Chinese Wedding Traditions
The Do's and Dont's
Chinese Wedding traditions date from ancestral times.
However only a few survived time and can be incorporated in modern weddings.
You are a modern bride and want to pay homage to your culture ( or your groom's) without sacrificing fashion and style.
So much to cover! Let's begin!
Before the Big Day
The bride is usually isolated to a secluded part of the house with close friends and family.
There the women will sing and lament the separation of the bride from her family.
You see, the Chinese believe that once a woman is married she is part of the groom's family and not of her own any longer.
Out of all the chinses wedding traditions, this is one that is still very strongly followed.
As a matter of fact three days after the wedding ceremony the newly weds will visit the bride's family. This will be the first time she will be at her parents house and consider only a guest or visitor as opposed as part of that family.
So what is the groom and his family during this time that his bride is in isolation?
Well, they have the big responsibility of preparing the bridal bed. The new bed is placed and children are invited to go on it.
As in many other cultures ( take the rolling baby Greek tradition for example, kids are invited as a sign or omen of fertility.
The kids take fruits and nuts, such as peanuts and dates and scattered them on the bed ( another omen of fertility).
I know what you are thinking, a great custom, but surely a mess to clean up!
Be picky about your wedding day!
From ancient times the wedding day was carefully selected. The event should take place on a day both families consider "lucky".
The best way to determine it is consulting a lunar calendar.
Something really important is also the time when your wedding will take place.
You must be thinking,: oh , that's easy to figure, for sure is at the hour sharp , right?
Big don't!!!
Your event should take place at the half hour of the hour you choose ( let's say 4:30 pm and never 4:00pm).
Do you know why? So this way the hands of the clock are moving up and the couple can start their new life in an upswing.
The colors
Do you know that some of the chinese wedding traditions have to do with color?
Red is consider the color of luck and is very important that you make it present any way you can.
Also very present is the chinese double happiness sign.
From your wedding invitation, table decorations to the cake topper, you will be sure to find plenty of places to incorporate one or both to your celebration.
The food
As in many other cultures, many of the foods served at the event had to do with the omen of fertility and prosperity for the new couple.
Fish is the star for this reason in any chinese wedding. Also served are pork and chicken and sometimes even fried rice.
The menu at the festivities consists of an amazing quantity of plates, usually a minimum of 9 sometimes even up to 12.
The reception is quite simple and the main even consist of cutting the chinese wedding cake
The couple will cut the bottom layer of the cake first and work their way up just like they will do in life.
They will feed to each other the first piece with their arms intertwined.
After that they will proceed to personally feed their parents and grand parents as part of this chinese wedding tradition.
After this main event on the celebration there will be some dancing and the celebration will be over
Return to Wedding Traditions
Return from Chinese Wedding Traditions to Site Search
Return from Chinese Wedding Traditions to Home Page
|
