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Thread: Wedding customs and traditions

  1. #1
    Senior Member sniffles's Avatar
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    Default Wedding customs and traditions

    The thread about rings on the left middle finger made me think of this. I was watching a Chinese tv series called 'Our Marriage' recently, and I observed that when the couple in the story got married, they followed a lot of wedding traditions that I'm familiar with as a native-born American.

    The groom gave the bride a diamond engagement ring. The bride was shown trying on traditional Western-style white wedding gowns. She wore a white dress for the wedding, and the groom wore a dark suit. The only concessions I noticed to traditional Chinese wedding customs were that the groom had a red tie, the bride wore a red flower pinned to her dress, and the wedding location was decorated with red and pink balloons, paper lanterns and streamers.

    So I wondered how much Western wedding traditions are taking over from the traditions of other cultures. Does anyone have any stories to tell of weddings in other countries/cultures and whether they included any American-style traditions?
    你看这些云彩,聚了又散,散了又聚,人生离合也是一样。

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    Senior Member remember_Cedric's Avatar
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    I can share abit on Arab weddings. It's very traditional and involves a series of routine.

    The practice would vary slightly among the different dialect of Arabs.

    Arabic Weddings in arab language is called Farah ( فرح ).
    What can I say? I'm still standing! No weapon against me shall prosper! I am more than a conqueror!!!

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    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    Indian weddings seem pretty interesting and retaining of their culture. At least, the pictures seem to reveal a rich heritage far removed from Western customs.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
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    Traditional Chinese Wedding custom is really different though.

    3. There were six traditional marriage rites:
    a. Nia chia, Acceptance of marriage proposal from a man’s family to a female’s family via an intermediate, with the acceptance of a token i.e. goose.
    b. Wen Ming, The giving of the name and the particulars (birthdates etc) of the girl to the man’s family.
    c. Na Ji, Betrothal. Both sides have now entered into a marriage agreement with both parties holding the particulars of the others.
    d. Na Cheng, “Acceptance of evidence” involving exchange of gifts between both sides.
    e. Qing Qi, “Asking for the date”, a suitable time and date was fixed for the wedding with the help of a professional and consent from the bride’s family.
    f. Ying Qi, “Receiving the bride”.

    From http://wuxiapedia.com/research/cultu...ural_potpourri

    Han Solo
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    Quote Originally Posted by bliss
    I think they're probably at the same level as or one level below Ah Qing, which is about the level of a 2nd or 3rd generation Quan Zhen disciple.
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    Senior Member remember_Cedric's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ View Post
    Indian weddings seem pretty interesting and retaining of their culture. At least, the pictures seem to reveal a rich heritage far removed from Western customs.
    Yes, and speaking of which, the interesting part comes when the bride and bridegroom play the "Hide-behind-coconut-tree tease".
    What can I say? I'm still standing! No weapon against me shall prosper! I am more than a conqueror!!!

    I don't care to sit by the window on an airplane. If I can't control it, why look?

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    Senior Member Ghaleon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ View Post
    Indian weddings seem pretty interesting and retaining of their culture. At least, the pictures seem to reveal a rich heritage far removed from Western customs.
    Hindu weddings are very different from the usual. some of it is actually done in the ancient language of sanskrit (which most Indians don't know). the clothing is really elaborate. for some of the weddings i dont think u can even drink wine. hindu's really take their weddings seriously. divorce is very frowned upon in their society. in north america isn't the divorce rate like 30-40%?
    Last edited by Ghaleon; 02-24-09 at 02:36 PM.

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    Senior Member sniffles's Avatar
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    I was just curious whether the way that wedding was shown on the tv show was anything like reality in China, or if people there still use some of the traditional elements like wearing red and bowing to the parents. Actually, I think the couple in the tv series bowed to the parents.

    I've seen some traditional Hindu weddings on tv programs about weddings. They can get very elaborate. It's especially amusing if they follow the tradition of having the bride's friends steal the groom's shoes and he has to pay to get them back.

    Americans also incorporate a lot of non-Western or non-traditional elements into weddings. People have hand-fasting ceremonies, or jump the broom. When the two people are from different cultures, sometimes they'll have two weddings, one traditional Western-style and one traditional to the non-Western culture. I saw a tv show where a woman of Indian ancestry got married one day wearing a formal white gown, and the next day had an elaborate Hindu ceremony where she wore a silk sari and had henna painted on her hands and feet.

    I know I refer to my husband but we're not technically married. If we ever actually get married, we want to wed wearing pirate garb.
    你看这些云彩,聚了又散,散了又聚,人生离合也是一样。

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    Senior Member Ghaleon's Avatar
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    Yeah Hindu weddings are very beautiful... i have some hindu friends who got married. What's a "pirate" wedding?

