So... I'm engaged!

Hi. I'm a UK national and I also had to get this Cert of Non-impediment when I married in 2010 (to a Finnish national), and it was around that price. We were living in Suzhou (Jiangsu). We registered the marriage in Nanjing (province capital) in May and we married in August in Finland. I don't think there really is a time limit. It's like how long you leave between getting engaged and getting married. Congrat's!

I recall that the US consulate in GZ website had multiple prices and the highest one was it.  Can't recall the exact price, but it was less than $100.


Yes, you get to toast each table.  You also will have people coming up to toast you.  Get your own bottle and water it down with Sprite or something so you don't get too toasted.

Guests will bring nice red envelopes with money.  Appoint a trusted Chinese friend to be the keeper of the signin book and collector of the Hong Bao.  If anyone doesn't have their name on the Hongbao, your person should write the giver's name on it.  You need to keep track so that if you are later invited to some similar social occasion, you can provide a red envelope in the same general price range.

Congratulations! I've got a thread somewhere else in this forum about our wedding registration in Nanjing, if you want to get an idea of other future costs.

When I got the form from the US embassy it was $65, I think.

Also, I really like the title of this thread since it has a number of grammatical permutations.

So…I'm engaged!
I'm SO engaged!
I'm engaged…so!
Engaged? I am so!
Engaged? So I am!

 

or the Irish permutation...  I'm engaged, so I am!

I recall that the US consulate in GZ website had multiple prices and the highest one was it.  Can't recall the exact price, but it was less than $100.


Yes, you get to toast each table.  You also will have people coming up to toast you.  Get your own bottle and water it down with Sprite or something so you don't get too toasted.

Guests will bring nice red envelopes with money.  Appoint a trusted Chinese friend to be the keeper of the signin book and collector of the Hong Bao.  If anyone doesn't have their name on the Hongbao, your person should write the giver's name on it.  You need to keep track so that if you are later invited to some similar social occasion, you can provide a red envelope in the same general price range.

So did you end up getting about as much money as you paid for the wedding in Hong Bao?

You got away with having your own watered-down bottle then. I think I will do the same, but then won't people just pour you drinks from their own bottles??

Thankfully, my bride-to-be gave up on her dream of spending 10,000 RMB per table and we used a buffet that was a LOT cheaper.  That let us pretty much break even on the wedding meal costs, plus or minus 10%.

Keep a watered down bottle with you at the head table - preferably not sitting out where others will use it and realize the game.  Keep your baijiu glass filled from it, and be ready to grab it for a quick refill if you see a queue of people forming to toast you.  Also, when you approach a table to toast, have your glass pre-filled, but have a friend nearby having your special bottle handy for your refill before the next table.  This forces people at the table to top up from the full strength bottle at their table.

Another variant - some brands come in 2 or 3 strength levels.  Give the guest tables 55% and make sure yours is only 30% (and still consider watering it down some).  Normally, I'd never condone cheating at a drinking game. In this case, it's you against a pile of guests and you'll be under the table far too early if you decide to play fair.

Sadly, I didn't have time to prep a special pre-diluted bottle for my wedding.  Happily, I got away with toasting with red wine a few times and then kept sneaking some sprite into a larger glass of baijiu for some of the toasting.  I was only two and a half sheets to the wind by the time the lunch ended and we migrated off to the KTV after party.