Day of the wedding
The ceremony on wedding day is the most solemn and important part in traditional Chinese wedding. And there are mainly four steps as following.
Obtain the bride
The firecrackers, loud gongs and drums are working together while the groom is going to the bride’s house with his relatives and friends in the earlier morning. When they arrived, they will be welcomed by the bride’s family and friends. They have to go through several difficulties before picking up the bride successfully.
The bride will be carried by the groom to the bridal sedan chair which is covered by red embroidered brocade and carried by eight males dressed in red or gold. On the way to the groom’s house, there is always accompanied by firecrackers, loud gongs and drums.
Once again, firecrackers, loud gongs and drums work when they are arriving at the groom’s house. And a red carpet will be placed before the sedan chair, because the bride cannot touch the earth, which is a taboo.
Three prayers
Before the bride crossing the threshold, she has to step over a saddle which forecasts a happy and rich life. When they enter the main foyer, the three prayers are going to perform at an auspicious moment.
The first prayer is to the heaven and earth, which is meant to get the approval of marriage from gods, divinities and ancestors; the second prayer is to the groom’s parents or eldership, which is to thank for the agreement and blessing from them; the third prayer comes to the newlywed couple—bow to each other. With this three prayers finished, the marriage of this new couple is admitted and protected by the law, which is similar with resigning in the register office and getting a marriage certificate in modern days.
Treat to guests
Next comes to the big treat to all guests. After the three prayers, the bride was sent to the bridal chamber. It’s the groom and his family who treat all the guests with toasting for their coming and sincere blessing. During this tremendous treat, there are some traditional displays, such as the lion dance, acrobatism, opera and so on.
The bridal chamber
When the feast is over, the groom will go to the bridal chamber with the accompaniment of some friends and relatives who intend to play some tricks on this newlywed couple. The groom could finally raise the red scarf and view the bride’s face when they left. Afterwards, the go-between will say some auspicious words to them while they are toasting each other with crossing their hands.
By now, the wedding celebration is almost come to the end.
Traditional Chinese wedding customs have a history of thousands of years. And they may vary from time to time and from place to place, however, its important position in Chinese people’s lives has never changed and it is still adopted by many newlywed couples in nowadays.
With the above information, you must have a good picture of a Chinese traditional wedding. Then, will you want to have such a classic wedding?
