During my gardening leave, I started reading alot of articles on wikipedia (due to extreme boredom and also trying to “look busy”), from how squids mate to the conquest of Genghis Khan. Then somehow, I stumbled on information on wedding customs, which till now, I have an extremely loose idea on, even though I’ve seen them over and over again. I’m not a very traditional person (loosely translated to, “I’m just lazy to remember them”). Traditions are… nice to know, not nice to practice (that’s why taking table shots are considered a tradition):)

“Bride price also known as bride wealth is an amount of money or property or wealth paid to the parents of a woman for the right to marry their daughter. (Compare dowry, which is paid to the groom, or used by the bride to help establish the new household, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage.) In the anthropological literature bride price has often been explained in market terms, as payment made in exchange for the bride’s family’s loss of her labor and fertility within her kin group.”

 

“In Chinese culture, an auspicious date is selected to Ti Qin (literally meaning “propose marriage”), where both families will meet to discuss the amount of the bride price demanded, among other things. A couple of weeks before the actual wedding, the ritual of Guo Da Li (literally meaning “performing the rites”) takes place (on an auspicious date of course). The groom and a matchmaker will visit the bride’s family bearing gifts like wedding cakes, sweetmeats and jewelry as well as the bride price. On the actual wedding day, the bride’s family will return a portion of the bride price (sometimes in the form of dowry) as a goodwill gesture.”

 

– excerpt from wikipedia (bride price)

Something to share, in case you guys are as blur as I am. Note, they say “right to marry their daughter”, which reminds me, there’s a few sub-category of “bride price” as well. Remember those the groom has to pay before he can even enter the house. Maybe those are called “Jie Mei Wealth”. Being on the other side of the gate always has it’s advantages.

[tags]Weddings, Wikipedia, Bride price, Traditions[/tags]

Something came to my mind today so I decided to write a little on a wedding I shot some time back. As most of us who have witnessed a full wedding before, the part where the parents put on the veil for the bride can stir up some emotions. During this wedding, the bride was so overwhelmed that she started crying. I could understand that… she’s leaving the family to start a new life with her partner, it’s natural for one to feel that way. For me, it’s a great opportunity to get some shots. Although I do feel for her, but I really really want to have that shot inside the wedding day story (being paid for the job is another reason).

After I got my shot, I looked around and my jaw dropped. Instead of comforting her (which I’d expect), everyone (friends and relatives) with a camera, be it phone cameras, SLRs, PnS, disposable… etc were trying to get a shot of that “precious moment”. It’s quite funny yet sad. I mean, poor girl… someone get her a tissue paper!! Well, I guess everyone’s overwhelmed as well…(never seen such a nice photo opportunity). I can’t imagine if I’m crying and 10 people armed with cameras were trying to snap photos of me. One is nice, 10 is embarassing:P If you are ever in this situation… do the right thing, grab the tissue box, not the camera.

[tags]Weddings[/tags]

I’m toying with the idea of bringing some couples up to Sydney for a photoshoot. Preferably without gowns (ok, minor edit here… without gowns does NOT mean nude, BUT… I’m not saying you can’t do it, just let me have a couple of tequila shots first.)… just like a holiday thingy. I’ll be heading that way some time late August – mid Sept. The idea is not a wedding shoot, more like a casual, lifestyle photoshoot (so… married or not, not important). Just thinking… just thinking… if you are interested, can always drop me a mail and we can discuss:)

And and! If possible, maybe can head down to my school in Brisbane… then to Melb… then to the outbacks… (Aug is abit too cold to dive… else Cairns will be great!) then to… you know what? I just want travel companions and we’ll shoot along the way. How about that? (ok, unless you paying for everything… I’ll give you a special rate:P) Hehehe… just kidding ya?

Ok, I’m gonna be honest here, since I’m on holiday as well, I need to know who I’m out with… I’m not going to stress myself out bringing fussy people all over Sydney. Let’s just go have fun there:)

[tags]Photography, Weddings[/tags]