Auspicious items in traditional marriage customs

After the marriage certificate is completed, both men and women have legally established a legal relationship between husband and wife. However, in China, this is only the first step in marriage. According to the traditional practice, the parents of the active party should choose an auspicious day to get married, and the matchmaker should inform the other party to get married. It's called "choosing good luck" and "sending the day".

Generally speaking, you can consult an astrologer or fortune teller to choose a suitable date, or you can choose a date by reading an encyclopedia (nicknamed "almanac", commonly known as "family calendar" and traditionally called "imperial calendar"). Those with a high level of education can do their own calculations. It is generally believed that as long as the "Liuhe" corresponds, it is a good day. Such as "Bing Yin Ri".

After the date is selected, the two sides will send out wedding invitations and invite relatives and friends to attend the wedding. Invitations are usually given by married people or their parents to relatives and friends in person. After receiving the invitation to the wedding banquet, relatives and friends should generally come to congratulate them, except that they can only give gifts under special circumstances and cannot attend. Before you congratulate, you should prepare gifts. The number of gifts depends on the relationship between everyone and the host, the depth of friendship, and my financial conditions. Generally, people who send men pay cash and "wrap" it with red paper. Generally, congratulations should be written on the packaging label.

The envelope contains cash, and the paper money should be folded one by one, with the bottom facing up. The words "Congratulations to XXX" or "Congratulations to XXX" are written on the bottom of the paper money, which is called "hanging inside" for the convenience of household registration. Gifts for women are mostly in kind, but they can also be replaced by red envelopes, which is called "marriage assistance". Most furniture is boxes, cabinets, beds, quilts, tableware, clothes and so on. Gifts for women are often given by relatives and friends as soon as they hear the news, without waiting for an invitation. Because the woman's parents should decide the scale of "wedding wine" according to the number of gifts given.