Jul 26 2007
The Reception: A Night of Laughter, Part II - Weird Wedding Games
So now you’re a little familiar with what foods are served at a Chinese Wedding Banquet.
You’re also aware that the newlyweds are pressured into kissing throughout the meal. My guess is that they don’t get to eat much at all during the day between running around taking photos, all the kissing and then all the visits to each table for a shared toast.
But their torture hasn’t ended yet. I’ve only been to Chinese and I guess non-demoninational wedding receptions but based on what I’ve seen in real life and in movies, humans love to tease and humiliate the people they love and care about.
I mean, it’s so much more enjoyable, a sheer pleasure really, to humiliate someone you know. Plus, the better you know them, the better you can humiliate them.
Based on this observation, I am guessing that all wedding receptions involve Weird Wedding Games.
Weird Wedding Games are games that the newlyweds must play that provide optimum humiliation. This humiliation will be digitally captured, preserved, and ready to provide amusement for years to come.
My cousin and his wife had to put on their Game Face: bright smiles with a bit of grit.
I’m not sure who comes up with these things. The traditional one I’ve seen at almost every reception, even the non-Chinese ones, is the game where the groom has to remove a garter from his bride. Recall that these games are designed for optimal embarrassment. This means that the groom must remove the garter using only his teeth.
The bride is seated with the full skirt of her wedding gown draped around her. The groom is on his knees in front of her surrounded by flashing cameras. With his hands behind him, the groom ducks his head under her gown and amidst much hooting and laughter he has to emerge victorious with the garter between his teeth. No cheating is allowed - we have to see it slide past her ankle!
My cousin not only had to remove the garter but his “friends” came up with something new and egg-cruciating. Wince if you must but hey, misery loves company.
My poor cousin was submitted to a new game (neither he nor his wife were aware of what torture their friends were going to put them through) where his blindfolded wife had to navigate a raw egg up one pants leg and down the other.
Let’s just say the egg encountered a traffic jam at the intersection.
His new wife had her own form of torture involving strategically placed Maraschino cherries, string, and again with teeth-only retrieval by her husband. Really sick stuff here folks.
After the bride and groom are tortured, it’s their turn to embarrass the guests. Or at least the single (unmarried) guests!
First there is the Bouquet Toss.
For the bouquet toss, all the single women gather some distance behind the bride. The bride has her back to the single women and she tosses a bouquet over her head towards the single women. The woman that catches the bouquet is believed to be the next one to marry. I think you know what is coming up next.
I joined the crowd of single women. There weren’t many of us, perhaps a dozen, and everyone but myself were in their twenties. I stood near the back but I admit - I did have this…feeling. Sure enough, the bride tossed the bouquet over her shoulder, it sailed towards us and I caught the bouquet. Actually, I didn’t really catch it.
The bouquet sailed towards us, the women parted (duck and cover! duck and cover!) and plop! the bouquet landed on the floor in front of me. Everyone looked at it and well, I just picked it up. It was one of those things where you really don’t want it to lie there looking sad - you kinda have to go along with it.
After this was the Garter Toss.
It’s essentially the male version of the Bouquet Toss. In this case, the groom has his back to all the single men and tosses the garter over his shoulder towards them.
The man who catches it is thought to be the next one to get married.
The same thing that happened to me happened to the guy who caught the garter: the men cleared the area and it landed at his feet. He had to pick it up.
Of course the photographer had to come by to take a photo of me with the Garter Guy and ask if we were a couple. We looked at each other and laughed. We weren’t kissing cousins!
I don’t recall ever catching the bridal bouquet.
I know my family would love it if I were married and not because they want to see me “taken care of.” Family who were happily married for over a decade surrounded me and I could see that they wanted the same happiness for me.
Since I cry at weddings, I’m sure to cry at my own.
But enough with crying, even for joy.
The DJ started to crank up the music and the dancing began.
Ms. Q was out on the dance floor shake-shake-shakin’ her boooty!
An example of a Teeth-Only Garter Removal:
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haha that’s great
In response to your comment on my post, there actually was the garter removal/toss and bouquet toss. Just no games and dancing 
That egg game is new to me. I’ve heard of the other one though. I’ll have to let my people know about that one, even if they aren’t getting married. A good game is fit for all occasions or no occasion.
Looking good there Ms. Q!
Gregg: Too bad about the no games and dancing! I don’t care too much for the games (I never was much into Candid Camera and anything that has to do with embarrassing people) but I seldom get to dance so I’m bummed if there isn’t any dancing at the reception!
Since you were bummed at the lack of dancing - does this mean you can bust-a move on the dance floor?
UT: The egg one was a new one on me, too. I am sure if you Googled for “wedding games” there will be all sorts of weird stuff that will come up. When I searched for a garter removal video there was some really funny stuff out there and some really good first wedding dances, too.
Thanks for the compliment! It was fun to dig out the “little black dress.” Too bad dancing seems like such a hassle. I haven’t gone in a ages but I’m assuming cover charges, ear-splitting music and a crush of people is still the norm. Wedding dancing is perfect - not a big crush and usually a pretty decent mix of dance tunes.
You skipped the part where the “Garter Guy” puts the garter on the “Bouquet Girl”. Usually that is one of the best parts of the wedding.
Did Ms. Q chicken out? =)
Or did the parental units of the groom/bride opt not to do it?
I ask since when I was at my cousin’s wedding and I heard through the grapevine that my Aunt killed the whole garter tossing part of the wedding. I think certain Asian parents might be conservative in that aspect.
Oh yeah that’s right - garter guy was supposed to have put the garter on you! At my wedding it turned out that garter guy & bouquet girl really were boyfriend & girlfriend, but garter guy, my BIL ended up marrying someone else. I never heard of the egg thing either. :-0
Sewell: hmm, I can’t recall ever seeing the Garter Guy put the garter on the Bouquet Gal. It makes sense though.
Based on the Raw-Egg-Up-The-Leg and the Maraschino Cherry Retrieval, I can’t see how the parents of either side had any restrictions. My aunt is really cool and this was the 3rd marriage she’s seen in under a year (all 3 of her sons got married, this was the last one!) . I don’t recall a bouquet toss or garter toss at the last reception. Don’t know why.
If this was a requirement, I think me and Garter Guy could have gotten out of it - we’re so closely related it would have been Seriously Freaky!!
I had a few glasses of Pinot Noir in me. I was cluck-free.
If GG wasn’t a relative, I would’ve been fine with being subjected to Wedding Game Humiliation. I wasn’t wearing stockings, I have the legs of someone who runs 35 miles a week and I was wearing a Little Black Dress. Who knows, there might be an eligible male out there who could appreciate my aplomb along with a flash of thigh.
Jill: It took me a beat to figure out that BIL meant Brother-In-Law! So did GG put the garter on BG at your wedding?
He did. I don’t think it’s very common in Texas though - more common in New England.
So did they make the guy who caught the garter slide it up your leg, since you caught the bouquet? I’ve seen that happen at weddings too. Never a pretty sight.
Riley: I guess having Garter Guy put the garter on Bouquet Girl is a tradition!
No, me and GG weren’t required to provide further amusement to the guests which was great. In earlier comments I answered your question…me and GG are closely related, it would have felt REALLY freaky to have him put a garter on me. Now if GG had been an available guy…different story!
That egg game is interesting but a good way to ruin a set of trousers if it breaks. Weddings can be very embarrassing for some. Great pic of you Ms.Q.
Ricardo: I’ve mentioned the egg game to a few other people and no one else had heard of it - they figured that the “friends” of my cousin and his wife made it up.
Thanks for the compliment!