When emailing my pen pal in China, she had informed me that she had just attended her cousins wedding. I was interested immediately and wanted to know more about their ceremonies. I also wanted to know if they had restrictions or rules for dating at certain ages. I was surprised with the answers I got. My pen pal, Erika informed me that it is highly frowned upon to date in high school and sometimes even in college. The parents and teachers think they should spend all their time studying and not look for someone to date until they have graduated and found a job. Her cousins wedding was very unique too.
The tea ceremony caught my attention and I decided to research more about it. The tea ceremony is the most important part of the wedding. After the couple has settled into their house the morning of the wedding the couple will serve the grooms parents and grandparents first. This is considered an introduction of the bride to his family. The brides family is served later in the afternoon. It is also tradition for the tea to be served while the couple is kneeling. The tea is referred to as sweet tea, because the bride is supposed to be sweet. It is said that if lotus seeds and 2 red dates are added to the tea the couple will have children early and successfully in their marriage. Any additional helpers that aided in serving the tea or washing cups is given a red packet of money too.
Erika explained that it is tradition to not let the groom see the bride very easily when he comes to pick her up, to where here it is bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other at all before the ceremony. After Erika and her family had finished getting the bride ready they locked the door and when the groom came they made him do a bunch of silly things before he could see her. He had to sing love songs and recite love poetry and even say his love vows. After this, the groom gave all the girls in the room red packets that had money in them and they all drove over to the bride and grooms new house. Once everyone arrived the bride and groom had to sit on their new bed, they called the room the bridal chamber and it had been decorated in all red. There were lots of fireworks outside and both sides of the new family were served tea by the new couple and had to eat small noodles and dumplings as a sign of harmony and love. When all of these traditions were complete everyone went to a hotel that had been reserved to host the banquet.
Chinese weddings differ a lot from the traditional church weddings we have here. I am sure there are more traditions depending on families and location. It will be interesting to see how many more I can find.
Sources:
Erika, "Autobiography Correspondence" Message to Kara Brantley. 6 Nov.2014.Email.
Pelagia. "Autobiography Correspondence" Message to Kara Brantley. 10 Nov.2014.Email.
"Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony-." Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony. Chinese-Wedding-Guide.com, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
http://www.chinese-wedding-guide.com/tea-ceremony.html
Tzeses, Jennifer. "Tea for Two: The Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony." Four Seasons. Four Seasons Magazine, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
http://magazine.fourseasons.com/wedding-ideas/the-chinese-wedding-tea-ceremony
