Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Wedding Story

A good friend of mine got married on Saturday, to a sweet, gentle, and responsible man. She was a stunning bride. I have known this woman since we were both in our early twenties, and she has never looked more beautiful than she did walking down the aisle. This wedding was a victory for happiness. Take that, mean old world!

The ceremony and celebrations were held at an "event centre", one of those places which seems to exist for the sole purpose of hosting wedding parties. The chandeliers in the foyer were each the size of a small car, and very sparkly. The chairs were swathed in gold fabric. The lights bathed everyone and everything in a soft golden glow.

As the groom's family is from Hong Kong, the dinner was a traditional Chinese banquet. Eight courses served over 3.5 hours, and that's not counting the finger foods which were circulated during the cocktail hour or the sweet table at the end. You might think it a bit of a marathon to sit for such a long time, eating, but in fact it was a pleasant experience. Our table-mates were witty and interesting people. There were entertainments offered between courses, such as professional dance performances, speeches, and table games. And the food was scrumptious.

Each individual course consisted of a modest portion. Dishes that stand out in my mind are the lobster bisque, which was served with a light-as-air puff-pastry hat over it; and the stuffed giant snail, which I unfortunately could not eat because it was full of cheese. Other than that, I polished off everything that was put in front of me.

We did get a little silly near the end. By the seventh course our table was singing "This is the meal that never ends, and it goes on and on my friends". When the eighth course was served, the man sitting across from me pretended to weep. I think we were food drunk. Anyway, we bravely soldiered on to the end. And somehow, when all was said and done, everyone found room for dessert.

9 comments:

Juniper said...

It sounds wonderful, and refreshingly different!

I have to say I'm not a fan of weddings, so anything that is a break from the 'norm' is good in my book ;-)

LL Cool Joe said...

Sounds like a wonderful and different Wedding. You sure do get to go to some interesting events!

What was the entertainment like? What kind of table games? Spin the bottle? ;)

DarcKnyt said...

Well, if you have to be stuck at a wedding for that long, at least food every few minutes moves it along, right? :)

Giant stuff snail, huh? I might've developed a cheese allergy just then too. And I've never had one before. ;)

Just Plain Tired said...

I think I could have handled 3 1/2 hours of food myself. Having a good time during this is definitely a bonus.

Warped Mind of Ron said...

Eight courses?!! OK.... there's the pizza roll course, then tacos.... Pizza of course... ice cream.... What else???

Jameil said...

I'm sorry. Did you say "Eight courses served over 3.5 hours, and that's not counting the finger foods which were circulated during the cocktail hour or the sweet table at the end"? SWOON!!! SWOON I SAY!!

DarcsFalcon said...

"This is the meal that never ends ..." HAHAHAHAHA! Too funny!

It sounds like a fabulous time! 8 courses, wow, what a celebration. Take that world, indeed! That's what a wedding should be, IMO. :)

Congratulations to your friend and her groom. :D

Sparkling Red said...

Juniper: I haven't been to a ton of weddings, but the ones I have been to have all been very different from one another. I'm not sure if I would call any of them "normal".

LL Cool Joe: Strip poker. Just kidding! We did one challenge where a rep from each table had to say a tongue twister as many times as possible in 10 seconds. The tongue twister was something romantic in Chinese. Another game was tossing beanbags into buckets. I played that one and got two out of three - not enough to win! The prizes were gorgeous photos taken by the bride and groom, both shutterbugs, enlarged and framed.

DarcKnyt: It was quite something. Each snail shell was 6 inches long. However they looked less like garden snail shells and more like a beautiful sea shell, which made it appetizing.

JPT: I wouldn't mind doing it again someday. There's nothing like a good feast.

Ron: I love that you only came up with four options, and two of them were pizza!

Jameil: You should have been there. The scallops wrapped in bacon were to die for.

DarcsFalcon: My friend sometimes reads this blog, so you probably just congratulated her yourself, essentially. :-)

Jenski said...

Sounds D-licious and an enjoyable night.