It is many years ago that Aric and I attended a Chinese wedding dinner! When our friend Henry Hor came to our place in April, to invite us for the wedding dinner of his son Benjamin, we accepted his invitation. When I decided a few weeks later to visit the Netherlands, I planned my timetable in such a way that I would come back just one day before the dinner, hoping that my jetlag would not be too severe 😉 .

For those not familiar with the tradition of Chinese wedding dinners, here some information. A Chinese wedding dinner is a big and expensive event, where hundreds of guests enjoy a traditional many-course dinner. The size of the event is indicated by the number of tables, where eacht table is for 10 pax. The price for one table can easily be in the range RM 2000-3000. At this occasion there were 30 tables. To contribute to the cost of the event, the guests don’t give the wedding couple a present, but an ang pao envelope with money. On arrival we presented our ang pao, and we were given our table number. Henry is busy here, doing some checking.

Left the wedding dinner invitation. Benjamin is living in the US, Anita in Malaysia. They met via the Internet and married last year in the US. Now Benjamin came back for the church wedding. He brought quite a few of his American friends. Anita who is planning to move to the US, is Chindian. So the dinner was Chinese, but the company was an interesting mix of Chinese, Indian, Malay and Mat Salleh, very Malaysian.

A few pictures of the hall. On the invitation a starting time of 6 pm is mentioned, but almost nobody comes that early. We arrived at 6:30 pm

Still enough time to greet friends. Left Aric and George, right Khong, George and me together with Henry

At around 7 pm the couple, Anita and Benjamin, entered the hall.

They were seated at the main table, near the stage, with their close family. Then the dinner could start. An eight-course menu. Free flow of wine and beer.

The first course is always a variety of starters. Read the menu for details.

Followed by seafood soup (left) and and chicken chop with mango salad (right)

In the meantime the MC (master of ceremonies) introduced the speakers and also photos and videos were shown on the big screen above the main stage. Here is “our” table.

There was one more table with our friends. Left photo (from right to left) George, Boon Chee and his wife. Right photo (from right to left) Richard Yap, Teoh and his wife. We know each other through Bukit Kiara and IKEA, before COVID disturbed our lives.

Fourth course: steamed pomfret with ginger in soy sauce.

The next two courses, left butter prawns with egg floss, right mushroom and broccoli

Henry, Anita and Benjamin at the VIP table, listening to the speeches on the stage.

Then it is their turn. Benjamin has to open a bottle of champaign (or maybe sparkling wine),preferably with a loud pop ;-). Then groom and bride have to fill the tower of glasses. This is a traditional element of the ceremony.

Next is the official toasting with all close relatives and friends on stage.

Everybody has to sing yam seng, cheers in Cantonese, litterally “drink to victory”. The “yam” must be kept as long and loud as possible, followed by a short, explosive “seng”. Here is a short video, showing that not everybody was familiar with this very Chinese custom. the MC had to help 😉 .

These events are very suitable to meet old friends. Left the Gang of Four, we still meet regularly. Right Boon Chee, Andrew and I, we have not met each other for many years.

In the meantime the last course had arrived, Mixed fruits and a dessert of sea coconut and snow fungus. This time Aric was serving the others at our table.

The finale of the dinner. Bride and groom visit tables for another yam seng toast and pictures.. Not all tables, just tables with their friends and relatives.

Here I am toasting on the good luck and happiness of the couple. Yaaaaaaaam Seng.

A pleasant evening, nice to meet old friends. i had no problem with jetlag!