The Traditional Chinese Wedding Customs

In Confucian thought, marriage is of grave significance both to families and to society as well as being important for the cultivation of virtue. The traditional Chinese wedding therefore shows the emphasis on joyous, respect to parents, and solemn to the marriage. 

The traditional Chinese wedding ritual where bride and groom become a married couple, consists of many elaborate parts:

·         Welcoming the Bride: The wedding procession of the groom’s family stops at the door of the bride’s home.

·         Wedding Procession: The wedding procession from the bride's home to the wedding ceremony venue. The procession consists of a traditional band, the bride's sedan and the maids of honor's sedans

·         Actual Wedding Ceremony: Equivalent to exchanging vows in the west, the couple would pay respect to the Jade Emperor, the family deities (or buddhas and bodhisattvas), pay respect to deceased ancestors, the bride and groom's parents and other elders, and pay respect to each other.

·         Wedding banquet: In Chinese society, the wedding banquet is known as xǐ-jǐu (literally joyful wine), and is sometimes far more important than the actual wedding itself. There are ceremonies such as bride presenting wines or tea to parents, spouse, and guests.

In China, the entire ceremony is outfitted in full red.

Chinese style bridal attire

1.    Color of the gown should be Chinese Red, which means the marriage of new couple full of joy, prosperous, and wellbeing.

2.    A red silk veil is used to cover the head of a bride.

3.    Red shoes.

Wearing red from top to toe reflects Chinese people’s best wish to the marriage and future life.

Customs of welcoming the bride:

1.    Groom and the best men need to curry favor with the bridesmaids outside the bride boudoir so that they can enter to see the bride.

2.    After the proposal the groom have to find out one of his bride’s wedding shoes which hided by the bridesmaids, and wear the shoes for his bride meaning the new couple walk through their marriage life together and forever.

3.    The groom goes outside the boudoir holding his bride, represents his cherish to the bride for a lifetime.

Customs of Wedding Procession:

Wedding procession is a significant and magnificent segment in the traditional Chinese wedding. The bride's sedan is guided and surrounded by a huge group of maids of honor whom all dress red.

When the wedding procession arrives the reception venue (or groom’s home), the groom has to

1.    Discharge an arrow over the top of the bride’s sedan, meaning getting rid of all the bad luck before the new couple entering their new home.

2.    Kick the bride’s sedan three times telling his bride that she belongs to him and his family from now on.

3.    Pull his bride entering the reception hall by holding a red flower made from silk and stain by each side.

While going through the reception hallway, the bride has to

1.    Span over a saddle with an apple, indicating the wellbeing.

2.    Span over a brazier, which symbolizing a flourish future.

Custom of the wedding decoration:

The wedding arrangement and decoration fully pay attention to the joyful atmosphere and respect to the parents. Thus a big red letter “囍” (literally happy and joyful) and parents’ seats are the must have. In addition to those, four kinds of nuts must be presented in the wedding as well, they are date, peanut, longan and sunflower seed. These items, in Chinese pronunciations, show a sweet wish: may you two have a dear baby soon.

Customs and procedure of the main ceremony:

1.    Groom and bride bow and pay respect to the heaven and the earth. Since in traditional Chinese culture, two people’s marriage is blessed by the heaven and earth.

2.    Groom and bride bow and show appreciations to mutual parents for children’s lives were given by their parents.

3.    New couple bows to each other.

4.    The groom lifts his bride’s veil with a balance arm, indicating he found his desirable wife.

5.    The cross-arm wine in traditional Chinese wedding uses two half gourd as the cup. Gourd in the Chinese thought, symbolizes best luck.

6.    Tea ceremony. In Chinese wedding culture, until in the wedding ceremony, groom and bride start to call other side parents Mom and Dad. Parents from each family will give Red Envelops to the new couple showing their satisfaction.

7.    Unlike the western wedding, traditional Chinese keepsakes are not wedding bands. In ancient China, groom gives his jade plate to the bride which means personal dignity. Bride gives her perfume (spice) bag made herself showing her kind-hearted to the groom.

8.    Lighten the candles. Red candles are shaped as Dragon and Phoenix indicating flourishing marriage life.

9.    The officiator’s speech. Groom’s father usually presents as the officiator.

Customs of wedding banquet:

Groom and bride serve wine and tea to the guests showing appreciation. Guests could also give Red Envelop to the new couple.