Another Chinese Banquet Invitation

2 April 2009 600 views No Comment

A few weeks ago, we received one of our friend’s wedding invitation. It came in a beautiful chocolate coloured envelope that perfectly matched the invitation. I love the use of ribbons on the invitation that opens up. However I was shocked when I saw a Chinese red envelope – used for putting money for the couple – enclosed. It seemed to give a clear and loud message to GIVE CASH. Being the silly me that I am, I actually opened it up to see if there was any money for me! Two years ago, a friend of mine invited us to his Chinese banquet in Hong Kong and enclosed HK $10 in the invitation in a small envelope so I thought this was continuing the tradition.

Perhaps it is usual protocol for Chinese banquets? Or maybe being thoughtful to guests who may not know what a red envelope looks like or where to source one from? My remain divided. In any case, what I found very useful is that they marked each red envelope with the name of the guest. This is a very clever way of recognising how much each guest has given so you can write an appropriate thank you note. Or perhaps they want to put a bit of pressure? I’ll let you decide….