Kari Rebekah Bailey and DaMiao Wang were united in marriage at 3 p.m. Saturday, September 19, 2009, at Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church, Calhoun.

The bride is the daughter of Harry and Patricia Bailey of Adairsville. She is the granddaughter of Hansel and Sybil Dutton of Adairsville and the late Dolphus and Nannie Bailey of Haynesville, LA. She is the brother of Greg Bailey currently residing in Athens.

The groom is the son of Wang Shi An and Xu Xiao Ping of Shenyang, China. He is the grandson of Wang Wen Shan and Wang Yu Gui and Zhang Feng Ying and the late Xu Dai Chun all of Shenyang, China.

The Rev. Keith King of Adairsville performed the double ring ceremony. The mother and grand-mother of the bride were escorted to the front where they went on to light the single candles on each side of the unity candle. They were escorted by the ushers Greg Bailey, and Justin Edwards first cousin of the bride. During the lighting of these candles the song “Feels Like Home” by Chantal Kreviazuk was playing. Serving as maid of honor was Shari Aram, friend of the bride from TX and the flower girl was Katie Bailey, niece of the bride who lives in North Carolina. As they entered the church, the song “Love Me Tender” by Nora Jones played.

The bride was escorted down the aisle by her father, Harry Bailey, while the song, “My Girl” by the Temptations played. The bride chose an ivory strapless A-line wedding gown with a beautifully detailed, fitted bodice which flows into a soft and flowing chiffon skirt. The empire waist is ac-cented with beaded lace and small tucks detail. Back of the gown is gorgeous with beaded lace detail from the waist to the hem. She wore an elbow length veil with bead detail around the scal-loped edge. She carried a bouquet of red gerber daises. The maid of honor wore a knee length red dress that was also strapless and the hem line ballooned up a bit. She carried a bouquet of yellow and orange gerber daisies. The flower girl wore a tea length dress of white with red trim at the top of the dress and at the tail. Kari had it made for her in China. She carried a small silver pail with rose petals in it.

The groom chose a black tuxedo with the shawl type collar and an ivory vest to match the wedding gown. He wore a red gerber daisy boutonniere. Serving as best man was, Long Liyue, friend of the groom from China who is now in college in Connecticut. The ring bearer was the bride’s second cousin, Elijah Padgett of Adairsville. The best man and ring bearer wore matching black tuxedos with red vests. The ring bearer carried a small white pillow with red trim also made in China which Kari tied the rings to with a piece of matching red fabric.

The church was decorated with red, white, yellow and orange Chinese lanterns that were hung from the ceiling and across the arch at the front of the church. Matching gerber daises were used on the unity table and we brought in haybales and placed them in the front for the backdrop of the wedding. The wedding was to have taken place outdoors in a field, we got rained out, so we brought some of the outdoor look inside. We also had several vases of wildflowers with gerber daises around the platform.

After the minister said a few words and led them in the wedding vows, Damiao and Kari also said the vows to each other that they had written. They then had the double ring ceremony. After the ring ceremony, was the unity candle lighting and prayer during which the song “Eternal” by Santus Real was playing. After another prayer by the minister, and the introduction of the couple, the cou-ple exited to the song, “I’m the Happiest Girl in the Whole USA” by Tammy Wynette.

A reception followed at Wesley Chapel’s picnic pavillion. The bride’s cake was three layers with gerber daises placed around it and a topper made by the bride which had a picture image of them-selves standing on a base. The grooms cake was “Chocolate Delight” with candy leaves placed on it made by Ann Mathis, great aunt of the bride. We served finger foods of vegetables, fruit, chicken salad with various breads and other things. The punch was made by grandmother with a black cherry flavor.

After the wedding, the couple traveled west to Yellowstone National Park to camp out a few nights and then on to see more of the west. After returning to Georgia, they flew back to Shenyang, China where they now reside.

Back in China, the couple also had an older traditional Chinese wedding on Oct. 11, 2009 at 10:58 a.m. They incorporated some very old Chinese traditions as well as ones still in use by most there today. The wedding was very different from the American wedding. The groom arrived at the brides’ apartment early that morning to pick her up. They hired an entourage with a cart and eight men to carry the bride. There were two lion dancers and many others playing music as the wedding party walked along with the groom who led the procession.

The wedding was held in a very nice restaurant there in Shenyang, China with an attendance of over three hundred. After the bride got out of the cart, the groom led her down the aisle with a red ribbon as they were not supposed to touch each other. He shot arrows at one point to chase away any evil spirits that might hinder the marriage. After the ceremony, they greeted each guest and received a red envelope with money in it as gift. There were two separate meals; one with all the guests and one with just the immediate family.