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Chinese Wedding Traditions

12 Absurd Chinese Wedding Traditions You Still Might Be Following

Many people have listed specific things you should never do during your big day according to Chinese wedding tradition and beliefs. This article will share a list of do’s and don’ts that one should avoid at all costs to ensure a smooth sailing, auspicious Chinese wedding day. Whether you are a guest or host, both parties still need to take care of these traditions.

1. Avoid Going to Certain Events

Before the three months before the couple’s wedding, it is best to avoid going to attend happy or sad events such as:

– A funeral or wake

– Another wedding

– Visiting a woman who has just had a baby.

2. Red Clashes Red

According to the Chinese wedding traditions, if the bride meets another bride on the wedding day, their luck may clash. The matchmakers or the best men from both bridal parties will need to exchange red packets on the couple’s behalf to neutralize the effect of the clash.

3. No Sleeping in Bridal Bed

No one should sleep on the bridal bed after being installed and blessed. However, if the groom must rest on the bed before the wedding, he should not sleep alone as leaving one side of the bed empty is considered a curse on the couple’s health. To avoid leaving half of the bed empty, the groom should have a young boy, preferably born in the year of the dragon, to accompany him in bed. Sound strange, right?

4. Choose The Color of Decoration Carefully

People love to use different colours to suit different themes in a modern wedding. However, the most auspicious colour to use at a wedding is red. It can be a red tablecloth, double happiness symbol, bedding, etc. Besides red colour, gold and purple are good choices too.

White, blue, and green are mourning colours, and we should not use them in wedding decorations. Likewise, we should also avoid pale yellow or white chrysanthemum floral arrangements used at funerals and ancestral graves. Hence, they are not suitable for joyous events like weddings.

5. Superstition of being a bridemaid more than 3 times

As the bride’s friend, do not be a bridesmaid more than three times. Doing so negatively affects your marital luck, causing you to have difficulties finding your other half. But how about those who are already married?

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6. Check Chinese Zodiac Sign of Bridesmaids and Best-men

Many elderly believe that you should not invite those born under specific horoscopes that clash on the wedding day as bridesmaids and best men or even to the wedding day activities. However, they can still attend the wedding banquet.

The Chinese people pay close attention to the Chinese horoscope when choosing the auspicious wedding days. They do not want their zodiac sign that would clash on the day.

7. No Wedding Celebration if You are Still Mourning

Persons in mourning are not to attend any celebrations and entertainment within 100 days of the death as a form of respect for the dead. So they will not participate in any wedding celebrations.

8. Knowledge of Eating a Fish in Wedding Banquet

During Chinese wedding dinners, steamed fish is usually one of the main dishes served. However, according to the taboos, you should never turn the fish over or break the fish bones when eating a whole fish. This action will bring bad luck to the newlyweds.

9. Is She Still a Virgin?

Certain dialect groups prefer to include an entire roast pig as part of the bride’s home visit gifts. Be careful not to break the ears or tails accidentally. An imperfect roast pig implies that the bride is not a virgin.

10. Avoid Holding Wedding During Important Chinese Festival

In general, the Chinese avoid holding their wedding in some specific month of the year.

– During the first lunar month to avoid clashing of luck with the Chinese new year.

– The third lunar month (Ching Ming Festival)

– The Lunar seventh month (commonly known as the Hungry Ghost Festival or Zhong Yuan Festival)

– The ninth month(Chung Yeung Festival) is also avoided due to the negative yin (阴) forces.

– The lunar sixth month is also avoided due to the traditional belief of the sixth month being a half-year and therefore implies a half-marriage.

11. No Meeting The Day Before Wedding

In the past, the Chinese believed that the bride and groom should not meet the day before the wedding. However, this taboo is no longer strictly observed. The taboo is now modified, where the bride and groom should avoid sleeping under the same roof the night before the wedding.

12. 100 Days or 1000 Days?

Touchwood! If there is a death of either parent from the two families before the wedding, the couple has two choices. The first one is to get married within 100 days, while the 2nd one is 1000 days out of respect to the deceased. What are your thoughts on these Chinese wedding traditions? Do you think you will follow them?

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Traditions & Culture12 Absurd Chinese Wedding Traditions You Still Might Be Following