Wedding Rehearsal, July 16

It was very good to have a wedding rehearsal. None of the participants in this wedding except Charlotte and her parents had ever even been to a traditional (Western) Christian wedding. The undertaking was somewhat daunting. While Zhiyong and Charlotte talked specifics with the church’s coordinator (who took some time in arriving), Mark and Wang Hui practiced how they would alternate speaking. The entire wedding was scripted so Mark would read his part and then Wang Hui would read the translation. She had a clear, ringing voice and did a beautiful job. We had tried the church’s microphones but they distorted the sound so badly we decided to do without.

Charlotte had done the translation and had bounced it off of Dong Ying. Since no one in the crowd would be Christian, Charlotte and Zhiyong were intent on making the ceremony and message understandable. No Chinese “Christianeze“, please. Dong Ying gave good feedback, Charlotte said.

The other readers practiced (were encouraged to speak out), while the best man and maid of honor figured out where to stand and what other duties they had (such as arranging Charlotte’s wedding dress train). In Chinese tradition there is only one attendant each for bride and groom. The attendants need to be single and somewhat related even if distantly. They are not necessarily friends in particular (which can lead to some interesting interactions and motivations other than the wellbeing of the bride or groom). However, I-I, the maid of honor, and John Lin, the best man, were attentive and good humored and fulfilled their roles well.

We also needed to check the logistics of the unity candle--sounds simple, right? Well, this was a unity candle with a Chinese twist. The mothers would light the two simple tapers but the unity candle itself was to be placed on an elaborate rectangular 1.5 ft by 3 ft portable platform. The big red unity candle sat atop a rotating pedestal surrounded by tall glittering lighted (choices of white, pink, or blue) columns which were controlled by remote. In addition, the coordinator taped a fat sparkler to the side of the candle. She then turned on all the sparkling and pulsing lights, lit the sparkler, and jumped when it sparked to life. We all laughed and she was a little embarrassed, I think. Charlotte asked my opinion of the ensemble and I thought it was delightfully Chinese. In the end, they chose the white lights and the coordinator operated it from stage right, I believe.

We were at the church until late and even had various Chinese and Russian tourists who wandered through while we were rehearsing (the cathedral is one of the Manzhouli sights to see). I got a little spooked at one point when I was totally surrounded by mostly Chinese men (Charlotte had made some comment about government officials coming through). I sort of shielded myself behind one of the columns but John Lin nicely came and found me and told me it was ok to sit in the pews. I just didn’t want to be in the forefront of the pictures that were being taken….We didn’t get to bed until after 11 PM. A long but fascinating day.