The birthplace of the wedding banquet

Shaoxing is the hometown of famous wines, and it is the best policy to choose Shaoxing for the wedding banquet. Taking wine as a gift and wine as a dowry has become a custom in Shaoxing. The most representative and typical one here is "daughter wine". "Daughter wine" is brewed after the daughter is born and stored in a dry cellar, or buried under the soil, and some are pressed against the wall. It is not until the daughter grows up and gets married that she digs it out for a treat or as a dowry. Later, this custom evolved into making wine when the boy was born, painting the jar with cinnabar and naming it "Zhuangyuanhong", which means that his son is the champion. Daughter wine is very particular about jars, and often uses adobe to shape various flowers, figures and other patterns. After burning the cellar, please ask the painter to draw all kinds of folk legends and opera stories such as landscapes, pavilions, birds and beasts, cranes, longevity stars, the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, crossing the sea with the Eight Immortals, and dragons and phoenixes. There are inscriptions or decorative patterns on the top of the picture, which can be filled with auspicious wishes such as "Spend a full moon", "Prosperity in the fifth century", "Grow old together" and "All the best" to convey good wishes to the newlyweds. This kind of jar is called "carved jar". Daughter's wine was originally rice wine. Because it was put into a jar of carved wine, it had a new name-carved wine. This carved wine has been stored for about 20 years, and when it is unsealed, it smells strange. "Flower carving" has become synonymous with Shaoxing children. Even today, if you have a daughter, people will jokingly call it "celebrating the flowers in the door." In Shaoxing's wedding wine custom, in addition to "daughter wine", there were many names such as "wedding wine", "Geng wine" and "Nacai wine" in the old society, all of which were run by men and women themselves. "Engagement wine" is a key step in the whole marriage process, second only to marriage, and it is a prelude to a formal wedding. Today, in many places in Shaoxing, people still attach importance to engagement, holding banquets and meeting relatives and friends, so "engagement wine" is still an important wine custom.

When the newlyweds drink a glass of wine, they are very serious, because from now on, the newlyweds will live together through thick and thin, so this wine has special significance to life. Therefore, when the couples inside propose a toast, the noisy relatives and friends outside must hold their breath, keep quiet and not fight casually. This is another feature of Shaoxing wedding wine custom.