Two months ago, I want to Taiwai to attend my friend Sharon’s wedding. I was so amazed that she really took on all those traditional wedding customs and got herself and her husband exhausted for two whole days. Though it was great fun and extremely interesting. So I’d like to share with you some of the traditions that I observed.
First of all, to those of you who don’t know very much about Chinese culture, you’ll find this really strange. An elderly lady from the bride’s families used a bamboo tray to cover the bride’s head all day long, avoiding any sunshine straightly pouring down on her head, to “keep her safe”. More strangely, before she entered her in-laws’ house, she had to stride over a fired pot, to “get rid of any bad luck”. And then stamped onto a piece of tile till it’s broken into piece, also “to bring peace and harmony to her new family”.
These activities are our girls’ favorites. We got to set obstacles and challenges for the groom and best men, before they could take away the bride. he brought gifts of cash, wrapped in red envelopes to give to the bridesmaids as well as the bride’s friends. Apart from that, we also asked them to do push-ups, and games, such as we put balloons on the groom’s laps, and the best man had to jump onto his laps and pop the balloons. There was no cultural symbol of doing that, basically we were just messing with them to have a laugh.
When everyone got to the ceremony, we were just amazed at the layout of the “twelve gifts” the bride and the groom had to prepare for each other. The gift for the groom include watch, tie, tie pin, shoes, socks, belt, pen, wallet, etc. The gift for the bride include wine, tonic and nutrition, jewelry, garments, handbags, candy, and most importantly, cash.
Look at how much cash there was on the table. Oh yes they are real money, in fact 600,000 TWD in total (about 20,000 USD)
Then the tea ceremony began where the bride served tea to her in-laws.
The tea ceremony is a symbol of the bride's respect and obedience to her in-laws.
Then the groom's mother put gold necklace and earrings on the bride and the bride's mother put gold necklace on the groom to show their approval and best wishes. As you can see, many people dressed in red because it is central to Chinese wedding theme. It signifies love, joy, and prosperity. Even the bride and groom's new home is decorated in red.
On the next day, there came the wedding feast. Six maid of honors and six best men were rehearsaling before the ceremony started. The number of bridesmaid and best man is usually an even number and the more you have the more wealthy and honorable it represents.
Apart from the couple's friends and families, both the groom's parents and the bride's parents have invited their friends and colleagues to attend the feast.
This is one of my favorite dishes that night, steamed rice with sausages and roasted prawns.
After the wedding, everybody took pictures with the newly weds, we were just messing with the groom.
Every guest left with two sets of wedding cakes. One is Chinese style, the round shape signifies union and the stuffing is fried meat floss. The other is western style which is baked cookies.
When all the official ceremony was finished and all guests left, the newly weds and some of their close friends went to karaoke. The bride's older brother and one of her maid of honor got so drunk that they were dancing on the coffee table. Everyone was having a great time.
The above traditions are in fact just the tip of the iceberg of Chinese wedding customs. And I hope you had fun reading them.