CHINESE WEDDING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26226, 9 August 1946, Page 4

CHINESE WEDDING

CEREMONY IN DUNEDIN A PICTURESQUE EVENT NATIONAL FEAST ON SUNDAY A quaint and picturesque wedding, which was attended by practically the entire Chinese community in Dunedin and about 50 European guests, took place in the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church last night, when Mr Garpoy Ding, of Outram, was married to Miss Nora Ngan, of Petone. Although the ceremony and the subsequent wedding breakfast largely followed European custom, there was a great deal that was both fascinating and interesting in the event.

The ceremony in the church closely resembled the usual Presbyterian marriage sei-vice, with the important difference that it was taken mostly in Chinese, the vows being the main portion to be Spoken in English. The organist played the customary “ Here Comes the Bride” and the Wedding March, but no hymns were sung, chiefly on account of the difficulty of obtaining sufficient hymn books printed in Chinese. The service was conducted by the Rev- G. H. McNeur, who spent 38 years as a missionary in China and speaks Chinese fluently. Large Bridal Party

It was an interesting feature of the service that Mr McNeur knew the villages in Southern China from which the bride and bridegroom’s people came, and had met numerous members of their family, all of whom are farmers. This is not the first Chiriese couple that Mr McNeur has married in Dunedin, and, of course, he performed many marriages in China where the Christian service was usqally followed by a Chinese ceremony and a considerable amount of feasting. The National Government has since set its face against this elaborate feasting at weddings’ and funerals, but the age-old customs die hard. A recent development was the mass wedding of 20 or 30 couples in such cities as Shanghai, a procedure that reduced the cost of the feasting.

The bridal party yesterday was an elaborate one. The bride wore an attractive gown with a long train. Attending her were two bridesmaids, two little flower girls carrying baskets of flowers, and a page boy and page girl carrying the bride’s train. The bridegroom was attended by a best man and a groomsman. Contrasting Receptions The breakfast, which was held in the Crawford Lounge, and was attended by over 160 Chinese and about 50 Europeans, was the same as that provided for a European wedding reception. A toast-list was honoured, the speeches being partly in Chinese and partly in English.

For the benefit of the Chinese relatives and friends of the bride and groom a further wedding breakfast will be held on Sunday. This will more or less take the form of the feasts held after weddings in China, although it has not been possible to obtain special foods and ingredients from China. The breakfast will consist, however, of a variety of dishes prepared and cooked in Dunedin by Chinese methods.