Wedding Traditions in Asia

Ethnic traditions are ways of infusing color and sparkle even for a regular festival. They bring more joy and delightfulness especially when these traditions and ethnicity are incorporated in a marriage function. Ethnic traditions in a wedding ceremony encourage the surroundings to become more intimate for the family and all their guests. In our country white has been the color that has been associated with wedding for generations. However, it is not the same in Asian countries. Most of the Asian countries have colorful weddings. For example, in China red color is associated with wedding ceremonies. All their clothes and the surrounding will tend to have a touch of red.

Red color is preferred for tablecloths, dishes and chopsticks. Red wine is also incorporated along with red napkins and towels. The decorators try to maintain a red glow about the entire surroundings and even the candles are red in color. This type of ethnic tradition brings more style and innovative ideas even for a formal procedure. Red is chosen as the color for representing wedding ceremonies because the color red symbolizes luck and merry. It is not compulsory that, only if there is a red on your wedding dress there is a touch of Chinese in your wedding. Wearing a traditional Chinese dress will also bring about that feel of Chinese noodles and Zong Zi dumplings in the wedding feast.

The flowers chosen for decoration can be red and all the bouquets can also be red. However, you can integrate several colors but take a precaution that the wedding ceremony does not have a touch of white all over. Though, white can be the color of the weddings in our country, it will be a very bad idea to select a traditional white Chinese dress. In China, white is the color worn for funerals. So avoid white as much as possible. The invitation cards, the clothing and the wallpapers used for decorations should never be plain white unless it's a funeral. Even red ink used on white paper is considered offensive as it implies death and should be never be used in a wedding ceremony. However, cream color can be used. A combination of gold on cream or red color streamer gives a rich feel and is used in most of the Chinese weddings. Chinese are strict with traditions and they have unflinching respect for their ancestors. They include a tea ceremony in one part of the wedding ceremony to honor their ancestors. This part of the wedding ceremony is a beautiful way of illuminating their social relations connecting the past, present and the future and it shows their respect for traditions and their steadfastness in upholding their traditions. These tea ceremonies are very educational and thought provoking for westerners and Chinese kids. Similarly, the Japanese have a sake sharing ceremony. In India, weddings are equally colorful and they apply "mehendi" or henna artistically on the hands and feet of the bride. It creates stains in the form of beautiful patterns that last for two or three weeks.