Exploring the Red Colours of the Chinese Wedding!

If you are in China and witness an event full of red colour all around, you are probably witnessing a Chinese Wedding. The theme of a Chinese wedding is red from the beginning to end. The red colour signifies love, joy and prosperity. The bride wears red, gift boxes are red, wedding decorations are red and even cash gift envelopes are red in colour.

Before the wedding, the bride is alone with a few of her close friends. This period of being alone traditionally meant for the bride to mourn the fact that she will be away from her family and friends after the wedding. During this phase, the groom’s family brings over red gift boxes for the bride. One box contains "uang susu" or 'milk money', and the others contain personal things for the bride to take her to her new home. Three days prior to the wedding, the women from the bride’s family take gifts and return gifts in red packages to the groom’s family.

The wedding date is chosen keeping in mind astrological signs. It is interesting that Chinese weddings commence at half hours, so that the couple starts a new journey at the up-swing of time and not when the clock is moving downwards.

The groom’s attire is decided by his parents. He arrives at the bride’s house and has to give money to the bride’s friends to ‘let her go’ with him. This gesture is symbolic of the groom asking for permission to take his bride. The bride and groom then leave for the wedding site together. The wedding ceremony is a close-knit affair, usually attended only by the couple’s immediate families. Just after the ceremony, the bride who honors the tradition serves tea to her in-laws in a formal ceremony. 

At the reception, the wedding cake with several layers is a symbol of the success ladder that the bride and groom climb as a couple. The reception is full of musical entertainment with meals as elaborate as up to ten courses.

A truly festive wedding!

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