♫ Upbeat intro Music ♫ Hello, friends, and welcome to another video. This week, we're gonna be having a McDonald's wedding in Hong Kong. This is not gonna be our real wedding, but this is a real thing that McDonald's actually does. Now as some of you probably know, I am engaged, betrothed, affianced, and Tyler and I are in the process of planning like, a non-fast food related wedding, in America; which is still on! But a few months ago, while doing research for that wedding, I somehow fell into a treasure trove of articles and videos about a unique experience that's offered at some McDonald's in Hong Kong, which is that you can get married at them. and not just like, it's possible to get married there, it's actually encouraged. As in, they offer wedding packages where they'll decorate the place, perform a wedding ceremony, and even provide an Emcee (MC | Master of Ceremonies) to host the whole event. It sounds pretty epic. And even though I'm not like a McDonald's super-fan; Though who doesn't enjoy all-day breakfast? I'm kind of dying to know what it's actually like. So I figured that during our trip to Hong Kong this year, we had to swing by a Micky D's and get “Not-Married” there. We're gonna be trading in golden rings for Golden Arches. I'm Lovin' it, AND my husband. Billions served and a couple dozen married. No, this video is not sponsored. Alright, let's do it! So Hong Kong was stop number three for us on the East Asia trip. After Tokyo, and Seoul. And while we were there, We stayed in the TST neighbourhood in Kau Lun, Which has a lot of shops and restaurants. of all different international cuisines. Now that's what I'm talkin' about *Crunch* As well as super easy access to the Hong Kong Harbor and the Star Ferry. Which we took A LOT. We have a ton of footage from the ferry. In fact, we have footage of people taking footage from the ferry. Everyone's filming! Now before we get into it, I do want to mention the current situation in Hong Kong really quick. Since our trip to Hong Kong in late May, there has been a lot of protests and political tension, and we really hope that everything can be resolved peacefully. But that said, we still wanted to show you guys all of the fun things we filmed in Hong Kong because it really is a cool place with a lot to offer and we really enjoyed our time there. So with that, on to our McDonald's wedding. Which we had planned for the afternoon on our second day in Hong Kong in a 4-to-6 PM time slot. [Tyler] Safiya's over here, throwing on her makeup. She's got white on. [Safiya] I know. [Tyler] Which we had to go find and buy. [Safiya] Yes, we went shopping yesterday in Hong Kong and got a couple little outfits. [Tyler] I look basically like I am going to a country club. [Safiya] You do look a little bit like, um, Andy Bernard but not pastel. [Safiya] Now besides outfit shopping, planning a wedding is hard enough. Let alone planning a wedding 7,000 miles away. But thankfully our friend Taylor R, a Hong Kong-based YouTuber, and her team member Natalie were able to provide us some local assistance coordinating the big day. [Tyler] I think they think there might be, like, a ten percent chance this is, like, a Jim and Pam speed wedding [Safiya] Yeah like this is our actual wedding [Safiya] I mean, apparently, in Hong Kong all you need is a lawyer present and then you can get married So when I was first planning it Taylor was like, "Do you want a lawyer?" And I was like... "I mean I guess we could."
[Tyler laughing] Now as for the venue, none of the McDonald's in the TST area are actually equipped to hold a wedding party, so we had booked our wedding at the Festival Walk Mall location. About a fifteen minute drive away. [Tyler] Because this is at a mall you could say, let's go to the mall. [Saf] I was just singing that! [Tyler] To get fake married [Saf] It's not fake married [Tyler] Uh, not-married [Saf] It's almost like an engagement party, cause we never had one of those [Tyler] No, you're right. [Safiya] after speeding through the rest of my makeup, my bridal look was complete. [Tyler] You look good. I like this dress. [Saf] I just burped thank you. [Tyler laughing] [Safiya] And it was time for us to head over to Micky D's. [Tyler] Do you think we should try, like, McDonald's themed vows? [Tyler] Like, you are definitely not a value meal. I would definitely supersize my love for you. [Safiya] I don't think there is a vow part [Safiya] So we hopped in a cab to get to our wedding. As you guys can see it was raining and as always extremely humid outside. And besides messing with our camera, it also didn't help Tyler's hair situation. Which had pulled a Monica from "Friends" pretty much as soon we landed in Hong Kong. [Monica] It's the humidity!!! And so I had tried to do something about it. [Tyler] My hair is weird right now - [Saf] I made Tyler smooth his hair down, I think it looks good but he doesn't like it
- [Tyler] It looks weird So this is Tyler's general hair preface. - It's necessary, okay? It gets weird, it gets weird. - But anyway. As we were ascending the escalator to McDonald's, I spotted some of our guests. [Saf] That's Taylor and Natalie. I think Natalie's brought a few friends. [Tyler] Good, we won't have an empty wedding. [Taylor] Aah you're in white! [Saf] I know isn't it weird [Natalie] White! [Tyler] People were very excited to see you in white It is a little bit like a Bigfoot sighting. Now the McDonald's we were going to was on the top floor of like seven levels in the mall and sat above an indoor ice skating rink. Which I guess isn't that weird, but I don't think I have ever seen one in a mall before. And the McDonald's itself, once you get inside it, is definitely pretty nice with like self-serve kiosks, a hot drink counter, and a pastry shelf. It's basically like if McDonald's ate a Starbucks. And for our nuptials, we headed back to their designated event room. Which had been decked out for us. [Tyler] There's a lot of people in here. Hi, everyone. - [Staff] Hi!
