A Happy MidAutumn Wedding Mingle Log

[scaredofdogs]

WHO: Open to Everyone

WHAT: A double WangXian wedding in the gardens

WHEN: October 1

WHERE: Gardens with pre-wedding inside the hotel

NOTES: Threads will be marked with CW for the wedding night

Pre-Wedding


Invitations have gone out to all the rooms and all the Oysters within the hotel. Whether you have met all four of the people involved in the wedding or not, it makes no difference. They all want you to join them in the celebration of their union! It's a wedding of two couples but also a celebration of the Mid-Autumn festival since it all will be happening on October 1.

For days leading up to October 1st, the kitchens have been busy with preparing a feast for the wedding. The staff is all aware of the upcoming event and the kitchen was opened up so the parties involved could help prepare a wide variety of foods for the guests. Included in that is the making of many mooncakes. A tasty treat that is customary for the Mid-Autumn Festival that also occurs on that date. Enough had to be made since each of the guests will be give a lovely wedding favor of a pair of mooncakes wrapped in paper bags painted with pretty lotus flowers or perhaps you will be given one with rabbits on the moon instead painted on them. If anyone happens upon the kitchen they might encounter one or both of the Lan Wangji's as they make sure all the food is correct and preparations for carting it all outside is made. Everything must be perfect for the evening.

As the sun rises in the sky, the friends and families of the wedding parties are welcome to gather outside the rooms of the two Wei Wuxian's. Inside their respective spaces they are taking great care in preparing for the evening, getting dressed in the wedding robes and placing their veils over their heads. They are sitting and waiting for their soulmates to arrive so they can be escorted to the ceremony. But outside the room, there are those that wish to challenge each of the Lan Wangji's before they can collect their soon to be husbands. Feel free to force Lan Wangji to prove his love for the one inside the room before he will be allowed to collect his beloved. Force him to eat a spicy pepper, or ask him questions to prove his love for the one inside the room. It's a game that Lan Wangji must pass in order to be ready to finally be with the one he loves. Once he has been allowed to enter the room, the guests will proceed downstairs to prepare for the ceremony.

Wedding


As guests enter the gardens they notice the red lanterns and decorations everywhere. The hedge maze surrounds them and acts as a lovely backdrop that beautiful silk streamers and paper lotus flower decorations are hung on to give a warm feeling to the area. Longer streamers cross above their heads strung from trees to create a lovely red canopy for a little protection from the autumn sun in the sky. Soft music plays around them to welcome them to their seats. In the front of the room is a lovely alter of gold and a place where the official will be standing. There is space big enough for the two sets of grooms to be able to perform their bows simultaneously.

A donkey wearing a red halter with golden tassels and a matching blanket is wandering around the gardens. Munching on apples off the trees, he can easily be distracted by anyone that might offer him another as a snack. He'll eventually be lead closer to the ceremony to stand watch, clearly also a member of the family and as he gets led down the aisle to stand near the alter. Hopefully he will be well behaved during the process. Someone close to him might be sneaking him apples during it to keep him quiet.

When the time arrives, the two couples appear. The Wei Wuxians with red veils covering their faces, equally as bright and elegant robes upon their bodies. Golden embroidery and accents across many layers of long and flowing silks and sheers. Golden head pieces are currently obscured by the veils. They are being lead by the two Lan Wangjis, dressed in equally as striking men's robes with matching golden accents. Each of the four outfits is unique to the person who wears them but they are all equally as extravagant and lovely.



They walk down the aisle as one and stand before Lan Xichen who begins the ceremony. Three sets of bows take place as the two couples kneel before him. The first kowtow to Heaven and Earth. The second to show respect to their family. The third kowtow to each other. Vows will be done in private later but for now the couples stand. Veils are lifted so that the pairs can finally look into the eyes of their soulmates and can finish their ceremony with a kiss.


As the ceremony ends, the couples are now free to acknowledge their guests and begin the festivities.

Banquet


All the food that had been prepared for days leading up to this moment was now placed on long tables with red tablecloths. There are smaller tables for the guests to sit at while they enjoy their meal. The spread is buffet style so that everyone can help themselves and included are more of the mooncakes like the ones within the gifts for the guests. There is also chicken cooked in various ways so that people have their choice of how they like it prepared. Also fruit and garden salads for those that don't eat meat. Including very festive looking watermelons that have been cut to resemble lotus flowers. Basically if the hotel is able to serve it, it has been represented in some way. The grooms didn't want any of the guests to feel left out and wanted to make sure that everyone left the party full and happy.

Don't forget the drinks! Since Wei Wuxian loves his alcohol, there is also plenty of that to go around. It will be flowing all night and you may even spot a couple jars of his favorite drink, Emperor's Smile, hanging out on the table as well. Better get those before they disappear! And for those that don't drink, don't worry. The tea provided is safe of all the hotels tricks. And water or other nonalcoholic beverages are available.



