Weddings: The Great Divide!

            This weekend, I was unable to go to the lovely Corner Café because I was at a wedding this weekend! This whole weekend was full of different things to observe for this post. The biggest thing was the wedding because there were definitely cultural differences in the guests that were very obvious. The wedding was very formal and very beautiful. The theme of the wedding was 20’s/Great Gatsby themed. So the bride and bridesmaids had flapper girl looking attire, and the groomsmen dressed from that era also. There were also feathers and records everywhere as decorations and casino tables. Everything was so well planned and the wedding was definitely a good representation of the fantasy for every girl to have their “dream wedding”.

            First off, I went with my friend and her family to the wedding. We are both Asian and both have Asian mothers. I point this out because it was funny interacting with her mother and seeing the similarities to my mother. It was also interesting to see how she scolded Kay (my friend) even as an adult and it’s just funny because we always joke about how Asians get scolded by our mothers until we die. It was also interesting to watch the instant switch between the ‘parent’ role and the ‘grandparent’ role. It was interesting because the parents would be stern and uptight and abrupt with their kids but become the sweetest people whenever they were interacting with the grandchildren. The stereotype of how grandparents spoil their grandkids was definitely true in Kay’s family!

            Another interesting thing was watching the guests interact with each other at the wedding and reception. The bride’s side of the family was part Asian and part American. The grooms side of the family was all Hispanic. At the reception, you could see “cliques” of people on the dance floor. When I say cliques, I mean our side of the family and their side of the family. There were two big circles of groom side and bride side. It’s funny to me that there were still family divides at the wedding because when you think of weddings you think of unity and two families becoming one. There was little to know interaction between the families all night. Also whenever there was country or hip-hop music playing, it was only our side of the family that was ever on the dance floor, but when more Hispanic music started playing, their side of the family took over the dance floor. The only time all of us were on the floor together were for line dances like the electric slide.

            One component of the wedding was that there were casino tables for all people who did not want to dance. There were three tables where you could play different casino games with fake cash to win tickets for a raffle that happened at the end of the wedding. Of course, almost all the men were gambling while the women were trying to have fun and dance. The only men that weren’t gambling were the ones who had wives that wanted them to dance, and even after they were done dancing they went back to the tables. It was funny to see the gender divide because it is definitely be expected that men would rather gamble than dance, especially in the era that the wedding was themed after, the 20’s.

            Another thing I noticed was the difference between the generations. The older generations at the party just sat around and drank coffee. Some of the older couples danced the slow songs and they were very adorable and just leaned on each other. You could see the love they share! The next generation below them were more active and they were the ones that would walk around and talk to everybody. This generation got a few alcoholic beverages but you could tell they were more fruity than strong or wines and champagne. It was also funny watching them try to dance to ‘young people’ music and then seeing them realize what the songs actually say. And then there was my generation who just went on the dance floor and danced in random motions. My generation were the ones that went for the shots and beers and less elegant beverages. Then there was the youngest generation that just held hands and ran and jumped in a circle and ran around everyone that was dancing.  You can definitely see the generations gaps, but its interesting because you can see the uniqueness of each generation and see pieces of the time when they grew up.

            Overall, the wedding was beautiful and seeing families get together and reunite is always a wonderful thing to see and be a part of. It was great getting to see everyone interacting and observing all of the funny moments of the wedding. It was also interesting to me to see such separation at this wedding because at other weddings I’ve been to everyone interacts with each other.