The Chinese Wedding Culture - Part 1: Chinese Tea Ceremony

The Chinese wedding tea ceremony begins when the groom's visit to the bride. The brides often have a few girl friends at the house who will tease the groom with tests and games before handing over the bride. This tradition is symbolic of the bride's family's love and their unwillingness for their daughter to leave the family & journey of life & marriage has to go through bitter, spicy, sour and finally sweet.

The girls will barter with the groom who must beg and bribe the girls with small gifts or red envelopes stuffed with money are handed over in exchange for the bride. The denomination has to be an even number. Once the groom is granted permission into the house, he gets to see his bride, lift her veil, and kiss her!

Before leaving her home, the bride and groom bow before the bride’s parents, a sign of appreciation and thanks to the parent. The tea must be made by a very lucky lady. When the bride leaves her home, the lucky lady will hold a red umbrella over her head, meaning "raise the bark, spread the leaves." This "lucky lady" should be someone who is blessed with a good marriage, healthy children and husband and living parents.Other relatives will scatter rice, red bean and green bean in front of her. The red umbrella protects the bride from evil spirit, and the rice and beans are to attract the attention of the gold chicken.

Then, they head to the groom’s house. In the past, the bride was picked up from her home and taken to the groom’s home in a sedan chair with trumpets blaring to announce her arrival. Today, most brides arrive in a car.

Once at the groom’s home, the bride and groom bow to heaven and earth in front of the groom’s family’s home altar or at a local temple. Then, the couple bows before the groom’s parents before bowing to each other. The bride must change into a traditional Chinese wedding outfit to serve tea to the groom's family. The tea must be made with longans (aka "dragon eyes") and dates to symbolize fertility and male offspring (the Chinese still have strong beliefs about the importance of bearing male children to keep the family going). 

When the bride serves tea to her new family, both the groom and bride are given red envelopes with money and sometimes even gold jewelry, which the bride must put on immediately. Acceptance of the tea is confirmation that the family has welcomed the bride into the groom’s family.