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The traditional Chinese wedding

The Traditional Chinese Wedding

China is a country rich in culture and tradition - so it's no surprise that traditional Chinese weddings are chock-full of meaningful symbolic customs.

A Chinese wedding doesn't start when the bride shows up at the ceremony in her decorative red-silk wedding attire. The process begins with an elaborate proposal and doesn't end until three days after the ceremony. Of course, to list every wedding tradition practiced in every region of a country as big as China would be almost impossible, but the following introduction covers the main points.

Traditionally, a Chinese wedding proposal involves far more than a sparkly ring and an all-important question. Instead, both families must agree to the marriage and select an auspicious date for the "betrothal day." On the betrothal day the families gather to exchange gifts and discuss potential wedding dates. However, it's bad luck to select a date without first consulting a fortune teller.

A few days before the wedding, the groom and family and friends participate in a bridal bed setting ritual. They all deck out the newly-bought nuptial bed with various symbols. Red is ever present (it's considered lucky, joyful color) and the bed is scattered with fruit to encourage fertility. During this time, the bride stays in seclusion in her parents' house. She is accompanied only by her closest friends who are there to mourn her separation from her family.

On the day of the wedding, the bride participates in a "hair dressing" ritual. A "good luck woman" (usually an aunt or someone with many children) fixes the bride's hair. The bride then dons her red wedding wear - a red gown (the details vary by region), red shoes and a red veil (either silk or a curtain of tassels). At this time, in a separate ceremony, her soon-to-be takes place in a "capping" ritual. This is where the groom, wearing a long gown, red shoes and a red sash, is given a cap decorated with cypress leaves by his father.

Gongs, firecrackers and drums herald the beginning of the day's proceedings. The groom leaves his home and makes his way to the bride's parents' house. There he will find the bridesmaids blocking his entrance - playing a game where they forbid the groom from picking up the bride. He then bargains with them until they agree to let him marry the bride. When the bride does join her groom, she steps out of the house carrying a red umbrella over her head to ward off evil spirits.

The ceremony itself is less complicated. The couple kneel or bow three times, once to heaven and earth, one to their ancestors and once to their parents. They then serve tea to their parents and senior relatives. There are no spoken vows. Sometimes, the bride and groom drink wine from two cups tied together by a red string - a gesture symbolizing the binding of their lives. They complete the ceremony by bowing to each other.

A huge banquet follows the ceremony. The banquet hall is decorated in red banners and, of course, the Double Happiness symbol - a Chinese character that symbolizes the couple's love and joy, is on display. Even the food is symbolic: there is fish to help bring the couple wealth, pig to symbolize the bride's virginity, and pigeon to ensure a peaceful marriage. Guests present the couple with Li Shi (money in red envelopes).

The morning after the wedding, the bride is expected to wake early and prepare a meal for the groom's family and spend the day with them. Three days later, the couple visits the bride's parent's house - where she is now received as a guest.

Traditional Japanese Wedding

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Most of the Japanese wedding ceremonies will take place in spring and fall in Japan. The weddings are held at hotels or wedding halls where chapel and shrines are conveniently located within the facilities. A Japanese wedding ceremony may be Shinto, Christian, Buddhist, or non-religious styles. Couples choose the style of their wedding ceremonies, and it doesn't necessarily match with one's religion. Non-Christian couples often have their weddings at chapel in Japan.

             

The traditional Japanese wedding ceremonies are the Shinto-style and are held at shrines. Brides wear traditional wedding kimono called shiromuku (white kimono robe), and grooms wear montsuki (black formal kimono), haori (kimono jacket), and hakama (kimono pants).

With the Shinto-style weddings, it's normal just invited the family members and close relatives of couples attend Shinto-style wedding ceremonies. A ceremony includes sake drinking rituals, exchanging wedding rings, and more. There are neither bridesmaids nor a best man. Traditionally an older married couple called nakoudo (matchmaker) attend a Japanese wedding ceremony, but this tradition isn't often observed in recent years.

Once the guest receive an invitation card to the wedding reception, the guest need to return the enclosed card and let them know if you can attend or not as soon as possible. If you are attending a Japanese wedding reception, you are expected to bring cash for a gift. The amount depends on your relationship with the couple and the region, unless fixed amount is indicated in the invitation card. It is recommended to ask someone who is attending the same wedding. The average is 30,000 yen for a friend's wedding. It's important that the cash is enclosed in a special envelope called shugi-bukuro, and your name is written on the front. It's polite to use new bills with no creasing. When you go to the party, hand the envelope to the person at the reception desk and sign your name in the guestbook.

