Passion Parties
Weddings Taiwanese Style
The ultimate girl’s night in
by Jessie Liu (Chieh Liu in Chinese) Taipei, Taiwan
Perfect for bachelorette parties
A few summers ago, I had the pleasure of attending my uncle’s wedding in Taiwan. I want to share the differences and similarities between a traditional Taiwanese Wedding and a Western wedding. On the wedding day, the Taiwanese bride will dress up first thing in the morning and wait for the groom to arrive at her house. By the time he arrives everybody starts to get emotional, especially the bride’s family as it feels like their daughter is going to join another family. In Taiwan, the tradition is that the bride and groom will have to get down on their knees to show their respect to their parents. The groom has to ask the bride’s parents if he can bring their daughter home. Which is just part of the tradition, as the groom already has the permission and is just showing respect in front of the entire family and letting the family know that the daughter will always be taken care of. The parents in return will give the groom sweet dumpling soup. This shows that the bride’s parents wish them a happy and successful marriage. After the whole family has lunch together, the groom and the bride get into the same car and as they start to drive everybody claps their hands similar to a Western Wedding. Unlike a Western Wedding, they shoot fireworks. Remember, the wedding hasn’t even started yet! The wedding usually starts at night and is generally held in a nice hotel or a restaurant. When the wedding starts, you will see both sets of parents standing on the stage. The groom stands in the middle of the hall waiting for the father to bring the bride in. The wedding music starts playing, the father gently gives the bride’s hand to the groom. The music keeps playing until the couple reaches the stage. Then comes the most important part of the wedding. Both sets of parents will say nice words to their children and then the minister will marry them.
Wickedly fun but tastefully done is passion e s u a c e B l thing! u f r e d n o aw
519-685-1381 www.thepassionateromantic.com
Once this is complete the couple help each other put on their rings. Then comes the first kiss of their marriage, everybody claps and shouts. Then the lights start going down and the wedding dinner begins. Normally, there will be ten different dishes which represent that the marriage will be beautiful and perfect. While everybody enjoys their food, the music will play and everything is dark. The couple then show pictures of themselves and say a few words to their families. Throughout the wedding day, the bride changes into three different dresses. The first one is a white dress and is worn when she walks down the aisle. When everybody is eating, the bride changes to another dress for the toast. The dress is a Chinese style and much more slimming fit and often red. In Taiwan, both sets of parents and the new couple have to go to every table and toast everybody at the wedding. Then it’s party time! At the end, the bride changes into a third dress which is a more comfortable fitting dress and is yellow to represent luck for all the guests and wedding party. The immediate families and the new couple will stand outside the door and say good-bye and give everybody wedding candy, to share the luck and happiness with everyone! It’s an honor to share my Taiwanese wedding story with everybody. Congratulations to every beautiful couple. Wishing you a wonderful journey as you build your new life together. p