Moving to a different country, everything seems to interest me. However, the most amusing one was watching a photographer clicking lovely pictures of a newly wedded Chinese couple. They seemed so, at least. They were young and beautiful.The guy wore a beautiful suit and the girl, a beautiful white shimmering gown. A make-up guy also accompanied them. I was What amazed me was that the couple were not getting themselves clicked at any exquisite locale or any designer photo studio. Neither was I attending any Chinese wedding. All this clicking was happening on the road opposite my house. After a couple of minutes, they moved to an another area and it was time for few more pictures. I found this entire incident pretty interesting. Often while driving, young Chinese couples posing for camera would attract my attention.
I was one day fortunate enough to be invited to a Chinese wedding reception a few months ago. Me, along with an American, a French and a Russian friend went together to the reception. We arrived to be welcomed by the bride and the bridegroom's parents. The guests were waiting for the bride and bridegroom. There were many Chinese among the guests. I expected to see latest Chinese costumes, but no one was wearing a Chinese dress. Everyone was wearing western outfits. My French friend was the only one dressed in a nice Chinese dress for the occasion.
Two giant screens were erected and before I could wonder, I saw lovely pictures of the couple, dressed in wedding attire being screened. But these weren't wedding pictures. These were pictures of the couple at various outdoor locales of the city. The couple looked so beautiful in different wedding dresses. Each picture had the girl wearing a new colourful western gown and the groom matching in different suits.This seemed familiar to me.
My friends were equally surprised to watch these pictures. They had never seen anything like this before. My reaction was "They seem a very rich couple". One of my Chinese friends seated at the table alter told that all the dresses are available on hire. The entire photo shoot comes in a package. I had seen many shops exclusively displaying wedding gowns on display. I could now relate myself to these shops. It then dawned on us that the pictures had been shot before the wedding.
While, all guests were busy watching the slide show, there was an announcement in Chinese. The doors opened and the couple walked in dressed in breath taking Western outfits. They cut the cake, uncorked a bottle of champagne and food followed. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
We later came to know that this is a Chinese custom. It seemed a nice cost- saving idea hiring dresses and preparing an entire new wedding album. But the idea appealed to me a lot.
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