yeti speak…

qinghai wedding bells

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As promised, I am posting a photo album documenting Christa’s time at a Chinese wedding last week.  Christa met a gal (Li Juan) at the Qinghai Library (after my speech) who exchanged phone numbers with Christa and wanted to develop a friendship. 

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The first time Li Juan called Christa she invited her to a friend’s wedding.  Christa couldn’t pass up the opportunity (although truth be told she wasn’t sure what to expect!)  So on the day of the wedding Christa met Li Juan at a little before 8 a.m. to take part in ALL the wedding activities.

Instead of telling you in detail how it went, I’ll let the photojournalism speak for itself.   Look at the  new photo album in the sidebar.

I will say that Christa was strongly encouraged to give a speech at the wedding, even though:

  1. She had never met the bride and groom before the day of their wedding,
  2. She had not prepared anything in advance, and
  3. Almost all of the wedding guests did not speak or understand English.

Christa was a trooper though.  She gave the speech and told them exactly what they recommended that she say.  She wished them a happy and peaceful home and a long, happy life together.  Something along those lines.  I wish I could have been there for that part of the wedding. 

I also wish I could have taken part in the exteme "makeover" activities that took place with the groom’s parents!  Now that I’ve perked your interest…check it out.

IF you have any questions about this event at all, please put them in the Comments and I’ll get an answer from Christa.  There’s probably quite a few details that have been left out.

5 responses to “qinghai wedding bells”

  1. Lisa M. Avatar
    Lisa M.

    Great picture documentary. I was hoping for a picture of Christa giving the speech! Who asked you to give the speech Christa?

  2. Yeti Avatar
    Yeti

    The groom’s uncle was the M.C. and he strongly urged me to give a speech because I was a foreigner, which was unique and special. So, I said a few words and my friend translated. I was so shocked by it all that I didn’t think of getting a picture taken. If I hadn’t given the speech I might have offended or lost some face. It was worth the moments of fear.

  3. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    Oh, wife of Yeti… what strange traditions. What was the actual ceremony like… or was this it? Does mom actually lose her son? Or more in the American tradition of losing a son? The bride was pretty, but she looked angry. Did she ever smile? What about after? Do they leave together for some type of honeymoon? Was there a lot of expense that went into it? Look at me, the wedding nerd 🙂 Love ya!

  4. Christa Avatar
    Christa

    Michelle, to answer your questions… the actual ceremony occured at the bride & groom’s parents house, so I got to see the ceremony at the groom’s parents house. The mother of the groom has just symbolically lost her son, a son is extremely important here. The bride often looked serious for the camera and most of the day, not sure why. She smiled at different times, but most often was serious. I was invited to a party at the new couples house after the reception, this is all that happens next, no honeymoon. Not a lot of expense went into the wedding, especially since guests are expected to give money to the bride and groom for the reception. I can’t think of anything that would be cool to adopt into a Western wedding, it was very… different.

  5. Laura Avatar
    Laura

    It was so interesting to see these pictures and hear your experience Christa. It’s so weird to think about where/how/why wedding traditions came about. Did going to the wedding help give any insight into the culture as a whole?

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