Chinese Wedding Traditions
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Every culture has wedding traditions and when you have become engaged as a Chinese couple it is important for you to know the traditions that will be expected from the time that you are engaged to the time that you are wed.
The auspicious date must be chosen before the couple can go further. In order to pick one you can use a Chinese calendar or Chinese Almanac or you can go to a temple official, a psychic or a monk.
Singapore Chinese weddings are based on very ancient traditions and it is important to know some of these because some things will be expected of you as you move towards your wedding day.
The bride has a pair of special shoes that are worn and they are not to be taken off until the wedding ceremony has ended, even if your feet are hurting. It is bad luck to take them off before the ceremony is over because it is like a broken promise.
There is a special circumstance too that happens if the older brother of the groom is not yet married - the bride must enter the groom’s house under his pants as a show of respect. Although this sounds strange it is not as bad as you think.
Traditionally the oldest male of the family must wed before younger males. However, this doesn’t always happen. The tradition states that the younger son has over taken the older son if he weds first. Because of this, the bride and groom must show respect to the elder son by entering the house under his pants. They drape a pair of pants above the door.
This is to show that they are humbled by the situation and that they will not show ill feeling to the elder brother because he is unmarried. There is a tea ceremony during this time and the elder brother gets served by the bride and groom to show respect to the fact that he is older.
The Chinese tea ceremony is also important to the wedding because this is where the bride is finally introduced to the groom’s family. They do this through the tea ceremony on the day of the wedding when most of the family is around.
There is also a specific way that each person is served. In this occasion the parents are served before the grandparents, then grand uncles and aunts, then following back the lineage to the elder cousins and brother and then the elder cousins.
You must also know how to address each family member in turn because there is a positive way and negative way. If you are unsure there are charts on the Internet that will show you how.
When the tea ceremony is over the bride will change her clothes and release the Western wedding gown for a more traditional one or they may put on other western clothes. This symbolizes that three days have passed.
Next Week: Why does the bride’s family receive a full roasted pig complete with the tail at the bride’s home visit?
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