Chinese Wedding Tradition

The color, “Red” is the wedding color and theme color for a wedding held in China.
It stands for Love, happiness and prosperity and can be used in a variety of ways in Chinese wedding traditions. The bride’s wedding gown is often red, other wedding items such as wedding invitations or gift boxes are also bright red. The bride and groom’s homes are decorated in a bright red on the wedding day.

Before the Wedding Day
A Chinese bride traditionally goes into seclusion with her closest friends before her wedding. This Chinese custom gives the bride-to-be some time to symbolically mourn the loss of her friends and family. Some time before the couple is married, the groom’s family carries wedding gifts in red baskets and boxes to the bride’s house. One of the baskets will contain “uang susu” or ‘milk money’. Others will contain personal things for the bride, so that on her wedding day all of her personal belongings will be in the groom’s house.

The Day of the Wedding Ceremony
It is customary for couples to be married on the half-hour or their wedding day rather than at the top of the hour. In this way, the couple begins their new lives together on an ‘upswing’, while the hands of the clock are moving up, rather than down. Brides and Grooms also choose their wedding date based on their astrological sign.

In some families, the wedding couple serves tea to both sets of parents while kneeling in front of them. a symbolic gesture of asking for permission. The bride and groom then leave for the wedding site together.

It’s so interesting how other cultures traditions seem to be much more unique than that of us Americans. As a Maui Wedding Photographer, It would be wonderful to travel around the world to capture these traditions on Film.