Winnie's Wedding

Being in Asia means it's easier for me to attend family functions. This weekend I took a 3 1/2 hour flight from Hanoi to Singapore for my niece, Winnie's wedding.
The wedding process is quite different from what we have in the US. Instead of a church ceremony, there is more emphasis on respect for the elders.
Unlike an oath that you take during a church ceremony, they pre-registered with the government for the marriage.
The first picture on the left shows Winnie and Wai Heng, after the tea ceremony.

In the morning, the groom comes to the bride's home with his groomsmen. He is met by a "barricade" put up by the bridesmaids. The bridesmaids would not let the guys in unless they "qualify" themselves. They are put through some taunts and pranks. These are usually harmless pranks like making the groom's party sing and dance but I understand sometimes they can get a little out-of-hand. After about 15-30 minutes, the groom is allowed in and goes to the bride's room to meet the bride.

The first thing they do is worship the ancestors. Then the couple pays respect to the bride's parents and the groom ask for permission to take the bride home. After taking pictures with family and friends, the groom takes the bride home. This part of the ceremony is attended only by close family members and friends.




Here is a picture of the smiling couple as they get ready to go to the groom's house and pay respect to his parents and family.
This involves a tea ceremony whereby the newly-weds serve tea to the elders - parents, uncles, aunts, etc. This is an important part of the process because honoring the elders is such a big part of the Asian culture. You may have noticed that the bride's dresses are different between the first and the rest of the pictures. The white wedding dress is what she starts with. The orange traditional dress is what she wore for the tea ceremony later. In the evening she would wear a couple of other dresses for the big wedding dinner. This was held at a hotel with about 300 guests.
One big difference between the Asian and American wedding tradition is that in the US, the bride's family usually bears most of the wedding costs. In Asia, the bride is married into the groom's family and therefore, the groom's family typically bears most of the wedding costs.


Lastly, I have to throw in this bonus picture of me holding my niece, Suzie's 4-month old son, Callum. Callum is part-Chinese and part-Scottish and the family has just flown in from London the day before. He was so good-natured and cute that everyone wanted to hold him.