planning the wedding<\/a> she never had, or your parents want to show your nearest and dearest how proud they are of you by throwing a big bash. Remember what\u2019s traditional Chinese to you is normal to your mum, and she may not fully understand the look and feel you want. By simply saying \u201cI don\u2019t want a Chinese wedding\u201d, your mum may feel you\u2019re neglecting her, or even disrespecting your cultural heritage.<\/p>\n\u00a0A great way to overcome this is show your mum your plans – get her involved! Show her the theme and colour scheme you want so she understands that just because you don\u2019t want the red banquet hall with red flowers and red dress, it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re eloping. A great suggestion is to find a happy medium where you can add in some elements of a Chinese wedding to a more Western d\u00e9cor. Show her just because it\u2019s not going to be Chinese in style, it doesn\u2019t mean it won\u2019t be the celebration of a lifetime, and point out how she can help \u2013 she can still get involved with the centerpieces and dress, they\u2019ll just be more to your taste.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought everything would be cheaper\u201d<\/h3>\n
Ah, this old chestnut! Outside China, I think it\u2019s fair to say people regard this country as a cheap place \u2013 after all, isn\u2019t everything made here for next to nothing? But the reality is, if you want anything of an international standard, you will have to pay above New York prices for it. Finding the right reliable suppliers is no easy task, and for mid to high end goods and services, there are huge premiums attached, usually from an outrageous import tax or simply supply and demand.<\/p>\n
\u2018Budget juggling\u2019 is what we call it when we move around what you planned to spend and where. Just as amazing flowers and imported alcohol are the main big budget surprises here, there might be some elements such as a photographer you find ridiculously cheap. It\u2019s true that unless you want local wine and 5 day old flowers, you will have to increase your budget in those areas, but the good news is it\u2019s easy to make savings in other areas where China really shines \u2013 photography for one. Due to the booming wedding photography business, there are thousands of companies vying for bookings, so using this to your advantage means a few bottles of champagne. Stay focused on your overall budget, but be prepared to shuffle around your cost expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cShall I get my dress here or in China?\u201d<\/h3>\n
Unless you\u2019re coming to China months before hand\u2026..getting it in your home country really has its benefits – the same goes for your bridesmaids dressed if they are coming with you. You don\u2019t want to be running around China in the week or so before your wedding trying to organize dresses, and the same principle of \u2018if you want quality you have to pay for it\u2019 applies…it might not be as cheap as you think. Yes there are wedding markets here, but they can take days to navigate, and no one wants to be rushed into choosing their wedding dress just because they are running out of time and need something to wear. Wedding dress shopping isn\u2019t something that can be conquered in a day, take your time back home and enjoy the experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh\u2026Baijiu\u201d<\/h3>\n
Whether you\u2019re accustomed to it or bringing your foreign fianc\u00e9e along who has never heard of the stuff, the thought of doing a traditional baijiu toast with a few hundred people on your big day is enough to strike fear into the heart of any hardened drinker.<\/p>\n
Although looking similar to many other spirits, baijiu is far stronger than its Asian counterparts and even more potent than western spirits such as Vodka. Would you or your fianc\u00e9e even consider downing a few hundred shots of vodka at your wedding? No, we didn\u2019t think so!<\/p>\n
The get out clause can be alarmingly simple \u2013 tradition is to go from table to table accompanied by bridesmaids and groomsmen to toast your family and friends. Give the groomsmen the bottle so they can control the pours for the bride and groom, and even more importantly, as baijiu is clear, you can replace it with water.\u00a0 We have often provided mock baijiu bottles so the bride and groom don\u2019t add a trip to the ER to their wedding itinerary!<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 20 tables for my parent\u2019s friends and family\u2026.and 2 for mine\u201d<\/h3>\n
This dilemma isn\u2019t exclusive to Chinese weddings where the happy couple are coming from overseas, it can happen back home too! It occurs more frequently here as the practicality of flying all of the bride and grooms friends over can be a financial and logistical nightmare. It may be only a handful of friends back home make it to your China wedding, but you still want to make them feel a part of it.<\/p>\n
Most likely your parents will be inviting people you\u2019ve not seen for years – we\u2019ve seen primary school teachers and local government officials you\u2019ve never met being invited, and the pressure to spend time with them over your friends can be enormous. If your friends don\u2019t speak Chinese, as a general rule we would say don\u2019t split them up. Keep all your friends together so they can enjoy the big day without sitting in an awkward silence or not doing anything for the risk of offending anyone.<\/p>\n
Explain to your parents that you want a more balanced turn out \u2013 limit the total number of tables your family has and ensure they stick to it. Get your non Chinese speaking guests involved by hiring a bi-lingual emcee or photographer; in major cities this is easily done. If they understand what\u2019s going on, they\u2019re more likely to enjoy themselves and start mingling with your parents friends anyway!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tips on Planning a Chinese Wedding – Everyone loves a good wedding, none more so than the Chinese. From huge banquets with luxury cars and a shot of baijiu for the bride and groom at every turn, a wedding can attracts hundreds of guests with both proud families keen to invite everyone they know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-indian-ocean","category-honeymoons-destination-weddings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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