- [Tyler] Welcome to our wedding, kind of. [Laughs] [Safiya] We had booked the Happiness Party package for 3,000 Hong Kong dollars or about $380 USD. [Saf] Oh my God, Ty, this is epic. And with that, they basically offer a Chinese-style suite of wedding decorations or a Western-style one, which is what we chose. And I tried to get as many of the trappings as I could. It does seem like they used to offer a few other fun things that were no longer available, which we'll touch on in a second. But regardless I was pretty pleased with our spread. - [Saf] THIS IS AWESOME!!!
- [Tyler] (Laughs) Besides the decorations, we did have a few people there, like our Hong Kong crew. So here we've got Taylor, Natalie, Zoey, and Sandy. Hello, hello. As well as Tyler's parents. [Ty's Dad] Wouldn't miss it for the world! [Tyler] You know we're not getting married right now, right? Who had been in Taiwan the week before, so they just kind of hopped over. Also, our editors, who had been traveling with us, were there as well. Emily and Claire, not pictured, they are also here. As we got settled in, the party emcees of the event, Thomas and Winkle, jumped right into the festivities. [Winkle] This is the gift from our Hong Kong McDonald's, for friends when you come to our McDonald's to get the weddings. [Safiya] Oh, thank you! [Safiya] This is awesome! Does he get anything? - [Tyler] Is that a little boutonniere?
- [Thomas & Winkle] Yeah! Tyler: I was just kidding! So they gave us two corsages to go with our fun balloon bouquet. [Safiya] It kinda feels like a hot dog at the bottom. And once we had been flowered, our emcees explained that before the set McCeremony, it was time for dinner. - [Safiya] So it's feeding time first.
- [Tyler] Yes. [Tyler] We feast. Hong Kong McDonald's does have a fair amount of familiar menu items... [Tyler] Well it's my wedding, right? So I can have a McFlurry for like the main course? But they also have a lot of things that I have never seen on their US menu, like some signature drinks. Cheese tea, right? As well as a crowd favorite amongst our guests. [Group] Yeeeaaaah! Everybody loves Shake Shake Fries apparently. So we ordered a bunch to see what the fuss was all about. [Saf] And then you pour the milkshake into the bag? And they also give you a little flavor packet, which you pour into the bag too, and then start shakin'. Taylor also likes to eat her Shake Shake Fries with ice cream, sort of Wendy's Frosty style. [Ty] Is this okay with you, Taylor? [Saf] It's good? Good? [Saf] I haven't seen her swallow it yet. [Saf] Very quickly, the rest of our food arrived. And they try to present it kind of fancily. [Saf] Oh, it's beautiful! But it was in the end, though appetizing, still just normal McDonald's food. [Tyler] Alright, this is our feast. [Saf] Tyler got a Big Mac and his coveted McFlurry. I got a grilled chicken sandwich also and a cheese tea. And of course, we had to try the much-hyped Shake Shake Fries. - [Saf] Does it look good?
