The wedding banquet started around 12:30 following the wedding ceremony at the church.
First, we signed the guest book and gave the people at the table our wedding gift (a red envelope with cash inside). They immediately record the names on the red envelope and the amount of the gift. In modern Taiwanese culture, the majority of the money given at the wedding goes towards paying for the banquet. 
And the banquet room was really festive with balloons everywhere!
After the guests had found their tables and sat down, the bridal party and bride and groom entered the banquet hall. The flower children came in after the groomsman and maid of honor, the only thing that indicates that they are there is that someone had tied helium balloons to their wrists. (The man speaking the Chinese . . . that's my hubby, he was the MC of the banquet.)
Thanking all the guests for coming by toasting from the font stage.
Since I didn't get many photos of the food from our banquet, I made sure to get a photo of EVERY SINGLE dish taken at their wedding as well as some of the drinks.
There were around 25 tables.
Here's the view of our table.
After a few dishes . . .bride and groom enter again, this time with the bride in a new dress.
Games and tricks on brides and grooms is a HUGE part of most wedding banquets. This very private couple didn't want to be embarrassed. So, Lawrance and I came up with a game for the new couple to play. He asked them questions such as "who fell in love first" and "who will hold the remote control to the TV." Then they decided who and held up a photo of the one they thought was the answer.
Their "punishment" for not agreeing with each other was for MeiShiang to find (with her hands only, eyes closed) some black file clips that Lawrance had hid on GouJong--one for every question "wrong."
They also had the really sweet idea to "reward" their guests with a "lucky draw." They asked their guests to leave words of blessings on little cards and then drew out 30 of the blessings to read aloud during the banquet. Those whose blessings were read aloud were given homemade mango pudding as a reward.
They then went table to table toasting their guests ten at a time.
After the toasting, they disappeared for awhile and came back with the bride in dress number three and ready to give away the bride's bouquet.
They had a really unique way of giving away the bouquet. They called all their single friends--male and female--up to the front by name. Then handed each one a red string. One of the red strings was attached to the bouquet. The one with the lucky attached string got to keep the bouquet. The rest went home with consolatory chopsticks.
After the banquet, they stood at the door and "song ke." They passed out roses (the first time I'd seen that) and candy as they said goodbye and thanks for coming to their guests. And of course took time to take photos with their guests too. :)
The happy bride waves "bye!!" :D
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