White Wedding

Andy's wedding

I admit it, not the world's greatest picture. The groom is next to the cake - the mobile phone camera is not at its best in dark rooms and over long distances when held by my shaking hands.

This was a very brisk and efficient reception really, I don't think it can really be called a wedding. In some ways the food was the star of the show although the bride did get to wear three different dresses, 2 white, one red. The red one was worn during the traditional chinese bit of the ceremony, where the bride pours tea for everyone and they all give her money. Actually there were multiple opportunites for giving money - when we arrived it was into a money giving melee in the foyer, combined with a photo-taking frenzy. Mind you, it would have take heavy handed donations from all the guests at the two opportunities to even come close to paying for the food. Unlike 99.9% of wedding receptions in Australia, here the food was the star. The roast
pork alone (there is a massive pork shortage in China at the moment, which is really impacting the small restaurants) was extraordinary. It was so extraordinary that all 20 pigs were paraded around the room 3 times before being placed on the tables. And the crackling was to die for. Later, just in case we were getting complacent, there was abalone.

And then, somewhat surprisingly, it was all ended. Just at the point where the drunken family abuse would be starting back home, everyone got up and left. It was pretty much over and done with in two hours.