Since the cultures of China and Western countries are quite different from each other, weddings are also quite different. With the development of technology, people get to know each other more. And the world becomes smaller than usual. People have been influenced by each other. And they have to change their customs from day to day. But there are still some differences between the East and the West.
The traditional Chinese wedding ceremony is quite complex. There are several important things that must be done before the wedding. A matchmaker is needed to help the marriage. After the parents of the boy and the girl reached an agreement, the man should send a gift to the family of the girl with the price of the bride. The bride price is something like money or gold jewelry.
Before the wedding, the bride and groom could not see each other. Or something sad may happen. Both families must prepare a lot for the wedding. And they would choose a lucky day to celebrate the wedding ceremony. The groom should invite family and friends to participate in his wedding ceremony. And the bride’s family must prepare lots of things like the bride’s dowry. In the past, parents prepared some daily necessities for the new couple to start their new life. Now they would like to give the new couple money or a house as a dowry.
On the wedding day, the groom should go to greet the bride with a traditional sash. The groom is quite charming to ride a horse. He must wear a red tunic and a red hat. Unlike Western weddings, the bride wears black suits. Red in China shows happiness and good luck to the new couple. The bride then leaves her parents to go to the groom’s house in a sedan that was driven by men. The bride wears a red Chinese style wedding dress and a Phoenix crown. And there are several people who take her dowry.
So the wedding ceremony must take place at the moment of luck. The couple knelt to thank God. They then kneel to thank their parents. And they would ask their parents to drink their lucky tea. And the parents gave them some gifts in red envelopes to show their blessings. Finally, they would kneel down to thank each other. They will then be sent to your wedding room.
The Chinese wedding is quite different from the traditional one now. Only a few ethnic minorities will celebrate such a traditional wedding. Most of them would like one between Chinese and Western style. They use the car to take the bride instead of the sedan. They do not kneel at the wedding ceremony. Even some Chinese would choose the western style wedding ceremony. Most of them no longer wear the traditional wedding dress.
They keep the tradition of sending the gifts to the new couple in a red envelope to show their blessing. Most of them like to take some wedding photos like Westerners. There is another difference is that the new couple would prepare some gifts for the next guests. Like sugars, cigarettes, towels, etc. It is very different from western customs to give some gifts to the guests who come as a thank you.
And there are still some parents who would put some nuts in bed to make a good wish. They hope that the new couple will have a lovely baby very soon. And all the things on the bed would be brand new. It means that the couple is starting a new life. Although the Chinese wedding is different from the western one, both mean a lot for the new couple to start a new happy life.
