My uncle got married!!! My Dad's brother, Uncle Eric, has lived in the Bay Area nearly my entire life and somehow I've never been to visit him. I can remember him coming for Thanksgiving every year with tales of some new exotic place he'd visited and I would beg him to tell me every detail of his travels.... perhaps he had quite a bit to do with my developing wanderlust...
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| Uncle Eric & his bride Sue |
Anyway, Uncle Eric finally decided to marry his girlfriend of 16 years and of course I wasn't going to miss this. I suppose it's never too late, right?
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| Oh happy day! |
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| Katelyn took this pic.. |
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| Roses, orchids, wine, & RC Cola. Amazing. |
Sue grew up in southern China.... the wedding was a crazy fusion of Chinese and American traditions. Her son, Tim (I have a new cousin!) became a Justice of the Peace for the day. Apparently in California, such things are possible. Anyway, in a private ceremony, Tim married his mom and my Uncle Eric. He offered to marry anyone else who was looking to get hitched, but husband hunting has never been on my agenda so I declined. The reception was held at their favorite Chinese restaurant, which happened to be a seafood restaurant complete with tanks and tanks of live seafood just waiting to be eaten. Doesn't get more fresh than that!
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| Tim, Sue, Uncle Eric, & my brothers Karl & Kevin |
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| here fishy fishy... |
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| Deadliest Catch, anyone? |
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| Catch of the day...? |
Sue's group of girlfriends pulled together and basically did all the work setting up each table with elaborate place settings and centerpieces and she was quick to put my dad & brothers to work with opening wine bottles before guests arrived.
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| OK boys, let's open some more wine |
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| Dad & Sue |
Once the evening got started, every guest posed for pictures with the bride and groom and headed to their table. We had an emcee who sort of guided us through the evening with introductions, jokes, stories, and songs. Most of the guests were Asian, but several tables looked like the united nations and the more wine that flowed, the more cheers and toasts I heard in different languages and traditions.
Sue wore three dresses, one to represent the past, one for the present, and then of course the future. The first dress was a traditional American style wedding gown, followed by a purple dress she had made in Hong Kong, and finally a floral black and red gown. She looked amazing in all of them. Of course, I spaced out and never took a picture of her third dress. errghh.
The menu was very pescetarian friendly, as it was a seafood restaurant, but there were a few dishes I'd actually had back when I ate meat and was traveling in China. I have to be honest, I spent most of my time in Beijing and the food was pretty awful. For anyone who has been to China, you know that General Tsao's Chicken and Beef and Broccoli are as American as Apple Pie and any Chinese take out is a faaaaaaar cry from the real deal in China.
However, the food at the reception was amazing and authentic. I'm not sure, but I think the style was southern Chinese food and it was much different than what I had while in the North. I of course didn't try the duck and pork (been there, done that..), but thanks to my experience traveling in Asia I wasn't put off by the presentation of the fish: whole body you just kind of dig into with chop sticks. I also knew what to expect with the texture of the sharkfin soup. The seaweed salad was the best I've ever tasted!
Sue serenaded her groom with a Chinese love song and before long, she invited all the ladies to join her (karaoke style). Typically it takes a few songs for people to start dancing at most weddings, but as soon as the first dance was over with, people bombarded the dance floor and it didn't clear out until hours later.
Sue's niece later told me that this was the first wedding she had ever attended that included dancing... but everyone was so enthusiastic you would have thought it was an age old Chinese tradition. It wasn't long before I kicked off my 4 inch heels because it's pretty awkward being the giant white girl on the dance floor.
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| Aunt Sue & Me |
All in all, it was a spectacular wedding and I was very sad when it was all over. Sue was a gorgeous, gracious bride and her family and friends were very kind and welcoming. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a Chinese wedding, do not pass it up!!
