I mentioned in an earlier post that after the wedding service in the cathedral, we proceeded to the groom’s brand-new house for the tea ceremony…
I did not take many photos as I was tired and hot and hungry – I think it was already past 1.00 p.m. by then.
Anyway, when the newly-weds arrived, they proceeded to the bridal chamber…with their entourage bearing a whole lot of things. Their grand entrance was preceded by this pair of golden chickens – a cockerel and a hen…
*Gundot’s photo from her Facebook album
…followed by a basin full of things like toothpaste and I don’t know what else, but I know for sure that there was also an elaborately-decorated chamber pot. If I’m not wrong, the bride’s family is non-Christian and they would like to see a whole lot of traditions and customs being carried out.
There was this feeding of one another with tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) in sweet syrup…
*Jeremy‘s photo from his Facebook album
…which I suppose signifies that their married life together would be a sweet one.
Usually, Foochows will just bow three times to pay respect to those married next-of-kin that are older than them…but I guess these days, there is some kind of fusion of the traditional customs between the various Chinese dialects, so there was the tea ceremony instead. Then, there was also the part where the children would serve tea to the newly-weds and they would be given an ang pao (red packets containing money) by the couple…
*Gundot’s photo from her Facebook album
I wanted to do it on behalf of my daughter who could not be present as she is presently overseas…but I was shooed out of the way. LOL!!!
A buffet lunch was provided and I was relieved when they announced that we would eat before the tea ceremony. There was a very nice spread of food from the Rock Road Restaurant…
…including this very nice roast duck with mantao (steamed buns)…
…and the fish with Thai-sauce was great too…
…and they also had some cut fruits and ordered some cupcakes, fruit tarts and chicken pies from a bakery for dessert…
Soon it was all done…and everyone headed back home or to their hotels to rest and prepare for the grand wedding banquet that very evening.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 