Fetch the Bride - Part 3
The groom must go through a series of obstacles to get to the bride. Many of them will involve questions that he must know the answer to and sometimes they are things he will not remember.
The troop of brothers will help him complete the tasks so he doesn’t have to go it alone. Sometimes there is an auspicious time for the bride to enter the groom’s home so one brother will keep an eye on the time to make sure they get there on time.
In order to get the clues that he needs one of the troops of brothers will make sure to get the answers from one of the sisters ahead of time to help him prepare. Some of the things that he wants to prepare ahead of time include:
- Several red packets that include both notes and coins
- A very long list of love songs and he might have to practice them ahead of time so that he can do them quickly.
- He must look up Chinese proverbs that praise the virtues of women.
- He might have to prepare a list of answers to questions that his troop of men are given by one of the sisters.
The point to fetching the bride is to have fun with the groom and make him wait to get to his bride.
When a family is very traditional Teochew an elder may object to this kind of behavior/behaviour and think that giving money to pass through a door is considered bad taste. Instead the father may just bring the bride from her room and give her to the groom.
The games would then be done at the Chinese wedding or later when the bridesmaids crash in on the bridal room. Once the groom gets through all the obstacles he will be able to enter the bride’s home, find her, lift her veil and kiss her.
The bride has already prepared her clothes and such so she will be able to leave right away with the groom. She will have the clothes that she will need to change into later in the day. As she moves for the car the matchmaker or best man will hold an umbrella over her head when she is outdoors to protect her from the elements.
In very old tradition the bride would ride on the back of the matchmaker or best man until she gets to the bridal car while another one of the troop holds the umbrella. The tradition will be followed with the throwing of rice or magnolia petals by the matchmaker or the father of the bride.
Once the couple is safely in the cars they will be accompanied by the rest of the wedding party in decorated cars. If the family is Teochew the father will sprinkle water in back of the car so that the bride will always have a marriage that lasts forever.
As always there is a tea ceremony but this only happens at the bride’s house.
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December 4th, 2008 at 6:23 am
I love how playful it all sounds!
Sheila’s last blog post..There’s more than one right way to solve a math problem
December 9th, 2008 at 3:57 am
Wow! It does sound like the groom need to go through several tests to claim his bride. Are these traditions still widely practice today? What if the groom can’t pass some of the tests, does that mean the wedding is off? Very interesting posts, Henry.
Pacita’s last blog post..Wedding Trends 2009: Bridesmaids’ Dresses
February 13th, 2010 at 1:37 am
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