gorgeous!
(ok sorry, I just had to throw that lame joke in!) :-D
Love your anecdotes and stories and experiences - looking forward to more!
And hope you have a GREAT time at the celebration :)
Single Moms? I am looking forward to your views on them in China. Here, it is no biggie anymore.
'maybe thats her AMerican name.'
'100 years is a bit....'
>of we wish we did that over here!
The funnest wedding I've been to was a Vietnamese co-worker getting married in a Chinese restaurant.
They ended up with a conflict in wedding dates that split their extended family...so they *downsized* to only 200 guests at the restaurant instead of the hall for 400 they had planned.
First, the almost the whole reception was in Vietnamese. Most of the songs played were U.S. pop but sung with Vietnamese lyrics.
Second, the food was awesome. It was *not* "American Chinese" ... they rolled out the real stuff (right down to chicken feet).
Didn't hurt that there was a never ending supply of Heinekens at each table.
There was table top dancing. There were table repairs :D