But most important is perhaps the table of desserts that has been laid out for everyone. Ice cream that is somehow being kept cold while outside is available to be placed on top of cakes and pies of every type that anyone can imagine. But standing above it all is a large several tiered wedding cake that will eventually be cut by the four grooms for you all to enjoy. But please don't touch until it has been divided! Cute little rabbits of white and grey decorate each layer of the cake and at the very top a decorative moon topper with a two sets of rabbits within it and lotus flowers along the edge of the moon. Each tier of the cake is a different flavor so make sure you try each one.

The grooms and their family will be seated in a long table by the hedge maze so feel free to come up and congratulate them or offer a toast. When the cake is cut they will be mingling along with everyone.

Dancing

It wouldn't be a wedding without dancing. And as night falls and the food tables are cleared away, a wide open area is set aside for those that want to enjoy customary wedding activities. The hotel was kind enough to offer those dancing lessons a few months before so everyone should be well practiced on the moves. Various styles of music from all over the various worlds plays continuously through the evening. Where the DJ is..no one really knows but the music is coming from somewhere. Shout out a request and maybe it will be able to be played as well.


Lantern Ceremony


As the evening wears on, the Wei Wuxians start to pass out lanterns to each of the guests. They have spent weeks preparing them, painting them with various designs so that each one would be unique. Not only is the lantern ceremony an important part of the Mid-Autumn festival, but it holds a very special meaning for the WangXian pairs. One of their first memories together involved promises while sending off a lantern. On this night that is supposed to be the brightest moon of the year, they want to light up the sky with even more things in celebration.

A quick explanation of how to light it is given and when everyone is ready, their wishes are made and the lanterns are released up into the air. The pretty glow of each one fills the night sky as they rise up towards the stars, carrying the hopes and wishes of everyone with them.

That is how the evening will close and everyone is welcome to mingle around and enjoy the rest of the evening. The grooms will likely be heading off soon so say your goodnights and well wishes. They hope that everyone enjoyed the evening and makes sure that each guest leaves with their little lotus bag as a thank you for sharing the special day with them.






[ooc: The 4 grooms will each have toplevels that you are welcome to tag into. But this is also a mingle post! So please make your own top levels and tag each other as much as you want! This is a party!!]

Comments

[billowing]

Xiongzhang.

[ Only Xichen would know, how Wangji softens just the slightest when he refers to him as didi, because it's true, he has not done in some time. ]

The ceremony was beautiful. Thank you for your support today.

[ He had born witness, and stood in as the de-facto highest-order family member in their hierarchy and sect. And therefore, his approval had meant everything.

That there was even family here at all, was blessed. That all of them were genuinely glad for them, was also blessed.

And, even though he'd only thanked Xichen for today, he does owe him a great thank you for his continued support in the past, and for having done so since they were very young. Thank you, he wants to say, for accepting Wei Ying into the family. For having assisted in hiding him away. For hearing him out. For believing in his little brother. ]

You have helped to make this the happiest day of my life.

[equivocations]

[ Of the two of them, Lan Xichen is aware that he is the one with the reputation for warmth. For soft-heartedness, among those who know him well. But he knows his brother, and he knows how he can soften, too, and it makes his heart clench to see it.

He's going to end up tearing up again, if Wangji continues. ]

You have longed deserved this. If I could contribute even the smallest bit to your happiness, it will be the best thing that I have ever done.

[ For once, his mind does not even consider the failures of his past - for once, they don't matter, nothing matters but Wangji's happiness, and his future. Even if Lan Xichen had led the life he thought he had, even if he had been the perfect Sect Leader and an unparalleled cultivator - they would pale in comparison to this.

Wangji has always been the best thing in his life. ]

[billowing]

[ And likewise, Xichen has been the best thing in his life, always standing by him, always ready to come get him, to heal him, to stay with him, to be his brother. He couldn't have asked for a better family, and yet somehow, he managed to adopt Sizhui and marry Wei Ying. He must have done something incredible in a past life to deserve all of them in this one. ]

Xiongzhang.

[ He can't help but let a small smile play upon his face. He's so at ease, like a warm spring morning. ]

You have always made me happy.

[ Maybe, instead of both saying they don't deserve the other brother, they can believe that they each deserve the other. He had always found it favorable, to be mistaken for Xichen over the years, because everyone knew that Xichen was just a hair better at just about everything and ten times more patient. He can think of few higher compliments, because he can think of few better people.

