Good morning Monday!
After spending two weeks abroad, where we were able to capture an abundance of sunshine, warmth, and waves- Laws of Luxury was able to have some great learns & takeaways in how even amongst our similar ethnicities, there are differences when it comes to a Malaysian wedding versus a traditional Chinese wedding.
A typical Malaysian wedding is similar to that of a Chinese wedding in a sense that there is a tea ceremony involved, the groom is to "pick up the bride" and play games at the door in the morning, and a dinner reception to follow in the evening. Here were some of the highlights that may or may not be the same as a traditional Chinese wedding, which we enjoyed nonetheless!
1. The Young & Single - The tea ceremony was everything we expected up until the point where we saw the older brother, younger sister, and new born cousin come serve tea to the newly wedded couple. It was strange at first to see this notion, as typically only the newly weds would be serving tea to the married elders in the family; with immediate family first, then extended relatives. However, after a bit of thought- the notion made a lot of sense. The explanation was that since the newly wedded couple have now been blessed with this union as one, they are giving their blessings for future romances to flourish for those who have yet to be married.
2. The Head Table- instead of what one would see in both a North American or Chinese wedding, where the head table is elevated above the rest of the dining tables with the bridal/wedding party involved. In a Malaysian wedding however, it is out of respect that you have the elders seated on both sides of the bride & groom. Thus, what one would typically see as a 6-10 person head table looks more like a 12-14 head table with 6 immediate & extended relatives on each side.
Photo Credit: IG photo from @orangefiery/ Herman Lee
2. The Dance & Games- the 'first dance' and games are usually not part of the evening reception, where one would tease the bridal party, or have the bride & groom display their affections for each other. Luckily- the lovely couple Siang & Ace have had some western influence this past decade in both Oklahoma, and Vancouver so they humored our not so traditional MCing for the evening!
Surprisingly, what is tradition is a game that would be played (usually on the groom) is a game of taste. This involved the groom to consume four flavors of life: something sweet, something sour, something bitter, and something spicy. This is foreshadow of the types of experiences he will have with his newly bewedded wife, and that he will endure these experiences despite it all. What an interesting way of setting the right expectations from the get go!
4. Yum Sing!- what a typical toast will consist of. This will be happening throughout the night instead of silverware clanging, or random requests for the bride & groom to kiss. This tradiition believes in celebrating amongst the table and for everybody to drink and be merry. We've never had quite so many toasts in one evening (everyone seems to love beer here!). This led to a great dance to follow where everyone was a bit toasted! ^_~
5. The Sparklers- We're not sure if this was a tradition, or just an awesome idea that the bride and groom were gunho about, but having a big group of friends forming a line and lighting up sparklers for the couple to walk through definitely created some amazing photos for the photographers. We can't wait to see the official published images from Andy Phe & Jantayu Vision!
Photo Credit: IG photo from @eshumpjantayuvision
And that about sums up our two week getaway! What's next? Look forward to seeing a slightly modified verison of our main page on the website as we'll be joining forces with Derks Formals as our first preferred vendor!