Such Fuss Over a Little Lipstick

Saturday, December 19 - We missed some of the traditional Chinese ceremony around the first portion of the wedding in Ipoh, so we were up early today to make sure we arrived in time for the day’s festivities.

Basically, the morning was split into two major parts:

• In part one, the groomsmen bring the groom to the house where the bride is staying. The groomsmen (there are about 10 of them) then have to tackle a series of obstacles devised by the bridesmaids. Obstacles vary from wedding to wedding, but for this wedding they included a little brain teaser involving some Chinese sayings, forcing the groomsmen to eat some nasty food, and having them put on lipstick to make an “I love you” sign out of lip shapes. And seriously, the fuss over a little lipstick - you’d have thought the groomsmen were being asked to parade naked down Main Street! After a little serenade by the groom, the bride was finally released so the groomsmen could take her back to the home of the groom’s parents.
  
• In part two, the bride and groom partake in a ceremony with the groom’s family where they offer tea to the parents – to get the blessing of the elders. Oh, but it didn’t end there. After that, the new couple went up to the wedding bed where a small child was made to jump on the bed, the groom required to remove the bride’s veil, the bride made to remove the grooms jacket, and EVERYONE decided to get photos taken with the newlyweds on their wedding bed.
  

In fairness, that last bit about the photos isn’t really tradition, it’s just what happened at this wedding. It made for a long morning, with the whole ceremony taking more than two hours.