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Hiya...
Any chinese brides out there planning their wedding?!
I get married July 2009. Does anyone want to share their ideas and exitement?!
We are not having a chinese banquet as my H2B is English and my father is not particulary bothered about having one, much to my dissapointment.... but I am trying to intergrate as much tradition as possible like the tea ceremony and wearing Kwa and cheongsam!

xx :\)

Hi Carms

Im a BBC and my H2B is chinese/vietnamese but been in UK for most of his life. He proposed in January this year and we are getting married in May this year.

We are holding a small family wedding and a small chinese banquet. I am not wearing a Kwa but a Red qipao instead to be made when my parents goes back to HK. My H2B side dont want a tea ceremony but my parents do since its our tradition chinese culture. Apparently H2B parents say its not necessary, I was surprised by this as we have similarities and speak cantonese. Must speak to his sisters to find out if they had a tea ceremony as they have chinese hubbies.

T

Hello YM78...
That must have been a surprise to you as you all speak Cantonese and the tea ceremony is such a big thing for Chinese people. You must find out how your family feel about it and do what you want from your heart.
I had a friend who got married last year and she is Vietnamese... she had a tea ceremony with all the family as I believe her hubby is HK chinese.
Maybe you could just have the tea ceremony at home with your parents before the reception? That will ensure that you will fulfill yours and your parents wish and its an intimate moment with your family.
We are having our tea ceremony after our wedding ceremony at the hotel. This means that all of our friends and family will see our chinese traditions and my H2Bs family although English... are very exited about us involving them... and for me... the lai see!!! hehe!
It is the most important part of the day along with my marriage ceremony... and its all because of my personal feelings and my parents first wedding of their 3 children.
Let me know how you get on after speaking with ur H2Bs sisters.
You will have to post some piccies up of your Qipao! I can't wait to get mine... to feel truly chinese and not forgetting my roots. Wow.... May is only round the corner... bet you're getting very exited! I thought my engagement is short... I've been planning since October last year!
x

Hi

I agree its important to keep up with our chinese traditions. It would be exciting and memorable to have the tea ceremony with all your guests present! I wished I had more time to prepare for this wedding, so far there is still alot to do and getting a little stressed cramming it in before May.

Best wishes with the preparations and hope goes to plan with your wedding. I hope both my dresses are ready in time.
Will post the piccies up!

T

so will u girls be doing the 'pick-up bride' routine too? i think it's fun. i got married last month and had my wedding in hk (plus a party after civil ceremony in london a few months ago).

I wish I was doing the 'pick up' routine... but we are following the english tradition and that is for my H2B to see me when I walk down the aisle!
I wanted to do the pick up routine so that the girlies could play some games on the lads and make then suffer!!!
Maybe I will see if I can still get some games in later on at the evening reception?!!! hmm... its got me thinking!!! x

Hi guys

I'm a chinese bride as well. I'm doing a chinese wedding in Mauritius where my family live and a UK wedding as my h2b is english.

So what's the chinese banquet? How does it work? In Mauritius, chinese people get married by either having a 10 course meal that is put in the middle of the round table of 10 people or a chinese buffet still with people sitting down on a round table with 10 people.

I'm doing the Mauritan wedding in the top chinese wedding venue in Mauritius and the Uk one in the top wedding venue in Sussex but its going to be a very small wedding (only 40 guests) The Mauritian one is going to be a bigger do with 150 - 160 people. You get a lot more for your money out there

I'm having the civil ceremony in the UK and then a sit down meal and disco with buffet in the evening. The Mauritian one will be a church wedding - I'm catholic as well and then I guess the tradtional tea ceremony where we serve chinese tea to the guests and then a sit down meal. Not sure whether I'm doing a buffet or sit down meal yet. Still waiting on a quote. I'm still wearing a white/ivory dress though. Just need to be careful what type I choose as I need to transport this to Mauritius.

So how are your preparations going?

Meldolly - how wonderful to be having a wedding in Maritius! I envy you to be able to hold a wedding in such a beautiful place!
The chinese banquet in the UK normally takes place in a Chinese restaurant and have many courses - normally about 10 or 12!
Very similar to what you're having in Maritius.
I dont think Ive ever been to a chinese wedding that has had less that 150 guests! They are normally big and colourful! My father was against the idea of me having a chinese banquet (for his own reasons! although we was prepared to pay for it all) so we have gone with his wishes and just having a western style wedding reception and incorporating chinese traditions into the day.
I'm wearing a white dress also - I wont feel like a bride if I don't otherwise! I guess many girls dreams are big fairy tale wedding dresses but the slim, slinky white dresses seem to be so 'in' at the moment too. They will be much more light weight to carry for your check in baggage... but also light weight to wear in the hot weather. Let us know when you decide what you choose!
When do you get married? Your wedding pics will be amazing! sometimes I wished we was getting married abroad too...we considered the idea but we would only have a handful of people going due to flight and hotel costs. So, we decided if we want all of our family and friends to share our day, its best to stick to the UK. Wish me luck for good weather!!! Its in July, so I'm hoping we will... but I think last July it rained alot! Oh no!
xx

meldolly, ur wedding is going to be amazing! sun and sea, v cool indeed. btw, there are companies that sell travel box for wedding dresses, u can do an online search.

