Here are some taboos for the Chinese wedding.

CHINESE WEDDING TABOOS
To avoid clashing of luck, for three months before and after their wedding, the bride and groom will not

• attend a funeral or wake;
• attend a wedding;
• visit a lady who is in confinement (i.e within one month of giving birth).

If one of the parents passes away, the bride or groom has to be in mourning, the wedding will either be conducted within 100 days of the death, or postponed till 3 years (1000 days) after the death.( time period may varies according to different dialect group)

It’s also recommended that no one sleeps or sits on the bridal bed after its installation and blessing for fertility. If however, the groom needs to sleep on it before the wedding he should be accompanied by a young boy preferably born in the year of the dragon. Leaving one side of the bridal bed empty is considered a curse on the health of the couple.

If the bride meets another bride on the wedding day their luck may clash. The matchmakers or the best men from the two bridal parties will exchange red packets on the couple’s behalf to neutralize the effect of the clash. And if the bride meet with a funeral wake, they must not look at the deceased photos and re-route immediately.

OTHER INTERESTING CHINESE TABOOS

• Persons who born under horoscopes that clash on the wedding day are not invited as bridesmaids and bestmen, or invited to the wedding day activities. However, they can attend the wedding banquet.
• To avoid clashing with the bride’s luck, everyone in the groom’s home will hide to avoid the bride when the couple enters the groom’s home for the first time. They will return to the living room when the couple has entered the bridal room.
• For the bride to be obedience to the groom, the groom had to kick the door/wheel of the vehicle before he fetches the bride from the wedding vehicle.
• Pregnant women are also encouraged not to attend weddings to avoid clash of luck.
• Persons in mourning are not to attend any wedding celebrations within 100 days of the death as a form of respect for the dead.
• If a roast pig is included as part of the bride’s home visit gifts, be careful not to break the ears or tails accidentally. An imperfect roast pig implies that the bride is not a virgin.
• Even numbers are used for joyous events. All red packets should contain even numbered amounts.
• White, blue, green are mourning colors and should not be used for wedding decorations.
• Pale yellow or white chrysanthemums floral arrangements are used at funerals or at visits to ancestral graves and should not be used for weddings.
• To decide the gender of your first child, have child the gender of your choice to row and jump on the couple bed on wedding day.
• In the past, Chinese believed that the bride and groom should not meet each other the day before the wedding. However, this taboo is no longer strictly observed.
• The bride and groom will usually meet up on the day before the wedding to finalize their wedding arrangements and collect the bridal gowns, suits and flowers, etc.
• The taboo is now observed in a modified manner; the bride and groom will not sleep under the same roof the night before the wedding.