Village Wedding 3

Men and women sleep separate, kids with women. So Sean slept in this 'corridor" on that table. It may be hard to see but there are hooks cemented into the roof of the house to hang things on, see the pig legs hanging above sean's head?

the day before the wedding family came for special meals. They came in a procession playing an instrument like a clarinet. During the meal they would periodically play songs

Once all the food was prepared it looked like this

then for each set of guests that came they would fill plastic bowls with some of everything

Every guest that came brought fireworks and set them off when they came  - here is C and didi posing with the frieworks

To eat there is a fire in the center and a big wok, in the wok is the cut up chicken, stock, those toufu triangles. Then they would put all the little plastic bowls in the soup to heat it up (since the food was all made days before and just sat out until the wedding feast day)

On the morning of the wedding neither family slept. At 3am they woke up and decorated all the cars with flowers and balloons then went to pick p the bride. They had a meal at her house at 5am then her family filled a truck with all the presents for the couple. This hanging lit up clock was one of the gifts. I cant even think of something you would compare this too in the US but they are common here. 

The pig head had a prominent place next to the tv, on top of a big one of those pink sticky rice cakes, and   between the marriage candles. 

Bride and Groom in front of all the presents the family sent over (washing machine, blankets, homemade slippers, plates, pots, pans, pillows etc.) When the bride got there at 7am Caed had slept through all the fireworks (which was amazing because they were literally feet away from his bed). Anyway she came in our room to see her niece who was also sleeping with us, when she turned on the light I woke Caed up to tell him the bride is here and he looked at her and said, "She looks just like Santa Clause Mommy!" {the coat}

The front door to the house

Lots of eating. The morning of the wedding I sat down to my third meal of the day at 9:15am. I lost track after that. But basically new groups of people kept coming and the family would serve them. The bride left around 10:30am and will go back to her village for another few days, or maybe until after the Chinese New Year next week. This will give the family a chance to set up the house and unpack all of the new gifts. 

There is a ton more to say but I can't do it all here. This is just a "quick" overview :) Beside the no running water accompanied with the no bathroom (you had to hike over to the hills to do your business) and the fact that the food didn't have a great effect on Caed and me - everything was great!!!