Letters and Etiquette

• In Chinese, the same character is used for both "custom" and "gift."Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  The requests for marrying the bride and for the bride's and groom's birth dates, initial gifts for the bride's family, formal gifts for the bride's family, selecting the wedding date and the wedding day itself comprise the traditional Six Etiquette of a Chinese wedding. A formal letter accompanying the initial gifts confirms the betrothal; another, in the form of a gift list, is sent with the formal gifts; and a third, delivered to the bride's family at the wedding, brings the bride into the groom's family.
  
  

Clothing

• Some couples choose a more Western wedding look.Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Chinese brides wear red, a color in Chinese culture that symbolizes luck and fends off evil spirits. The traditional northern dress is one piece elaborately embroidered in gold and silver. In the south, the dress is in two pieces with intricate phoenixes and dragons representing male and female power. A red veil is optional. The groom wears a dark blue, embroidered dragon robe optionally overlaid with a black silk coat. His black hat has red tassels. The bridal party's outfits are also embroidered.
  
  

Preparations

• Married and unmarried women have different traditional hairstyles.Sky View/Digital Vision/Getty Images
  
  Because a wedding means the bride is leaving her family for that of the groom, preparations for both departure from one and arrival at the other are very involved. The bride retreats from the daily routine to mourn her departure with her friends. At the groom's house, a man or woman with a good marriage and healthy children installs the bridal bed. On the marriage day, the bride's hair is ritually styled, while the groom goes through a ceremony to place the cap on his head.
  
  

Procession

• The bride's sedan chair is elaborately decorated.China Photos/Getty Images News/Getty Images
  
  Once everything is prepared, the groom leads a procession from his house and comes to claim the bride from her parents' house. The bride's feet do not touch the ground -- she is carried on someone's back or in a sedan chair -- until she reaches her new home. The procession involves firecrackers and scattering rice to deter evil spirits, and grain or beans to symbolize fertility. Attendants travel with the bride, and the sedan chair is curtained to prevent the bride from glimpsing anything that might cause bad luck.
  
  

Ceremony

• A couple pays respect to their parents in the tea ceremony.Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  At the family alter, the bride and groom pay homage to Heaven, Earth, their family ancestors and the Kitchen God. They then kneel before one or both sets of parents, serving tea to them and to other elderly relatives. This is the equivalent of the exchange of vows in a Western wedding. The parents give their blessings and gifts to the couple, and a "Good Luck Woman" says auspicious phrases over the couple and parents to amuse and bless them.
  
  

After the Ceremony

• At her parents' home, the bride is treated as a guest, not family.Dynamic Graphics/Dynamic Graphics Group/Getty Images
  
  Immediately following the ceremony that weds the bride and groom, the couple are led to their nuptial chamber, where they are seated on the bed. They may share a drink of honey and wine. The room is open to visitors for up to three days. The parents throw individual wedding feasts, either on the wedding day or on following days. The bride is awoken early the next morning to honor the ancestors at dawn and be formally introduced to her husband's relations. On the third day, the couple visit the home of the bride's parents.