Cultural Differences between Chinese and Western Weddings

1 First of all, the pre-wedding ceremony. Traditional Chinese wedding customs are "three books and six rituals", "three worship nine kowtow" these rituals. The "three books" are the book of engagement, the book of rites, and the book of welcome. The "Six Rites" are the "Nacai", the "Naji", the "Naji", the "Naji", the "Naji", the "Invitation", and the "Welcome". In Western countries, the engagement is announced in advance, people will play a song, in China, before the wedding are lit firecrackers.

2 The second is the form of wedding banquet. Chinese people like to hold wedding banquets on lively occasions, accompanied by the sound of firecrackers and music throughout. Chinese wedding is very grand and lively, in ancient times, people will be in their own homes or restaurants set up banquets to feast on friends and relatives as a couple of witness. Nowadays, Chinese couples usually invite their friends and relatives to a restaurant or a hotel. And they will make a big show to emphasize the grand and lively atmosphere of the wedding. But in the West, people's weddings are usually held in churches or other quiet places, and also organized, unlike Chinese weddings as lively. Western weddings are mainly to highlight the solemnity and holiness, mainly the pursuit of romantic and real. The more popular forms of banquets in Western society are cocktail parties and balls.

3 The third is the wedding ceremony. In China, the bride is usually received by the welcoming party to the groom's home, where the ceremony is held. The traditional wedding ceremony also has an important rule: worship, that is, the bride and groom to the parents and elders to offer tea, and kowtow to show their gratitude. They are not considered husband and wife until they have formally paid their respects; in Western countries, weddings are more often held in churches. The bride is accompanied by her father to the church, where a pastor or priest presides over the wedding, and the wedding is held according to the established procedures. With the Chinese "worship hall into marriage" corresponds to the Western church on the priest read the wedding speech.

4 Fourth is the wedding dress. Chinese dress emphasizes uniformity rather than individuality, and red in China symbolizes joy, happiness, and good fortune. In the traditional wedding ceremony, the bride and groom are required to wear red dresses, which is the meaning of wishing that the couple's life after marriage will be red-hot. And the dragon and phoenix motifs on the dresses are also essential, according to Chinese tradition the dragon symbolizes the male and the wind symbolizes the female both of which portend good fortune. Red wedding cards are pasted everywhere in the house, red couplets are pasted on both sides of the door, and most of the items in the new house are red. Despite the fact that wedding dresses are now worn under western influence, it is still necessary to change into red after the welcome and the start of the wedding banquet. In traditional Chinese marriages, both the bride and groom wear red dresses, and no Chinese wedding can be separated from red, and are accustomed to using bright colors to set the mood. It also indicates the joyfulness of the wedding. The bride wears a cape with gold and silver jewelry; the groom wears a red robe and a red bowler hat. In modern society, the bride usually wears a red dress or white wedding dress, while the groom usually wears a tuxedo or robe. Western dress emphasizes romantic purity and individuality, as white symbolizes good fortune, peace, goodwill, wealth and virginity in Western culture. The Western bride is in a crisp white wedding dress or gown, while Sina is in a straight suit. The bride's bouquet and the surroundings are decorated in white. White represents the fidelity to the groom and their own holiness, white symbol of celebration, white is also a symbol of wealth and prosperity, in the West, white represents the meaning of very good, until now, the idea of the aristocracy disappeared after the white wedding dress has become an ordinary bride dress.

5 Western floats are generally shiny, and will tie some balloons in the car, but the Chinese floats are generally decorated with roses. The Chinese wedding officiant is also different, the Western wedding officiant is usually a priest or judge, but China is neither. And in the wedding gift, in China are sent money, rarely send gifts, while in the West guests have to send the bride and groom gifts.