Chinese Wedding, New York, NY, 1984

Returning to the bridegroom's house, Anna changes into a red "cheong sam" for ceremonies of religious obligation which pre-date Christianity. Honoring gods, ancestors and elders of the family, the couple bow to heaven and to earth three times, three times to the ancestors and three times to Jimmy's grandparents. Now they serve his grandparents tea with a lotus nut in the cup.

Katrina Thomas's notes: The precepts of a Chinese wedding, laid down in feudal times before the Christian era, stipulate a go-between, who seeks genealogical and horoscope data for matching the couple and for fixing the date for the bride's transfer to the groom's household. Upon her arrival in the conjugal home, the bride pays ceremonial respect to the bridegroom's family and ancestors before the marriage may be consummated. In the U.S. many customs have been abandoned for marriages of couples who fall in love. I photograph Chinese wedding customs three times: one in Chinatown, NYC where the bride's family is mostly absent because her father is dying; another, a mixed marriage in Massachusetts; and the last one in two locations, California and New York City because the couple fell in love while attending architectural school in NYC. Her family lives there; his family lives in St. Louis, MO. They fly to California for their banquet celebration so that her 84 year-old grandmother can be present.