Chinese Wedding Traditions

Chinese weddings are steeped in tradition. While many of these customs are no longer followed today, there are still a few that have survived the centuries and are a part of modern weddings. There is a Chinese saying, "It is natural to get married when you grow up." And so, marriage is very important to the Chinese culture.



The Husband's Family

In America and many other countries, the bride's family handles the expense of the wedding. In addition, it is traditionally thought of as the bride's "day." For the Chinese however, it's the groom's day. The family of the groom might handle the festivities and when the Happy Couple marries, the bride becomes a part of the groom's family. Years ago, the bride might expect never to see her family again. Before the wedding the bride would go into seclusion for a few days with her friends in order to day good bye. Of course, in this day and age, most couples take care of the wedding expenses themselves and the bride isn't expect to favor one side of the family over another.

Choosing the Date

For the Chinese couple, choosing a date is not as simple as saying, "hey I'm free that weekend, why don't we do it then?" Everything has to be in their favor. The day has to be a lucky one. The numbers of the month and days have to be lucky and the moon and stars have to be properly aligned. Most Chinese families choose their wedding date according to the lunar calendar.

Chinese Wedding Traditions - The Colors

The color red plays a vital role in the wedding festivities of the Chinese people. Red is considered by then as a bold and lucky color.

In addition to this, the color signifies love, prosperity and happiness; therefore, everything is in red - wedding invitations, gift envelopes and the bride's wedding dress. It is also important that the symbol for double happiness is placed on Chinese invitations, envelopes and wedding decorations, and accessories.

A new bed for the couple

In traditional Chinese families, the parents of the couple usually provide a new bed complete with pillow cases, comforters, pillows and sheets.

picture: (flickr.com)

A night before the wedding, the groom is required to sleep on the bed and a young nephew will have to jump up and down the bed to give luck to the couple. It is said that this practice gives hope on the fertility of the couple and will make them produce an heir soon.

The Big Day

On the day of the wedding, the couple will need to serve tea to both parents and family and guests.

In return, they will be presented with jewelry and money placed in red envelopes.

There will be three different dresses for the bride for Chinese wedding traditions. The white dress with veil is worn during the wedding ceremony. The second wedding dress, a traditional Chinese wedding dress is used at the banquet.


The last dress is called the bride's going away dress. This dress is worn before the bride leaves the banquet.

The feast or wedding banquet is an important part during the wedding. Wedding banquets are to thank family and friends for the kindness they have shown throughout the years. Most feasts will serve a twelve course meal including delicacies like roasted pig and shark fin soup. Sometimes fried rice and abalone will also be served

A post wedding ritual for Chinese wedding traditions happens after the day of the wedding. The bride should wake up early to honor her ancestors.

Anchestor (picture: tradition.cultural-china.com)

On this day, the bride is formally introduced to the groom's family, relatives and friends. Older relatives will be giving her small tokens. Three days after the wedding, the bride will visit her family where she is welcomed and received as a guest

source by: (98wedding.com and weddings.loveto know.com)