The wedding seasons have passed

Every wedding season, I receive several wedding invitations, sometimes four in a month. I attend every wedding, congratulating the bride and groom on this important day in their lives. However, sometimes I wonder if I attended that wedding last year because there is nothing to remember or save. However, I remember weddings from decades ago during the subsidy period clearly.

In the 80s of the last century in the city, every family had to struggle to make ends meet, but weddings still had to be taken care of. The time when "let's get married", "I'll marry you" only needed to go home and tell your parents and choose the nearest auspicious day. No need to monitor the price of gold, no need to worry about booking a wedding party to reserve a place half a year in advance, no need to rush around for a few photo albums from the mountains and seas. The pair of 3-cent gold rings for the bride and groom to wear during the ceremony was the minimum ritual and had to be borrowed, let alone earrings and necklaces. The same goes for wedding dresses, borrowed or rented, only the most luxurious ones would have them tailored, even if it was just from cheap silk fabrics.

Help entertain at wedding party

Wedding invitations in those days were pre-printed and sold in stores. When you buy them, you just need to fill in the names of the two families and the date and time of the event. The invitations usually clearly state whether the party will be savory or sweet so that guests can decide. Most weddings at that time were held at home, with a few tables and a few dozen guests. People working in government agencies sometimes asked to organize the party in their office's yard. The term "wedding restaurant" did not appear at that time. MCs would ask someone in their family who was bold enough to host the event. Occasionally, young men would come into the neighborhood and ask to cut down some coconut leaves to make a gate, so they knew that someone was about to have a wedding. A savory party was still a bit full and bustling, even though it was only a few dishes, it was still considered luxurious enough. A sweet party was just tea, cigarettes, and elegant candies throughout the evening. I also attended a few wedding parties with sweets in the 80s. I remember that the candies at that time were also smuggled out from commercial stores by companies and factories. The packaging looked eye-catching, not rustic like banh it or banh bo.

My wedding, thanks to my mother who was good at housework, liked to treat both families to a salty meal, and friends to a dinner because the room could only accommodate more than thirty guests. There was bottled wine sold at the shops, and homemade colorful sugar syrup. Except for the three main dishes, there was also a dessert of whole bananas stewed in sugar. Then there was music, singing, and the villagers gathered to watch outside the window. In those years, Nha Trang also had a few shops that rented wedding clothes and bridal makeup, the most popular being the ao dai with a lace cape on the outside, a turban or a high bun with fake curls. If the groom's family came to pick up the bride, they would rent a three-wheeled rickshaw or a fleet of cyclos, and at the alley entrance, there would be fireworks to welcome them. The wedding photographer was told to take only enough photos for a roll of black and white film, 36 shots. The photographer took 3 days to bring the photos, regardless of whether they were good or bad. Luckily, the homeowner was given an additional 18 x 24cm enlarged photo, which was a portrait of the bride and groom, originally taken in black and white, colored with magical makeup by the photographer. It was still quite nice to look at.

One of the popular wedding gifts of the 80s.

Wedding guests now just put the envelopes in the box neatly before entering the party or transfer money if absent, without the bride and groom coming out to greet and receive the gifts solemnly like in the old days. Wedding gifts during the difficult subsidy period were purely gifts. Wedding gifts first of all had to have practical meaning but also encapsulate feelings and affection. Surely no one can imagine now, wedding gifts back then were sometimes a set of pots, pans, baskets, wrapped in beautiful floral paper tied with a bow, a wall mirror, some wood-carved jigsaw pictures, a thermos, a vase, bowls, a paper album... You told me, once at the wedding of a friend who was a veteran, so the comrades pooled money together to buy 2 bicycle tires, then wrapped them carefully in colored paper. At the wedding, they put them around the groom's and bride's necks instead of wreaths. After the party, when you opened the gifts, you were so happy you wanted to cry, because at that time bicycle tires were sold and distributed, and the queue for approval was very long.

A wedding, after all, is just a ritual to introduce to family, relatives and close friends, it is not a factor that determines the long-term happiness of the people involved, so we should have fun in every way. Once, by chance, we witnessed a very simple, warm and profound wedding of a couple that we admired immensely. In the garden of the house, the groom and bride gently walked hand in hand to each table of guests to receive blessings, there was enough light refreshment, the music was just enough to float, there was no MC or guests singing on stage and of course there was no box for envelopes. And I always remember that my deceased mother was only able to get married after 50 years of living with her husband, having 10 children, nearly 20 grandchildren, great-grandchildren...

AI DUY

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/nhung-vung-ky-uc/202412/nhung-mua-cuoi-di-qua-c404d49/