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    Senior Member sniffles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ganryu View Post
    Yeah Hindu weddings are very beautiful... i have some hindu friends who got married. What's a "pirate" wedding?
    We just want to get married wearing pirate clothing. Otherwise the wedding will probably be fairly traditional.
    你看这些云彩,聚了又散,散了又聚,人生离合也是一样。

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    Senior Member remember_Cedric's Avatar
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    Hindu weddings, can be very traditional and takes the need to make it all glamourous and fun. I think the custom is still strongly practice in India itself. Then again, it also depends on the different dialect group that defines the marriage is held. That's what I was told by a South Indian friend.

    The Arabs practice very traditional style of weddings too. These group of folks hold their pride of race very strongly, I feel. Some of their weddings can make you feel like it's the whole country's business lol. The mega reunion of families and families, is very heartwarming.
    What can I say? I'm still standing! No weapon against me shall prosper! I am more than a conqueror!!!

    I don't care to sit by the window on an airplane. If I can't control it, why look?

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    Senior Member Ghaleon's Avatar
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    traditionally, aren't the Arab people desert dwellers? so are some of their traditional weddings desert themed? I've been reading Dune a lot and i always imagine an Arab wedding being desert themed.

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    Senior Member remember_Cedric's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ganryu View Post
    traditionally, aren't the Arab people desert dwellers? so are some of their traditional weddings desert themed? I've been reading Dune a lot and i always imagine an Arab wedding being desert themed.
    lol no not necessarily. In fact they're family-at-heart people and prefer to stick at a spot. Your impression of Arab = Ali baba, is too strong.
    Last edited by remember_Cedric; 02-25-09 at 07:55 PM.
    What can I say? I'm still standing! No weapon against me shall prosper! I am more than a conqueror!!!

    I don't care to sit by the window on an airplane. If I can't control it, why look?

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    Senior Member Ghaleon's Avatar
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    i like the desert culture, it's very mystical. I remember from the history books that the saracens were able to defeat the mongolian horde. who's Ali baba?

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    Senior Member Candide's Avatar
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    Which culture dictates that the bride's family pay for everything? That one's my favourite.
    "Anything you can't say NO to is your MASTER, and you are its SLAVE."

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    Senior Member remember_Cedric's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ganryu View Post
    i like the desert culture, it's very mystical. I remember from the history books that the saracens were able to defeat the mongolian horde. who's Ali baba?
    Ali Baba is a fictional character from the Arabian side. You can drop Robin Hood and read Ali Baba. He has more interesting adventure stories.
    What can I say? I'm still standing! No weapon against me shall prosper! I am more than a conqueror!!!

    I don't care to sit by the window on an airplane. If I can't control it, why look?

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    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Candide View Post
    Which culture dictates that the bride's family pay for everything? That one's my favourite.
    Indian, with their dowry system.
    Last edited by Han Solo; 02-26-09 at 07:14 PM. Reason: wrong spelling
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    Quote Originally Posted by bliss
    I think they're probably at the same level as or one level below Ah Qing, which is about the level of a 2nd or 3rd generation Quan Zhen disciple.
    Troll Control

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    Senior Member sniffles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Han Solo View Post
    Indian, with their dowry system.
    I think there are several cultures that practice some form of dowry system. It's still customary in the US and western Europe for the bride's family to pay the cost of the wedding. Dowry is a word of Anglo-European origin: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dowry

    There's some info about dowries here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry
    Last edited by Han Solo; 02-26-09 at 07:14 PM. Reason: Corrected Han solo's wrong spelling :)
    你看这些云彩,聚了又散,散了又聚,人生离合也是一样。

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    Senior Member odbayarb2000's Avatar
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    In Kazakhstan, groom usually kidnaps the bride. Though it's an ancient tradition, it's still practiced to this date. There are possible misfortunes like groom could lose his bride in the way back home from raid to another kidnapper.
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    Senior Member Lucre's Avatar
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    Hmm....well my elder brother has gotten married last year, but I guess there weren't much 'chinese traditions' retained, except for the tea ceremony. was a church wedding in the morning, with luncheon at the church reception after the ceremony. in the afternoon the 'tea ceremony' took place, the only time to introduce the 'new groom and bride' to the relatives of both sides of the family (and alot of redpacket and jewellery-collecting session ^o^) the evening was the wedding banquet ~ though the entire decoration was like black, white and green. (looked nothing like a traditional chinese wedding, where red is favored because of the meaning it stood for, whilst black is usually avoided.)

    My brother wore a white rose corsage, my parents and the bride's parents and her younger brother wore pink rose corsages, and the best men had pink orchid corsages. Don't see any red involved at all. The church was also decorated with predominantly white roses.
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    Senior Member pemberly's Avatar
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    i'm going to the running of the brides in a few weeks for my friend.

    http://www.filenesbasement.com/bridal.php
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