Part 1, of a very long post!

Since it has been such a long time since my last post... sorry about that by the way... this one will have to be in two parts bc if I put it all together you would not want to sit here and read it.  Part one will be all about the Chinese wedding I was so fortunate to be a part of last weekend!  Part two will be about work, Chinese class, and my other random adventures here.

Also, before I start writing this, I want to apologize for any sentences that don't make sense or anything like that.  being around chinese all the time makes it a little more difficult to switch back to proper english so don't judge me mother...

First, the background story on how I came to be invited to this wedding.  One of the service leaders (ps, on the duty roster these people are called "service ladders"... love China haha) in Shang Palace, who is my trainer and her name is Cherry, was telling me about her wedding a week before it.  I was asking a whole bunch of questions because their weddings are much different here as you can imagine.  She started telling me about it and then I asked if there was any part of the wedding I could attend so I could experience at least part of their wedding.  She told me I could come to the hotel it was at at 6pm that day and have dinner with everyone.  Of course when she told me this I assumed I was being invited to the reception so I was excited!  Later that day... I was having my english training for the staff and they were all talking amongst themselves but clearly talking about me haha.  One of the assistant managers translated a word on her phone and showed it to me, the word was bridesmaid.  And I said yes I know this!  I asked how many she had and she shook her head and said, "no no, she ask if you want to be mine" like she was asking me to dinner or something not to be a part of one of the most important days of her life!  I was in such shock that I said well if you are serious of course!  Then she was very surprised that I agreed and that made me a little nervous.. which I was right to be a little scared of.  Still later that day at work she mentioned how excited she was to have a maid of honor and then I thought wait.... I thought I was just going to be the token American of the bridesmaids.. but no, I was the one! the only bridesmaid, the maid of honor.  And all of this happened in one glorious day of work!  The next day we were making plans for the wedding day and she was telling me how friday night she was coming to pick me up so we could go get my dress and then how I needed to be at her house at 7:30 am on saturday to get ready.  As the day progressed the plans changed again of course, the final plans were made that she would pick me up right after work on friday, take me to get my dress and jewelry, then stay the night at her house and wake up the next morning at 5:30 am to start getting ready!  I had a few more days at work before Friday but neither she nor I could wait we were both so excited!

Friday night after work she picked me up from the hotel around 7pm and we went to a huge mall near her home to get my bridesmaid dress.  I found out when we got there that I would not need to pay for it because she got one for free with her wedding dress, which I will explain later.... She had a really ugly one picked out for me but I will attach a picture of the one I wore so you can see it; it wasn't as bad as the first one she had picked out.  Then after that we went to her home and her mother made us a traditional Chinese dinner and it was very good! I have pictures of that as well :) After dinner we went to her room and watched a movie and then went to bed because at 5:15 am family was breaking down her door to start getting her ready and decorate the apartment.

Quick side note.... at english training today I brought my laptop and let them pick some music to listen to.... which just happened to be the backstreet boys.. love it haha

All of the decorations are red because the color red means luck and good fortune in Chinese culture.  Most of the decorations also have the double happiness character.  Once the entrance and inside of her apartment are decorated she gets her hair and make up done and then changes into her wedding gown.  The groom then has to come to her house first.  She sits on her parents bed behind a closed door with four of her friends standing behind the door waiting for the groom to knock.  When he does they ask him a question and then let him in.  We all hold hands so he cannot get to her and he has to answer some questions and pay us before we let him through.  Then he kneels at the edge of the bed and presents her bouquet, after that he has to find her shoes and put them on her.  Her shoes also have to be red, along with her underwear; the groom has to wear red socks, underwear, and sash under his belt.  Then her parents come in and pack up two baskets on the bed with her and I think that symbolizes her leaving her family and joining new one.  Then the groom picks her up off the bed and sets her down and we sit at the table and eat dumplings.  But! you can only eat an even number of them bc odd numbers are bad luck on the wedding day.  Then we walk outside and all the guests shoot off streamers and we get in the cars and caravan over to the groom's parents house.  Once there, there are more streamers and red decorations and the bride and groom go into the house with his parents and do a few ceremonial things and then the parents have to welcome each guest into their home so they can scope it out and make sure it is acceptable.  One bed room is all decorated in red and that is where the bride and groom will spend their wedding night.  After everyone looks around the house and all the pictures are taken  we go back out to the cars and head to the hotel the ceremony will be in.... finally!!! When we arrive at the hotel ALL of the wedding guests are waiting outside to greet the bride and groom and there is a huge blow up arch in front of the entrance to the hotel.  Before anyone can enter the bride and groom have to pop a whole string of balloons under the arch.  Then everyone follows them inside and we head up to the changing room which comes in handy.... Cherry changed into ANOTHER wedding gown!! she has a different one for the morning pictures at the houses and then another one for the ceremony... once she changes and gets her hair re-done we go downstairs for the big show!

Her father walks her half way down the aisle (I was holding her train at this time btw!!)  and the groom meets them and the exchange happens there and then they walk the rest of the way down the aisle to the stage.  I say stage and I totally mean stage... weddings here are like a TV game show; all the lights are off, there are spot lights and strobe lights, crazy music, games, and bubbles?!!  Its pretty intense, obviously I cannot really say what all went on bc it was all in Chinese so I have no idea what they were saying but.. they play a little game, then answer questions about each other, say their vows, break an ice sculpture to get their rings, cut the cake, honor their parents, light a joint candle, drink a glass of wine, have people come up and talk about them, and finally kiss. (these are in no particular order by the way! haha)  After this we go back upstairs and Cherry changed into yet another dress! this one is red and is for the "reception" we go back down to everyone and the groom has to take a shot of chinese wine with every man, the bride has to feed each woman a piece of candy and light a cigarette for each man.  I was the one carrying around the wine and filling the shot glasses!  After we got through all the guests they were able to take pictures with the happy couple.  when pictures are over Cherry changes dresses.... again!! back into the dress she wore for the ceremony and we go outside the hotel to take more pictures! we went to this gorgeous park and down by the ocean and i will be getting some of these pictures so dont you worry you will see them! Once pictures are done we head back to the hotel and just chill until the dinner with all of their friends.  but of course, she has to redo her hair and put on a new dress for the dinner!!

Another side note... it has taken me days to finish this super long post!  I just write when I can when I dont have work and that hasnt been too often but I determined to finish it today!!

So the dinner that happens after the wedding is straight crazy!!  This dinner is just for all of the bride and grooms friends to hang out and celebrate the wedding, and boy do they know how to celebrate!  Keep in mind, I dont know if I have told all of you this yet but, if you are at a dinner party and someone toasts you you have to drink your whole drink or it is very disrespectful.  They purposely have smaller glasses because you would be chugging a bottle of beer at a time if you didnt have a little glass!  By the end of the night though that was the cool thing, they look at Jason and I and say "bottle me bottle you!!" no thanks..  and these beer bottles are much larger than the ones we have at home so that just was not a good idea haha.  At the end of the dinner we even played some games so it was kind of like a bachelor/ bachelorette party and rehearsal dinner all rolled into one because they dont do either of those things.  Overall, this was an experience I will never forget my whole life and I was so fortunate to be able to take part in it.  If you all have any questions or need clarification from my rambling just comment! Miss you :)

the traveling J