- [Tyler] Oh! It smells amazing, yeah. [Saf] So Tyler started rattling them around like maracas, which quickly turned into a rendition of the Harlem Shake... Shake Fries. [Tyler] This is not sponsored by McDonald's. [Safiya] It's sponsored by Shake Weight. (sarcasm) [Tyler] Yeah. (laughing) [Saf] And they ended up being pretty tasty. But the dancing did make Tyler work up a bit of sweat. [Tyler] This is the ceremonial dab. [Safiya] Yeah. [Tyler] This is love here. Oh, stop. Stop, stop. [Safiya] I don't think I've ever dabbed on camera before and I think I just did it like very badly. [Safiya] I'm just gonna be dabbing left and right. But bedsides the Shake Shake Fries-- [Ty] Cheers! [Saf] We did have our other food to eat and romantically feed each other. I just got a good view of the chewed-up Big Mac. This is my life now. Forever. And to give our dinner more of a wedding feel, Tyler called for a toast. [Tyler] Alright, ready? And his dad answered that call. [Safiya] Would you like my half-drunk cheese tea? [Safiya] No one wants my cheese tea. [Tyler's dad] This is a great honor for your mother and me to be here. [Tyler's dad] Couldn't be more happy than to welcome Safiya into our family. [Tyler's dad] Hopefully not at McDonald's. [Saf] Hopefully at McDonald's. [Ty] No. We're just trying to be nice. [Saf] But regardless, I thought it was a pretty good impromptu speech. [Tyler's dad] To Tyler and Safiya, may you have many Happy Meal returns. [Saf] Ah, that's not bad! That's not bad. So with everyone fed and toasted, the party emcees were ready to move on to the ceremonial segment of the wedding. - And they called us up to the altar, if you will. [Both] Thank you! [Saf] We went shopping yesterday. Now, I don't think McDonald's provides these balloon wedding rings anymore. But I wanted a pair so badly, that Natalie actually commissioned her friend to make us some. [Ty] Whoa! This is awesome! [Saf] They then directed us to exchange them, which I think if there had been a lawyer there, would have been the actual marriage part. - [Ty] Oh, yeah!
- [Crowd] Awwwww! - [Saf] Yes, thank you! Yes.
- [Ty] Yeah, right here. [Saf] Everything is squeaking. And I was pretty impressed by our rubber bling. Damn, look at that rock! This thing must be what? 5, 6... [Saf] Thousand carats? (Laughter) [Saf] You look like a pimp. [Ty] This is that Adsense money. [Laughter] [Saf] After the exchanging of the rings, they had some more fast food-oriented activities for us to do. [Saf] Essentially, they wanted us to Lady and the Tramp an iconic McDonald's french fry and kiss in the middle. [Saf] Actually, based on their script, maybe that's when we would've gotten married. So next up was a sort of drinking ritual, which apparently is a Chinese wedding tradition centering around the idea that "wine" sounds like "long time". [Saf] Except in this case instead of wine, they had provided us with Orange Fanta to drink. [Ty] Don't spill. [Saf] Like this? Like this? [Saf] They did kinda throw us into this one, but we did our best. [Saf] Bringing us to the part of the ceremony that I was really excited about. Oh my God, yes! Which was a Jenga tower of apple pie boxes shaped like a wedding cake. Which they wanted us to place on top of the pyramid. I'm still not sure why we did this exactly, because it's kind of the opposite of cutting a cake, but they did then want us to feed each other while doing the arm cross thingy. How do we... like twice? Thomas might've been trolling us with this one. But unlike with the heart pose, we were pretty successful at this. Wow. I think we did that without spilling. [Ty] That was really romantic. Now after our first apple pie, Tyler was feeling somewhat intimidated by the giant pile of them in front of him. [Ty] We have a lot of apple pie right now. [Saf] I don't think all of these are full. Which was both a bit of a let down, and also a huge relief. Most of it is structural. But there are a couple of strategic filled ones. [Ty] Yeah, I was like, we have six guests. You've seen this. But don't worry. Our guests still got something, as Thomas and Winkle brought out a platter of chocolate pies. I think because they didn't even have enough apple pie in the entire store. Natalie likes it. Natalie-approved. After we all ate a fair amount of dessert, the emcees announced that it was time for the game portion of the wedding. Maybe they usually have more kids in attendance at these weddings who are eager to play some balloon games. But for our wedding, we were gonna need every person there to participate. The first game we were gonna be playing was called "Love Bombs". In which Tyler and I were supposed to toss balloons at the pairs and they were supposed to receive them. [cheering] Or so we thought. [Ty] Sure- Yes! Thus began the most chaotic five minutes of any wedding ever, minus the murdery ones from Game of Thrones, of course. In which we just hopelessly threw balloons at our gueses and they tried to hoop them with their arms. It was at this point the party emcees desperately trying to wrangle the situation explained that we had not even been playing the game correctly. Apparently instead of hooping, you're supposed to pin the balloons