How to Plan a Chinese Wedding

Weddings in China are cause for great celebration, since they mark the joining together of two families. Many rituals are performed to shower the bride and groom with happiness and good luck, and to keep evil spirits away.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Firecrackers
• Chinese Wedding Dresses
• Chinese Bridal Cakes
• Chinese Tea
• Teacups
• Teacups

1. Distribute customary bridal cakes to friends and relatives to announce the upcoming wedding and invite them to attend. (These cakes are originally given by the groom's family to the bride's to send out.)

2. Expect everyone who receives a bridal cake to reciprocate with congratulatory gifts for the bride's family.

3. Select a red bridal dress to symbolize love and joy.

4. Prepare a cleansing bath for the bride to take the night before the wedding. Infuse the water with pomelo, a type of grapefruit, to chase away evil spirits.

5. Plan an eight-course meal for the reception, plus dessert. Include such foods as roasted suckling pig, shark's fin soup, deep-fried crab claws, and fish. Be prepared for the meal to last as long as three hours or more.

6. Have the bride serve tea (holding the teacup with both hands) to her parents at home on the wedding day before the groom arrives. This is her way of paying her respect and thanking her parents for raising her.

7. Ask a lion dance team to perform at the wedding to bring good luck and to ward off evil spirits. The lion presents a scroll with a calligraphy message wishing the couple good luck.

8. Plan a tea ceremony during the wedding, in which the newlyweds serve tea together to the groom's parents as a sign of respect.

9. Include lotus seeds and two red dates in the tea. The ancient Chinese believed that these items would help the newlyweds produce children early in their marriage, and the sweetness of the special tea also ensures sweet relations between the bride and her new family.

10. Set off firecrackers during the wedding celebration to keep evil spirits at bay.

Tips & Warnings

• Arrange for both of you to have your hair combed out by a good luck person(someone who in the Chinese tradition is said to bring you good luck) the night before the wedding, as is traditionally done. The combing should be done for each of you four times. Remember that each combing has a special meaning. These are: from the beginning to the end, harmony, sons, wealth and a long-lasting marriage.

[gogosos]

on 3/8/2008 Most are right. In China, wedding is a complex process,especially the traditional one. The bride used to use a sedan to groom's home....but now it changes

on 12/30/2005 Chinese brides will usually change at least 4 times throughout the day; unlike American brides that spend hundreds on a single gown. The Chinese bride has a gown for the ceremony, one for the entrance picture, one for the welcome announcement and the rest of the evening can have from one to numerous outfit changes depending on the wedding. Most Chinese-Americans have integrated the American tradition of champagne toasting and the couple's first dance, which can require another dress change for each. It's suppose to represent the bounty that is to come from the marriage and that the bride is being taken care of by the groom.

on 12/30/2005 After the engagement, the groom's family is to meet with the bride's and discuss the arrangement of the wedding, particularly the date. The meeting will symbolize mutual respect and requires the gathering of the bride and groom's date of birth, zodiac sign, etc. Based on their information, the families will decide on their compatibility and the good and bad dates for the wedding. Some will hire a fortune teller, or especially in modern times, will resort to fortune books.

on 11/22/2005 on your wedding day, have the groom or a personal helper of yours hold packets of red envelope money. You have to give "Thank you" red envelopes to anybody that helps you. From the lucky lady that helps you through the tea ceremony, to your flower girl.