Wedding Customs in Oceania

Oceania primarily refers to Australia and New Zealand, two of the most remote countries in the world, yet two of the most exciting and vibrant countries on earth as well. Both New Zealand and Australia are members of the British Commonwealth and so they have borrowed many of their wedding traditions from Great Britain – although they have been flavored by the traditions of the native populations of both nations.

In Australia a wedding keepsake bible is handed down from generation to generation

The white wedding dress has been traditional on Australia for many centuries and is still popular today, symbolizing hope and joy for the future. It is traditional in Australia to give the bride a groom a keepsake bible as a wedding gift. Marriage bibles are treasured family heirlooms and are often passed down from generation to generation.

Traditionally Australian weddings include all members of the bride’s as well as the groom’s families. Family squabbles and differences are traditionally set aside on this special day so that the newlyweds can be blessed with a happy and joyous start along the road of their new lives together. Most Australian wedding traditions have been borrowed from England, but it is also common for Scottish and Irish wedding ceremonies to be performed in Australia, and many ceremonies are also flavored with Aboriginal customs. One thing that never changes, however, is the exchange of rings at the conclusion of the ceremony.

The wedding ring, a perfect circle with no beginning and no ending, symbolizes never-ending love in Australia just as it does in most of the rest of the world. An Australian wedding reception is apt to feature a wide range of music, everything from traditional English and American music to bagpipes and even the haunting melody of the Aboriginal didgeridoo.

In New Zealand it is considered bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding.

The wedding tradition in New Zealand calls for a lavish church wedding, a white-gowned bride and all the bridesmaids. The groom wears dark pants and a white shirt and dark coat and he is flanked by his best man and his groomsmen. It is considered bad luck for the groom to see his bride on the day of the wedding before she walks down the aisle.

Traditional Hindu Weddings

Hindu Weddings are said to be the bringing of two people who are compatible. Hindu wedding ceremonies are traditionally performed in Sanskrit. They have many rituals that differ from modern western weddings in many ways. Hindus convey a lot of importance for marriages, and the ceremonies are very colorful and continue on for several days.

The wedding must take place in a mandap (the four-polr canopy at centre stage) in the presence of a sacred fire. The sacred fire in the mandap symbolises not only the illumination of the mind, knowledge and happiness but it is also a clean and pure witness to the ceremony as it progresses. Seven encirclements are made around the sacred fire by the bride and groom together as they make their seven promises. The seven promises are:

•   Let us take the first step to provide for our household, keeping a pure diet and avoiding those things that may harm us.

•   Let us take the second step to develop our physical, mental and spiritual powers

•   Let us take our third step to increase our wealth by righteous and proper means

•   Let us take the fourth step to acquire knowledge, happiness and harmony by mutual love, respect and trust.

•   Let us take the fifth step so that we may be blessed with strong, virtuous and heroic children.

•   Let us take the sixth step for self-restraint and longevity.

•   Let us take the seventh step to be true campanions and remain life-long partners by this wedlock.

The ceremony itself is a collection of rituals which is performed by both the bride, bridegroom and their respective parents and close relatives. The priest chants "mantras" from the Veds that were originally written in Sanskrit. The following things are used in the ceremony:

•    Fresh flowers- which signify beauty

•   Coconut- to signify fertility

•   Rice, jaggery and other grains- to signify the food necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle

•   Ghee (purified butter)- to feed the sacred fire

•   


•   Kumkum (vermilion) - red powder which is used for marking the forehead to signify good luck and to convey that your husband is a part of your life.

In traditional Hindu weddings, the formal invitation is the only card announcing a marriage to the community. There are no arrangements for "save the date", "RSVP" or "thank you" cards. This is because a person may come with as many persons as he/she wishes to a hindu wedding. Guests aren't strict, no registration lists are required because most people attending the wedding would not have recieved a formal invitation. This is because it is common in a hindu wedding to have 500+ guests and most people are hence invited by word of mouth. Traditional Hindu wedding cards have Lord Ganesh printed on it because it is believed that Lord Ganesh brings prosperity and happiness to the marrying couple and their family.