According to a draft instruction issued by the Hanoi Communist Party Committee, officials and Party members are not allowed to invite more than 300 people to the wedding parties that they throw where the number of food trays is capped at 50.

Also, the “draft instruction on continuing the civilized lifestyle in wedding in the city” bans officials from holding wedding parties in 5-star hotels or luxury resorts.

This proposal was presented by the Hanoi Party Standing Committee for discussion among officials on Friday (September 28).

Specifically, it says that officials and Party members must be exemplary and throw wedding parties for their family members or for themselves in the spirit of “solemnity, wholesomeness, thriftiness”.

“The number of guests is to be less than 300, equivalent to 50 food trays. If two in-law families hold the wedding party together, no more than 600 people is to be invited. Moreover, they are not to hold the party many times, for many days, or to feast in luxury places like 5-star hotels or high-grade resorts”, the draft regulation details.

The issue was hotly debated on Friday. Nguyen Thach Bich, Party secretary of My Duc district said that Ha Dong district once had a similar regulation forbidding officials from having more than 40 food trays.

But this has led to many embarrassing situations where some guests deliberately counted the trays to see if the organizers violated the law or not, badly affecting the mood of the party, Bich explained.

Meanwhile, Dao Duc Toan, chief of the office of the Hanoi Party Committee, is worried whether the draft regulation could have a bad effect on the relation between the two in-law families.

No need for a special committee to count food trays

At the meeting Friday, Hanoi Party secretary Pham Quang Nghi said the 50-food-tray limit is reasonable.

“Wedding parties must be held in places at costs commensurate with most people’s incomes. Because there will be low and average income earners at the party, if it is held in 5-star hotels, such [poor] people will be confused about how much they are supposed to chip in”, the head of the city Party continued.

The city leader also stated that “it is not necessary to form a special committee in charge of counting wedding guests”.

If the number of guests is too high, the guests themselves will complain, city leader added.