And So, I Married A Taiwanese

Our wedding banquet hall.

In January of this year, my girlfriend Avy and I upgraded our relationship from "dating" to "married". Because we were still not living permanently together - or in the same country - we opted to just do a simple registry office wedding so that we could then move on to applying for the next stage of her Australian visa. Having officially married in Australia, we decided to also make our marriage official in Taiwan, but to skip most of the pomp and ceremony that goes with a traditional Taiwanese wedding and just do the good stuff: a Wedding Banquet!

Two days before the banquet, we made plans to make our marriage official in a fantastically romantic visit </sarcasm> to the government offices, signing on to register that we are now married. In order to do so, I had to have a Chinese name assigned to me, as signing only in English is not allowed. Avy spent some time thinking of a name for me in the weeks leading up to this day and eventually settled on 范文賢, which is pronounced sort of like "Fun Oo-un Shien". The 'fun' is an approximation of my surname, while the rest is simply a Taiwanese first name. Avy chose to give me a proper Taiwanese name rather than just "Chinesifying" 'Matt' (which, by the way, would be 馬特, pronounced "Mai-teh").

Practicing my Chinese name.

And so, with my name decided, I had to spend some time learning how to write it, since I would need to do so on the government documents. My background in learning Japanese helped with this, but kanji was never my strong point! Nevertheless, I think I did okay - but was informed that my handwriting is "just like a little kid's"...! I took that to mean that I was too neat and not writing cursive / scribble style. So let's say it was a compliment!

On Sunday, March 26th, we suited up and went to a gorgeous Japanese restaurant in Taichung, Taiwan called Yamatoya. Avy and her mum had done all the planning without my input (not that I really could have helped much!), and so my job for the day was basically to stand there and look pretty.

Posing with my Mother-in-law and 3 sisters-in-law.

As the guests gradually rolled in, they were seated at various tables around the room. Once everyone had arrived, I was informed that I had to go out the back and escort my blushing bride into the room to begin the banquet. We sat down and the festivities commenced. Plate after plate of food was brought out - the bridal table did get some slightly fancier food than other tables, but I suppose that's fair! We were too busy eating to get many photos, but we did start off the lunch with a fabulous ship of sashimi.

Delicious sashimi!

The bridal table is reserved for the bride and groom (obviously), parents thereof, and then some of the more prestigious members of the bride's extended family. Toast after toast was raised, with the rather tasty red wine that seemed to refill itself. We were greeted with 恭喜 after 恭喜 (that's Gōngxĭ, pronounced "gong chi", and means "congratulations").

After we'd had our fill of food, it's traditional for the bride, groom, and the parents from both sides to go around to each table of guests and thank them for coming to celebrate the wedding. Our room was filled mostly with Avy's aunts, uncles and cousins, all of whom seem to love me despite the fact I've barely spoken to any of them!

One of many groups of doting aunties!

With the festivities all wrapped up within about 2.5 hours, the final tradition is for the bride and groom to stand by the door and farewell each guest, offering sweets as they depart. Each attending couple or family also receives a gift of special wedding cookies as a thank you for attending; Avy sourced our cookies from a famous Japanese wedding cookie brand. In return, each guest will, instead of gifts, give money in a red envelope, not unlike the New Year traditions. The envelopes are named, so you will know how much was given by each person. The idea is that, if you are already married, you give the same amount or more than what the bride and groom gave you at your wedding. If you are not married, then the bride and groom must give the same amount or more when they attend your wedding. So it's not quite as profiteering as it sounds!

Thank you to everyone who attended!

Uncle Vincent and family.

With my parents.

With my blushing bride and her sisters.