On the actual day of my brother’s wedding, we had to wake up as early as 4 am to get prepared for the ancestral prayer ceremony at my sis-in-law’s family home. There was a puppet show with singing, music and fire crackers.
Chinese puppet show.
Our simple breakfast – sweet porridge with red dates and you tiao (dough fritter).
My sis likes this spoon with the image of a cow.
I was donned in the reddest dress of my life. It’s a custom to wear red during Chinese wedding occasion (though in Singapore, it’s “less strict”). My sis’s dress.
The puppets.
Love the decorated doors…
The ancestral prayer ceremony began… it lasted for about thirty minutes.
My sis-in-law’s great grandmother. She is lovely. The little boy is a relative from Hong Kong. Chubby and cute.
Preparation of the wedding banquet.
Fruits and seeds.
I like the Chinese style brick houses. Couplets on the doors all have auspicious meanings like “an abundance of clothes” and “an abundance of food”. The Chinese characters above the doors mean “bright future”.
My sis-in-law would take this Chinese sedan and be carried back to her home. Actually, in Chinese wedding custom, the bride will be taken on the sedan from her family’s house to the bridegroom’s house. However, as my brother is Singaporean (home in Singapore), my sis-in-law would depart from her relative’s house.
It’s a custom to wear gold for both the bride and bridegroom on the big day.
Gorgeous.
It’s also a custom to fetch the bride with a red umbrella from her house to the sedan.
It’s also a custom to bring along the gifts with the bride.
Four men carried the sedan and they walked really fast! We had to run after them.
The handsome twins from Hong Kong. They were there to welcome the bride.
The bride arrived and the bridegroom received her.
The wedding couple entered the hall and it was time for tea ceremony and well wishes.
This man in red recited well wishes and blessings to the wedding couple.
The wedding banquet at night began.
The wedding banquet.
It’s customary to have a 12-course dinner for the wedding banquet in Putian, Fujian province, China. Seafood is the main dish as Putian is near the sea.
Just before the wedding banquet ends, the bride has to distribute 2 cigarettes to each guest. I don’t smoke but now I’ve two packs of cigarettes!
Plates of cigarettes!
Such a joyous occasion. Everyone here in Putian is like one big family, so warm and unpretentious.
Many rounds of fireworks culminated the wedding occasion. Breathtaking.
When the wedding banquet ends, it’s time to have fun with the wedding couple before they consummate! Both the couple have to take on little tests like blindfolding themselves and guessing if it’s the bride or bridegroom by feeling the hands of different people (including the bridegroom, of course!) and the bridegroom has to carry the bride so that she can swap the hanging lanterns. Everyone will suggest little tasks for the couple to overcome together for the night until the friends and relatives think they pass the tests well!
To my bro & wife,
Wish the both of you a blissful marriage!
Is that a tortoise i saw in the dinner serving??
different breed..
ohhhh congratz to ur brother and ur sister in law! they looked so pretty and handsome! 😀
SEems you have enjoyed a lot on your brothers marriage and the bride in Red is simply looking awesome. It was a grand fest. Good to experience a new wedding traditions and rituals through your blog. And the pictures are really nice.
thank U!
its cool wedding 🙂