What is the appropriate wedding banquet menu? How can I explain the meaning of the dishes to non-Chinese guests?
Certain foods must be served at wedding, which include fish, roast suckling pig, pigeon, chicken cooked with red oil, lobster and desert bun with lotus seeds stuffed inside. The pronunciation of fish is the same as “abundance”, meaning the newlyweds will have plentiful of wealth. Roast suckling pig is usually served whole, a symbol of the bride’s virginity. Pigeon implies peaceful future. Chicken also means phoenix, cooked in red oil to symbolize the wish for a prosperous life ahead for the newlyweds. Lobster is literally called “dragon shrimp” in Chinese. Having lobster and chicken together at wedding banquet to indicate that the dragon and the phoenix are hormones together, and the Yin and Yang elements in this family is balanced… Most important of all, do not forget to serve Chinese Dragon and Phoenix wedding cakes…>>> Q: My Fiancee and I are planning a wedding next year. My father passed away a month ago. I was told that if we were to get married, we should do it either within
