One of the reasons why I stopped in Taiwan, was to attend the wedding of one of my (countless) cousins. I had expected a traditional Chinese wedding (lots of ceremony, lots of relatives, lots of drinking), but it turned out to be a mass wedding! Mass wedding, meaning that 85 couples got married in one giant ceremony. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Arriving early for the wedding ceremony, I saw all the couples lined up in the back, getting ready for their special day! I imagine it’s somewhat hard to feel special when sharing your special day with 84 other couples though…
I’m not kidding – it’s 85 couples – note that unlucky numbers 4 and 44 are omitted.
One by one, the couples are called onto the stage and introduced. Some have traditional western wedding dresses, others have more alternative styles:
This is my cousin and his bride!
After all the couples have been introduced and seated for the ceremony:
A famous (?) singer is hired to come and sing some love songs for the ceremony:
The parents of the groom and bride get involved for the oaths ceremony:
The mayor of Taipei came to give a long meandering speech and later take photos with each newly married couple. Free PR, on the happiest day of each newly married couple’s life! A deft political maneuver!
Meanwhile, to the back of the building, all the kids got bored and wandered off to play. I can’t say I blame them.
Rings are exchanged:
And as the music plays, the MC gets each newly married to kiss for ’60 seconds” (actually two minutes+). If it were me down there, with my freediving training, I could have done three minutes no problem ;-)
Have a drink with parents:
And bam! Confetti to make it all official!
Gift bags for the newly married couples:
Free strollers for newly married couples, to promote having kids!
Of course, no Chinese wedding is complete without a banquet. An entire restaurant full of people (200+), and they’re *all* relatives of mine. What the heck, I don’t know any of these people!
And one last photo of the newly married couple, for good luck!