YM78, it doesn't take too much time to plan a wedding, don't stress. btw, there is a shop in hk who tailor make v gd thai silk qipao, i wanted to get one made too, but didn't at the end. it is not cheap, around 4k hong kong dollars, they all make wedding and evening dress. http://www.chinoiserie.com.hk/

WY - I love the website! Thanks for that! I adore Qipaos - so elegant! Probably a bit expensive for me,,, but gives me good ideas! x

Thanks guys

I'm soooo looking forward to the wedding. What dresses have you chosen? I'm really torn as I wanted to get a lovely princessy looking one but I need to make sure it's not too heavy.

I think that if I go for satin it might be lighter than silk. I've tried the slim line ones and they look great but I think what I really want is a fitted bodice with some ruching or gathering and then a fitted skirt on the top part of my hips and then it flares out so has a bigger skirt. I want pleats in the skirt as well to add that extra something. I'm 5ft 5 ish and a size 8 so I could get away with wearing a slim line dress but I'm not sure whether it'll be too comfortable in the heat. It's better that I have more space for my legs lol

That website looks like it has amazing dresses. I want to get a qipao as well. I might invest in one. I used to have one a long time ago but I never wore it as I was a size 14 then and as its fitted I hated the way it looked on me but I'm sure that now I could probably get away with it

I get married in May 2010 and then hopefully August 2010 in Mauritius as we need to get a date from the Chinese pagoda. My family really believe in the chinese traditions so I have to wait probably until the end of the year before I can know what date I can get married. Typical!

We're only getting married in Mauritius as I have to say most of my family are there and all of my h2b's family is in the UK so we want everyone to share our special day as much as possible.

I'm hoping I find a good photographer as I haven't found one yet for either weddings but I have an appointment with one on Friday and the Mauritian one will have to wait until I get a date but I imagine that the pictures will look very tropical as we could go down to the beach as well as its only close by.


WY - thanks for the advice for the travel box, I'll def need to get one of those. It might be good to store my wedding dress in before I transport it to Mauritius as well.

So how's your preps going? You guys should post your wedding pictures and you haven't got a long time to go. You must be soooo excited!

Of course you want to get married in Maritius also... for chinese, one of the most important factors is having your family with you!
I have 2 bridal dresses - one for the ceremony and one for during the wedding breakfast. A big one as I walk down aisle - its a fitted boddice and goes out with a long train. Then the 2nd one is a slim fitting one. Very lightweight, sort of chiffon material over the top with a smaller train.
Then I will wear Kwa for tea ceremony and Qipao just before 1st dance. Would like another for 1st dance and evening! sound so greedy!

I have a fantastic chinese photographer - Ken Lam from Newcastle. He was the first thing I booked! Before venue even. I love his work! check him out!

I'm sooo exited! But I've been stressed with it also... So much to still do!

Wow.. how did you get from a 14 to an 8?!!! Can I have some tips pls?! Would like to lose half a stone!
x

Wow I'm, impressed so many dresses. I'm tempted to do similiar. Have a bigger one for the church and a more fitted one for the wedding breakfast but as its so expensive we'll have to see

Can you forward me Ken Lam's details. I'd love to get in touch with him as I'm open to suggestions on photographers as I haven't chosen one yet. Does he charge a lot and does he cover West Sussex as well?

The losing weight thing was pure dedication as I was a size 12 and when I met my h2b i got all relaxed and started eating more and was going on a size 14. My h2b can be VERY honest sometimes lol but bless him its probably one of the best things he said as it prompted me to lose weight as I always had an issue with my weight As you know Chinese ladies tend to be quite slim. Can I ask what size you are? All I did was a life style change. I started walking more, doing more exercise, eat a lot more healthy for e.g. always having breakfast something I never used to do as I thought I'd put on weight but thats not the case as then I don't need to eat so much for lunch and dinner. For breakfast I normally have scotch pancakes, prunes etc... Lunch - A ham sandwich with low fat cheese and a pirce of fruit of even low fat crisps and then for dinner grilled salmon with new potatoes and vegetables. I do indulge sometimes though especially now that I'm a size 8 I don't need to eat healthy all the time even if I still do 80% of the time as I don't want to get bigger again

another tips i learn from brides in hk to share. girls over in hk wear a basque (corset type thing that they call girdle) underneath their wedding and evening dresses, and kwa qipao as well. it's a long line bra with cups, pads (if u need extra help ) and boning, so it pulls you in the right places. there are different styles, low back, seamless etc. i had a v fitted slimline dress, although i m a size 8, i am not toned and hate the bulges in the mid section when i sit. so i had a flesh coloured seamless basque underneath my dress, also no problem with bra lines showing

not sure if you girls can read chinese, but u can look at the pics

http://www.exclusivelymine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=11&id=19

btw, carms, yes, u wear the pink or red silk pyjama under the kwa. oh r u going to rent or buy, if u've sisters and cousins, might be better off buying, u can share.

i heard about your photographer, my photographer (or his campany) in hk actually worked with yours, i saw some pics in his blog,

i had kwa in the morning, wedding dress in afternoon+first half of dinner n evening dress for the 2nd half. i rent my kwa and bought my dresses from debenhams n online . they fit v well, too well that nearly couldn't get into the wedding dress (size 6) as i gained a few pounds before wedding. v gd value too, i was v pleased