Chinese Wedding Dresses

-- Chinese Wedding Dresses --

Chinese weddings are very rich in tradition!

While many of the customs are no longer followed today, a few have survived and are part of modern weddings..

A Little History

In America and so many other countries, the bride is the center of attention. The bride’s family handles the expenses. It is essentially the bride’s day. The Chinese are different, however.

The wedding is the groom’s day. His family handles the festivities and when the wedding ceremony is over, the bride becomes part of the groom’s family.

In ancient times, following this tradition, the bride may never expect to see her family again, so days before the wedding she would go into seclusion with her family and friends to say good-bye. This custom is no longer practiced. The wedding couple takes care of the wedding expenses themselves and the bride is not expected to favor one family over the other.

Common Beliefs

The Chinese do still believe in arranged marriages and the brides are chosen by the groom’s family. Rich families will look for a bride who can handle the household’s finances and bear sons to inherit the family wealth. Poor families will look for a bride who can work hard in the fields and bear sons to help work on the farm. Conversely, girls from rich families will be sought by other rich families and poor girls will likely marry into poor families.

The Wedding Date

Now that the bride has been chosen, it’s time to set the wedding date. This is not as easy of a task as you may think. Everything has to be in their favor – the day a lucky one. The numbers of the month and day have to be lucky and the moon and stars aligned. Most families choose the wedding date according to the lunar calendar.

-- Chinese Wedding Dresses --

The Dress

When it comes to wedding attire, the bride will dress according to the region she is from.

Traditional dress in northern china is usually a one-piece gown called a Qi Pao. It is embroidered with elaborate gold and silver designs.

Southern China, however, will usually call for a two-piece gown called a Qun Gua, Kwa or Cheongsam. These are also elaborately adorned with golden phoenix and dragons. The phoenix and the dragon are chosen as embroidered accents because they are symbols of the balance between male and female power.

Color

Regardless of what region a Chinese bride is from, the color red is a large part of the entire wedding process. The color is chosen because it is considered good luck – a strong color to keep away evil spirits.

Ancient Chinese custom required the bride to wear a piece of red cloth as a veil to completely cover her face as part of the wedding attire. Newlyweds would see each other’s face for the first time only on their wedding night.

The Chinese bride will wear three dresses on her special day. The first is the traditional white dress with a veil, which is worn during the ceremony. The second dress is the traditional red Chinese wedding dress and this is worn throughout the wedding banquet. The third is the bride’s going away dress and she changes into this just before leaving the banquet.

On the wedding day, both the bride’s and the groom’s houses are decorated in red. The groom will send a carriage to bring the bride to his home for the ceremony. The carriage will also be decorated.

-- Chinese Wedding Dresses --