Chinese New Years (Red, Orange and Yellow) Wedding

Chinese New Year is an important traditional Chinese holiday. The source of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Traditionally, the festival was a time to honor deities as well as ancestors. Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors (Chinese New Year).

Chinese New Year

A couple doesn't have to be Chinese to get married on Chinese New Year or to have a Chinese New Year themed wedding. Chinese culture is rich in many countries including Canada and the United State. Some people believe getting married in certain years are good luck based on the Chinese Zodiac Calendar so why not get married on the New Year.

The Flowers:
Flowers don't always match the theme. Some brides choose to go with white flowers to match the dress, some brides choose to go with flowers that their husband-to-be is known to buy them. A bride's favourite flour is always a good choice for the bouquet and most flowers come in a variety of colours.

Calla Lilies and Roses

The Dress:
Chinese weddings usually include dress changes. Changing dresses can occur up to 30 times but traditionally in modern day bride's have 2-4 different dresses. Usually there is a dress for the tea ceremony, the wedding ceremony and than one or more for the reception. With this wedding being a Chinese New Year Wedding, it is up to the couple what they decide to do. Some may choose to not do the tea ceremony at all and just do a traditional wedding ceremony for them and a reception. Any combination is fine and completely up to the couple. Whatever they choose the bride and plan her dresses around that.

A Dress for the Wedding Tea Ceremony

Your attire for the tea ceremony doesn’t have to be elaborate, but should be simple and appropriate out of respect for your new in-laws as you serve them tea. In the past, brides from Hong Kong chose to wear a hong gua, or matching silken jacket and skirt outfit with rich embroidery. For modern brides, almost any type of simple, formal outfit or traditional Chinese dress is appropriate to wear to your tea ceremony.

Typically, this set of clothes is worn throughout the tea ceremony, after which the bride changes into her next set of clothes before returning to her family home.

A Dress for the Wedding Ceremony

There are two options for your wedding ceremony dress: a white western-style wedding gown and veil or a traditional red Chinese qipao. These days, most brides choose to wear the white western-style gown during the wedding ceremony as, often, a western church ceremony is also incorporated into the Chinese wedding events. Even if not, many Chinese brides enjoy donning a fancy white gown for part of their wedding festivities, and may also do a photo shoot in the gown.

A Dress (or several) for the Wedding Reception

It is during the wedding reception that most Chinese brides choose to wear a Chinese qipao, a long red silken gown, usually embroidered with a phoenix to symbolize the female partner in marriage. The qipao is traditionally a red floor-length sheath dress with a high collar and short sleeves, and usually the bride will change into her qipao sometime after the wedding ceremony but before the reception.

The Invitations:
The perfect invitations for this wedding is appropriately called Happy Chinese New Year by Zazzle. It highlights Chinese Lanterns and it has all the colour of the wedding theme. Another great option would be to get invitations that involve what year it would be (i.e 2014 is the year of the horse).

The Ceremony:
The Ceremony all depends on the couple. Just because a couple is using the theme of Chinese New Years, doesn't mean they have to have a Chinese Ceremony, or be Chinese for that matter. For example, a Catholic couple could very simply get married in their church and still have the Chinese New Year Theme for their reception.

The Reception:
The perfect place for a wedding reception would be a cozy Chinese restaurant in Chinatown but to rent out a whole restaurant would get quite costly and may not be a possibility. Depending on when and where in the world the wedding is taking place, a nice outdoor wedding would be a great option, with hanging Chinese lanterns hanging around a tent would be a perfect setting for a reception. However because Chinese New Year is usually in January or February it may be too cold to have an outdoor wedding. Other option is taking a plan hall and decorating it in a Chinese style. Hanging Lanterns are usually associated with Chinese New Year along with dragons, fire and bright colours.

The Food:
Most catering companies can make Chinese food for a wedding, if that's what the couple wants and with this theme it is a good choice. Chinese food is also easy to make at home, so depending on the couples budget and what they want, having a reception outside (depending on the weather, location and time of year), or in a place that is special to them would be perfectly fine. Sometimes when the couple doesn't have a big budget for food, they have close family members and friends make dishes to serve buffet style. This may seem like a lot of trouble but the family can cook while the bride and groom take their pictures and serving them in warm trays would be a great way to do things. Chinese buffets usually have a lot of options, the main ones (in a North American Buffet) being Won Ton Soup, Egg Rolls, Fried Rice, Spare Ribs, Chicken Balls (and/or Sweet and Sour Chicken).

The Cake:
The cake for this wedding would depend on what style the couple is going with. If they choose to highlight the dragon part of the New Year celebration  the red cake below would be the best choice, if they want just a New Year themed cake the yellow one would be a better choice. Flavour wise a nice choice would be a Cream Cheese Chocolate Layer Cake.

The Centerpieces:
One of the most beautiful Centerpiece/Table Setting I've ever seen revolving around the Chinese New Year theme was in a blog by Mary Grayson the Author of Bellissimo. This table theme is set with a black theme also but it is a great good and option for a Chinese New Year Wedding. The table this is set on is black which is an unusual colour for a table so a white or black table cloth over any regular table may be a better alternative. The decoration for the table is relatively simple and yet it looks amazing. A red table runner down the middle highlights the centerpieces which are simply tall hurricanes with lemons inside topped off but mini Chinese Lanterns. The runner can be decorated however the couple wants.. in the picture below there are branched and Chinese looking coins but any decoration that matched the theme would be perfectly fine.

Chinese New Year Table

The Guest Favours:
The perfect guest favour for this wedding has to be Fortune Cookies in a Take Out Style Box or these Yellow Take Out Style Boxes would fit the theme well also (and a nice Personalized Label would finish the look off). Most groceries stores now sell Fortune Cookies by the container and they shouldn't be hard to find. Another option is to make them at home (recipe here).

Thank You Cards:
For most weddings, any Thank You Card will do. It doesn't have to match the invitation set or the theme even, it's just the thought that counts. Some couples choose to sent pictures from their wedding as Thank You Cards, which is a wonderful idea. While some choose to send personal messages in cards with a picture, also a great idea.

Thank You Cards