between your elbows. So with renewed direction, we ran it back for round two. But even though we thought we understood the game better, we didn't understand it at all. Apparently, you were supposed to collect multiple balloons rather than just dumping them on the ground as you can see Winkle here desperately trying to convey to us. But I think at this point, our guests were done with the rules and it just became the Thunderdome. [excited screaming] This went on for a few more seconds before the emcees decided to end the madness. Tyler's parents were reasonably disqualified... [Ty] For a variety of reasons. [Saf] And I think everyone else was declared a winner... just because. Now I think against all reason and judgment... The MCs decided to go ahead and have us play a second game. So basically, this game was kind of like human ring toss. And suddenly, it was game time. And I will say that it seemed like everyone was a bit better at playing Love Hoops than they were at Love Bombs. Though there was still some illegal grabbing of the rings occurring, some assistance from the McDonald's employees, and just as much yelling. And in the mayhem, somehow this happened. So all in all, it was a pretty fun game. Mostly because I won. I got one! I got one, I don't even know how. So with the games over and our two hour slot almost done, it was time to thank our guests for coming. I had forgotten we had paid for these, but our guest favors were personalized McDonald's thank you cards with our faces on them. And McDonald's keepsake tumblers. See, we did buy them presents. And regardless of how branded they were, it was a nice surprise for our guests. And also for us. So they gave us a little time for some wedding photos. [Saf] Here. [Tyler laughing] I'm just sticking his nose hair back in his nose. With our guests, our emcees, and our wide variety of decorations. Just so we could document and remember this joyous occasion. And then finally, it was time for one last wedding tradition. Now I'm gonna throw my bouquet. Ready? Over which shoulder? Over which shoulder? [Ty] I would say you go like straight over the head, yeah. [Saf] Okay, I'll try. Alright, ready? And my bouquet sailed directly to Natalie. [Laughing, cheering] So we'll all return in one year for Natalie's wedding. Right here. Right here! I'm not sure that Natalie actually wants a McDonald's wedding, but if she does, I'm so there. After that, they gave us a few more minutes in the room to take some final photos and then it was time to head out. [Saf] What do you think? Good wedding? [Ty] Yeah. [Saf] Great wedding. So we packed up our gifts and headed back to our hotel. I think it was for the best anyway. We didn't really need any wedding day wipeouts. Alright. So I think that's like mostly our McDonald's wedding. Overall, I had a great time. We came, we saw, we ate, we ballooned. [Ty] We ballooned, that's the big one. Yeah. [Saf] Both... literally and metaphorically. I really enjoyed how they inserted fast food themes into traditional wedding rituals. which made it feel more like a unique experience and not just like a wedding that happened to be at a McDonald's. And I also have a giant ring. That said, where I would say there was some room for improvement was with the catering. It would be nice to have something special, like a ceremonial wedding burger, or maybe like a nuptial dipping sauce for some unity tenders. I don't know. Just something to think about. Now I personally still wouldn't choose this for my actual wedding, but that's not to say I don't see the appeal. McDonald's has said that they started offering weddings through popular demand, both because people were meeting each other at McDonald's and therefore wanted to get married there, and also because some couples just wanted a casual and cozy environment to tie the knot. And sort of similarly to how we had a pre-wedding celebration, it seems like couples will have McDonald's wedding parties for other wedding-related events, like reception after-parties, anniversaries, and engagement parties. As for us, we are still planning a different wedding later this fall, but as far as fake weddings go, well, it's no Jana wedding. But it was pretty good. Thank you guys so much for watching, and once again, a huge thank you to all of our guests for coming from near and far to attend our McDonald's wedding. Like Tyler's parents. I think we all had fun. - Yeah.
- Definitely. Especially the balloon game. And the HK squad, Taylor, Natalie, Zoey, and Sandy. Also, I wanna thank Taylor and Natalie for helping us plan this McDonald's wedding. As I implied earlier, I've been emailing Natalie for months, harassing her. You guys did a great job, thank you so much for all your help. You just wanna grab it? [Taylor] I just wanna touch it. [Saf] Just like, grope it a little bit. It's a good handful. That's all you need, is a good handful.
(group laughing) If you liked that video, make sure to shamash that like button and if you wanna see more videos like this, make sure to shamash that subscribe button. Here are my social media handles and a bit shoutout to Emily B for watching. Thanks for watching, Emily B. And I will see you guys a-next time.
