Most of the Chinese immigrants in the New York’s Chinatown come from Guangdong [Canton] and Fujian [Mandarin] provinces. Although to many Americans all Chinese appear to share the same cultural heritage and biological characteristics, there are actually some distinct cultural differences, especially when it comes to wedding banquet traditions. So when banquet caterers are hired for a wedding, they have to be very careful to respect those traditions when going about making arrangements.

The different traditions for Cantonese and Fujianese weddings can be easily seen just by looking at the menu for the banquets, said Xue-Wen Lin, president of the Wen King Wedding Center. Not to mention the preparation of the food. For instance, he says, in a Cantonese family, fried chicken is a must-have dish, whereas a Fujianese family will choose duck or any other type of bird meat instead of chicken.

Lin explains, for Cantonese families fried chicken means “becoming successful and wealthy.” But for Fujianese immigrants who are usually restaurant owners or employees, when they look at chicken they see an ordinary food – dishes such as fried chicken wings, fried chicken drumsticks, and broccoli chicken could not be more common. Therefore, no matter how delicious a chicken dish or how significant, the Fujianese will eliminate it from the menu.

Not only must a wedding caterer know what kind of dishes to include on the menu, but also how a dish must be cooked. Cantonese have specific rules about the way chicken is prepared for a wedding, said William Su, owner of Harmony Restaurant in Chinatown. For instance, steam sliced chicken will never be served at the banquet because of its pale color, since the only color that is considered proper and auspicious for a Cantonese wedding banquet is red.

Another difference between the two regions, explained Rui-Qing Lin, president of the Lucky Entertainment Company, centers around crab, the most common seafood eaten by Chinese families. Fujianese families consider crab an essential delicacy that must be served, while Cantonese families avoid it, he said.

Wedding customs differ not just in food choice, explained Lin, but extends to many aspects of the event, even to the stage performance. A drama that depicts the romance of a king whose beloved has died in a battle for him and he also is killed in the battle will elicit different reactions from Cantonese and Fujianese families. To Cantonese families, the drama is a love story despite its tragic ending. For Fujianese families, the drama is seen as an ominous sign for the newlywed couple.

Cultural differences between the Cantonese and Fujianese pose a definite challenge for those in the wedding-catering business in the Chinese community. They have to be aware of the dos and don’ts in order to avoid making reckless mistakes that can jeopardize their business.