Someday, he hopes to be on the opposite side, of wishing his brother happiness on his wedding day, of being able to give his brother the same sense of peace and wholeness and fulfillment that he has right now, heart filled to bursting. ]

[equivocations]

[ He is not going to cry. He very determinedly is not going to cry again, despite the smile on his brother's face and the ease in his countenance. Lan Xichen had hoped, watching Wangji and Wuxian dance around each other all those years ago, that his brother might have a companion to ease his loneliness, one who was enough of his match in skill to challenge him, one who could bring him contentment. He could not have anticipated everything that they had ended up having to go through, everything that had happened to bring them here - but he also could not have anticipated just how much sheer happiness Wangji is radiating now.

Enough that he can't help but reach out, hand resting on Wangji's shoulder as he gives it a warm, affectionate squeeze. ]

Then my life truly has been worthwhile. You have always made me happy, too.

[ They have been fortunate enough to have always had each other, to know there is someone they can rely on - something he has always felt appreciative of, considering it is not something that any other siblings of their generation had had.

It is something that he has always known, but has been reminded of often since being here - as long as he has Wangji, he has hope. ]

And I have every intention of remaining by both of your sides, to ensure that continued happiness.

[billowing]

[ He places his hand on Xichen's, to keep it there, to let him know that he appreciates the gesture. He doesn't often show physical affection with his brother anymore, not since they were children. It's not that it's awkward or unwanted or anything, just that there is no need. And it is improper. And that is just not how they were raised.

And yet, this feels. Nice. Welcome. Appropriate. ]

As you know, I will always count on you, Xiongzhang.

[ He doesn't know who he would be, if his brother had not been around all these years. No one else understands him half as well, or knows what he needs. No one gets that he is sometimes lonely by choice. No one stands up for him, or supports him, or just always knows what to say or what not to say or when to say it like his brother does.

As independent as he is - and now, with Wei Wuxian to take care of him, and all his needs - it would be easy to tell Xichen not to worry about him anymore. But the truth is, he will always need his brother. He would never want to be without. ]

[equivocations]

[ Were it up to Lan Xichen's preferences, he would likely express it a little more - but it is improper, and it is not how they were raised. The lack of it doesn't bother him, when it's what he's used to.

It only means that he can even more enjoy the moments when he does express physical affection, when circumstances make them both soft enough to appreciate it.

His smile grows a little at that.

Lan Xichen is so proud of his brother, of how he has grown up, of who he is now and all he has done, but he must admit that there was a part of him that was saddened at the idea that Wangji may not need him anymore. He is aware that it is a little selfish to feel so, but it is still a relief to hear Wangji confirm that he will still count on him. ]

I will always be there. When we are back home - I do not intend to return to seclusion. You and Wuxian have a future to build, and I do not want to miss any of it.

[billowing]

[ He is touched, even though the look on his face is one of shock. ]

Xiongzhang, I do not wish to rush your seclusion.

[ It's one thing if he decides that he's done and has finished with his meditation and is ready to progress to talk to people again, but if he isn't and is just doing this for the sake of getting to plan out his brother's second wedding to his current husband... ]

We will save plenty of milestones for when you return.

[ And then help him move on with his life, as well. ]

[equivocations]

[ It's not only because he wants to plan out their second wedding. It isn't even only because he wants to take back the duties that had temporarily been placed on Wangji's shoulders, with him sequestered away in seclusion, to ensure that he has the time with his husband that he missed, all those years. Or because he is aware that there are things that will need smoothing over, when the Lan sect officially takes such a stand behind Wei Wuxian. As much as he loves his brother and his uncle, Wei Wuxian is a contentious subject for both of them, in different ways.

It's a combination of all of the above and the fact that while he is not ready to progress to talking to people or making decisions, he is already doing it. He is already having to learn how to move forward, to live with the choices he made and rebuild himself in the ones he makes now. ]

I have been out of seclusion for too long, now. If I were to return when we finally find our way back home, it would no longer be about self-reflection. It would become avoidance.

[ And he does not ever want to be their father, cutting himself off from the world and letting the responsibility of sect leadership fall to his younger brother, taking little interest even in preparing the sect heir to take over. ]

I do not ever want you and your family to wonder if you are loved, or to think that you are not enough to keep me grounded in our world.

[billowing]

[ There were a lot of things about their father that, although he respected the man, he learned were a little messed up into his adulthood. He had always looked up to the man for guidance, but there comes a time in everyone's life they realize their parent isn't perfect, and the illusion shatters.

He has never thought of Xichen as being particularly like father, nor their uncle. He was his own entity, and certainly hadn't gotten more of their father's bad traits than Lan Wangji had, in any case.

That can be addressed later. ]

Xiongzhang, I have never thought of your seclusion that way. You give me no need to question you.

[ Or their relationships, or how much he trusts in his brother or what he gets out of their family. He knows all this because Xichen is open and honest, and his heart is always so full.

Still, whether or not he stays in seclusion, that's his decision. Wangji will respect it either way. ]

I will trust you to do what is best.