Weddings Galore!

Both weeks this month that I've been down the mountain on Nanping Lu I've seen brides, brides, and more brides! Nanping Lu features a garden and park that flanks the Yangtze River, making it a hot spot for bridal photos--rain or shine. The rainy weekend of the Mid-Autumn Festival we spotted five brides in full-on wedding gowns taking pictures. This past weekend, we spotted no less than twelve brides and wedding parties in banquet halls and restaurants along Nanping Lu. I don't know the significance of the date 10/18 in the lunar calendar, but it certainly must be auspicious.

During Beijing training, I happened to be in my hotel lobby when a wedding party arrived! This was my first encounter with a traditional Chinese ceremony, and the spectacle was enough to draw the local crowd. Who doesn't love weddings anyway?

The band started the party off with some traditional wedding tunes. They walked by me when they went outside so I saw that they still had their jeans and shorts underneath their robes =P

Confetti, firecrackers, and more confetti! Festivities exploded within a ten foot diameter outside and inside the hotel entrance.

The wedding party had their own cameramen and photographers covering every angle of the event--it's definitely a modern twist to great-grandma's wedding celebration!

Bride and Groom pose for the cameras as their red convertible getaway car sets into position.

The couple moved their party inside the hotel's banquet halls, thus ending my media coverage =P

I've got weddings on the brain this week, and that's mainly because my friends Annie and Sam are getting married this weekend! I don't know if 10/24 is an auspicious day on the lunar calendar, but I know that there will be much rejoicing as man and wife enter into one of the most beautiful covenants that symbolizes our Father's sacrificial love for us. Cheers and much joy, Annie and Sam! :)