Some weeks back I attended a ‘weird’ wedding dinner. Why is it weird?
Well, the thing is… I neither know the bride nor the groom. And yes, I sat through the whole charade of videos (including the video taken that morning of the groom fetching the bride, how the brothers & groom ‘crashed’ the gate and how the bride maids ‘punished’ the brothers when they failed in their ‘games’ or ‘tasks’), powerpoint montage of growing up photographs and how the couple have met, the toasting, the speech by the bride and groom, the dance by the bride and groom, the photo taking session with the couple, etc.
However, I made sure I gave a reasonably fat ang bao for the nice dinner. I don’t really splurge on myself, but that doesn’t mean I am stingy to the people around me.
So the question is.. why did I go for the dinner? Well, I was asked to by the bride’s father, who happens to be a colleague of mine. I was kinda obliged to go. Well this colleague of mine is a senior staff in our office. Being a long time staff there, he has a lot of technical knowledge. So most of us require his help to get work done.
Nevertheless, when I got a phone call from him one morning (out of the blue), I was quite surprised and it goes like this:
Him: Hi, are you free on this ‘date’ evening (which is on a weekend).
Me: (Sensing something fishy about his question, but nevertheless paying along….) Yup, I am free, what’s up? (of course I am .. after all it is a weekend)
Him: Oh I was thinking of inviting you to my daughter’s wedding.
Me: (Feeling really weird now). Eh, hahaha, why are you asking me? I don’t even know your daughter nor the groom (But on second thought)…..hmmm….well, since you asked, why not (can’t really say no, since he has been a great help at work to many of us).
Frankly, I think weddings here is becoming more of a formality nowadays. And the cost of it nowadays can be astronomical.
Just check out the post below from Cheerfulegg.
Why We Overspent On Our Wedding (read here)
To some (could be due to traditional parents), having a grand wedding is a matter of ‘face’.
It doesn’t look ‘good’ if their side (either the bride or groom) has disproportionally fewer guests. A ‘small’ and informal wedding dinner would not do. The more the merrier.
Well, back to my experience at the wedding dinner.
Throughout the dinner, I just can’t help feeling like a wedding crasher. I felt like an outsider… (perhaps like the waiter or the waitress).
It was also awkward when the bride and groom thanked me for attending.
And to make matters worse, at our table, out of the 10 seats, there were only 4 of us (all from the same office). The rest have either forgotten or just didn’t want to turn up. Well, more food for us perhaps. There were many colleagues from my office there, including my Managing Director.. all asked to come by the bride’s father and who didn’t know the bride and groom.
However, by the 3rd or 4th course, I am already full. I had all the champagne, wine, soft drinks, food I could even swallow. Just for your information, the wedding dinner was held at one of the better hotels and the last time I checked online, a wedding banquet held there on a weekend night cost about $1800++ to $1900++ per table. Not cheap at all.
Halfway through the dinner, a family with young kids joined us. They don’t look dressed for the dinner (dressed informally). I guess they were probably friends or relatives asked to join the dinner while they were out shopping so as to fill up the empty seats. They didn’t stay for long. And neither did I.
Like I’ve said earlier, I was full early through the course of the dinner and decided to go home after the 5th course. I reckon the dessert would be delicious but my stomach had no space left :p
A Pen Quotes 