Every culture has its own fabulous traditions – here are some of the most wonderful, as well as the most unusual Chinese ones!
Table of Contents
1. Planned Crying
You read correctly. A traditional Chinese custom demands one month before the wedding, the bride must cry on purpose for an hour each day. One week in, the mother of the bride will join in, two weeks in the grandmother and finally the sisters of the bride. The custom is meant to signify extreme happiness towards the upcoming nuptials, and on the wedding day, a crying marriage song must be sung and the bride will be judged on how beautifully she can do this.
2. Shooting The Bride
Not as deadly as it sounds! The groom must shoot three arrows (none with arrow heads!) at the bride. When it is done, the groom will pick them up and break them in half to signify their love for each other is forever.
Image from Joanne and Jonny’s wedding. Photography by Papercranes.
3. Red Wedding
Red is the colour of love, luck and boldness in Chinese culture. They believe the colour holds so much importance that on the day of the wedding, the Bride will have her face completely covered in a red veil and travel in a red bridal sedan, whilst the mother of the bride holds a red umbrella above the bride head to symbolise fertility all the way to the ceremony.
4. Locks Be Gone
Not for the faint-hearted, this tradition is rare but extreme. The day after the wedding, the bride is to have all but one lock of her hair shaved off to symbolise beauty and cleanliness. Thanks, but no thanks!
Image from verawang.com
5. Half Cooked
On the night of the wedding, the bride and groom go through a series of rituals which includes the bride eating a half cooked dumpling to symbolize the raw-ness of giving birth to a child. Let’s hope it’s not chicken!
6. Bargain Bride
Dating back to when the brides family did not condone the marriage between her and her betrothed, the family and friends of the bride would block the groom when he came to pick her up for the wedding. The door game is all good natured and fun nowadays, with the groom having to answer questions and bargain his way to his bride!
Image from Joanne and Jonny’s wedding. Photography by Papercranes.
Main image from bridalfishion.com
