Love at GDUFS---A Group Wedding for GDUFS Alumnus

On the morning of May 23^rd, thousands of people including 50 couples and their relatives, President ZHONG Weihe, Vice President HE Chuantian, GDUFS teachers and students attended a special group wedding in the name of “Love at GDUFS”. The activity was not only popular among students but drew the media’s attention.

The whole wedding consists of three parts: taking the bride from her “family”, the western wedding ceremony and the wedding feast. They respectively took place at the 13^th Dormitory Building, on the playground and, lastly, at the Yilin Hotel. As a distinctive part of the GDUFS 50^th Anniversary program, this activity attracted fifty couples who are GDUFS alumnus to participate. They came back to their old school, enjoying the special wedding and recalling their memories of GDUFS. The couples returned to GDUFS from over 60 regions of the world, among which there were not only the oldest alumnus who entered GDUFS since its establishment but also those who had just graduated.

The grand wedding ceremony

Chinese Traditional Wedding Section----Pick up the Bride From Her “Family” 

In traditional Chinese wedding, picking up the bride from her “family” is a ceremony before the bride leaves her parents to signal her departure. As the wedding was held at our university, the ceremony took place at students’ dormitories and didn’t involve family members. It was the most interesting and challenging section of the day, a part which delighted the whole wedding party.

At around 8:30, the brides and the bridesmaids, the bridegrooms and the groomsmen took two different buses to GDUFS and arrived at different places. As soon as the bridesmaids got off the bus, they were enclosed by their relatives and the media. They were so beautiful and gorgeous that they shone brilliant like stars. Then, the brides moved to the dormitories in company of the bridesmaids. The brides were asked to enter the rooms and close the door, with bridesmaids lining up outside to “welcome” the bridegrooms and groomsmen.

Red rope connecting the couples

Later, the bridegrooms and the groomsmen reached the front of the dormitory. Simultaneously, they shouted “Come back to me, dear!” However, their requests were refused by the bridesmaids as they said,” You are not sincere enough! We won’t go downstairs unless you make a promise!” So the bridegrooms read the guarantee letter to promise they love their wives forever. Nonetheless, this was still not accepted by the bridesmaids. They continued to ask them to strip their clothes and do 50 pull-ups! This was quite challenging for the bridegrooms and groomsmen but they could never be beaten. They hung themselves on them bars one after another, showing their masculinity and bravery. Still, they didn’t pass the test and were asked to sing a love song and give away red envelops to the bridesmaids. It was after all these challenging tasks that the bridegrooms eventually met their wives-to-be. The brides stood in line to throw a rope to link with their bridegrooms, which is a sign of the connection between the two hearts.

At the last part of the ceremony, the brides and the bridesmaid went downstairs, meanwhile the bridegrooms and the groomsmen moved to the gate of the students’ dormitory. In good order, the bridegrooms went to their wives, hugging or kissing and taking photos. Some bridegrooms even took their kids to meet their mother, which was really a lovely scene. One after another couples were escorted with people’s teary eyes and best wishes.

Western Wedding Ceremony Section---Witnessed By Thousands of People

With the appearance of the President of GDUFS and, on hearing three strikes of the clock, the group wedding ceremony began officially. Right after the bell rang out, 50 married couples entered the playground one by one while the wedding march is played. The grooms were holding a big red umbrella for the brides while walking on the red carpet.

President ZHONG presenting the certificate

To begin with, ZHONG Weihe, the President of GDUFS gave a meaningful and profound speech to the audience. Then he presented the group wedding certificates to all the married couples.

Then came the most exhilarating part of the wedding ceremony; all the married couples were coming on the stage and ready to exchange the rings. To everyone’s dismay, the ring was placed on a little remote-controlled aircraft. Vice President HE Chuantian took the rings out from it and passed to couples. All the married couples exchanged the rings, which means they tied to each other forever. It is a really great symbol for their firm and faithful love.

Letter of Wine

What’s more, there was a highly distinctive part of the day’s ceremony called “Letter of Wine.” It is one of the traditional customs in western countries. The married couples had to put their love letters with a bottle of wine in a wood box and then sealed it. They also had to arrange a special time to open this wood box again at some point in the future. It could be on their golden or silver wedding anniversary, or at their child’s wedding. The {resident annexed the seal on their boxes and polished it with wax.

At the end of the group wedding ceremony, the songwriter of the song “GDUFS’s Spirit,” TANG Jianming, came on the stage. He explained that the song is composed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of GDUFS. He led all the couples and members of the audience to sing this song together, with sincere lyrics and a graceful melody.

Couples singing GDUFS's spirit

Little Cupids at the Wedding

The non-profit group wedding was hosted by the GDUFS Alumnus Association and was organized by the Dandelion Creation and Sharing Community. With great passion for GDUFS 50^th anniversary, students had racked their brains to invent creative ways of having a wedding for about half a year. They got everything ready including recruiting volunteers, bridesmaid, groomsmen and other resources. On the wedding, volunteers dressed in red T-shirts could be seen everywhere. Bridesmaids and groomsmen also spared no effort to assist the brides and bridegrooms. Thanks to their dedication, the wedding was well-organized and well-received.

A volunteer, freshman from SEIB, told us that they had been preparing and expecting today since more than half a year ago. Though the tasks were quite tough, they felt very happy and honored to be a volunteer, as their work was rather significant and honorable. On the other hand, a groomsman from FELC said they accepted training one month ago to be ready for today’s wedding. When asked about why he signed for to be a groomsman, he replied “it’s a rare and precious opportunity as you will not have another 50^th anniversary at your university.” He also told us that he made a lot of friends through the activity. The group wedding is not only an activity about sharing love but about sharing happiness. “Happiness can be empathized.” A sophomore bridesmaid said.