What's a Chinese wedding like? 

other than religious weddings, the "point" where couples are considered married in traditional Chinese wedding is when they bow three times in sequence. First bow is to pay respect to heaven and Earth, second bow paying respect to elders, and last bow is to pay respect to each other "husband and wife". So, after the third bow they're considered married. Nowadays, how much people respect this tradition is anywhere in between.

Fuzhou style wedding to be exact. China is so diverse tho..

This was pretty similar to my husband and I’s wedding. He is from Yunnan, China. There were a few differences; e.g., my husband had to wash my feet after finding my shoes and carry me back to his home (my feet couldn’t touch the ground)! We also had a ceremony at the dinner, during this we bowed to each other’s parents and called them mom and dad. I think this is the point where my husband considered us married. Anyways, it would have been great to have seen this video before I got married because I had no idea what I was in for until it actually happened! 😳

Wait whaat? I'm from Bulgaria and I have to say that 99% of the Chinese wedding traditions are exactly the same as the ones we have here. Pretty mind-blowing!

The traditional specific point are "3 bows" : first bow the the ancestor, second bow to the parents, third bow to each other". after this three bows, they are considered as offical couple.

Omggg, I never knew Chinese weddings are soooooo similar to Indian weddings 😍 We also have the shoe hiding custom but here the bridesmaids hide the shoes of the groom while they are taking the wedding vows in the temple and then they demand huge amounts of money to give them their shoes back. So many such customs and traditions in India with lots of food, drinking and dancing here 🙈❤️ I don't think people are aware of how similar India and China are but the more I learn about China, the more similarities I see.

In Eastern and South Eastern Europe we also barricade the doors, play ridiculous games, bargain for money 😅 my cousin had to pay 300€ just to open the door and then they gave him the old uncle of the bride covered in a wedding veil 😂

Blondie, you’re officially married when you get that marriage license in China. The wedding banquet is just festivity and public announcement.

During a chinese ceremony wedding, the specific point in time when the bribe and groom are officially married is when they bow to each other in front of the family.

I'm from Hong Kong and the barricading part is so accurate and it's very fun. Not every time large sum of money are sent, it's more about having fun and making it difficult for the groom to get to the bride

Quite interesting. I like the concept of making the wedding difficult for the bride & groom so that they don’t want to divorce & do it again.The game part is a nice way to keep all the guests involved in the festivities.

Most of the southeast asian chinese or their ancestor used to be came from Fujian province and eastern Guangdong province so yes the dish had similarity with southeast asianee.

In Bulgaria we have exacrly the same tradition of not letting the groom in if he doesn't pay enough

I always find Chinese weddings more fun the closer you are to the groom or the bride, but I think this is probably universal. Like, if you're a distant cousin or just an acquaintance, these wedding dinners are just long, long hours of sitting and watching people play these games with the groom and bride. The weddings I've been to (friends & family from Hong Kong) are more or less the same. The groom has to get to the bride via "challenges" and then it involves a banquet. The ones I've been to as a young child are at huge restaurants of about 20 so odd tables. I remember one time it was the wedding of a VERY distant cousin's daughter of my father's. We were seat so far away from the bride and groom that we honestly had no idea what was going on the whole night. No one in our table knew each other - so it was just kind of awkward and mostly just about eating. TBF this is just bad planning and getting bragging rights of having hosted a huge banquet, mostly.

It’s the same in Eastern Europe with the barricades for the grooms 😂

I got married around the same time in Canada with just a short ceremony. Thanks for sharing! It almost feels like I shared the excitement of the wedding with this nice couple.

This is amazing! :000 As a Chinese American, a Chinese person born in America, I also want to marry in accordance to Chinese tradition! :)

@12:21: Hey! They actually *toasted you as "to the great beauty"* , but you must've been *too humble with the subtitles* , simply calling yourself "Blondie"! Such humility from a great beauty!

There isn't necessarily so much a "ceremony" that solidifies their marriage but "festivities" whose purpose is to announce the marriage to friends and relatives and celebrate with them. Tons of different wedding traditions exist and people can even follow the same line of tradition differently anyway.

The specific time of the wedding in my hometown that is serving tea to both the bride and bridegroom's parents. When their parents take the tea from them that means the family accepts this marriage.

Girl~ I'm holding up my wedding until you're back in China and I'm inviting you (of course all cost included) cuz I'll be doing a real deal traditional Chinese wedding which is the Tang/Song Dynasty style, from the ceremony to clothing and everything!

A little different to what I'm used to seeing. The bride and groom normally serve cups of tea whilst kneeling on cushions in front of seated elders (most senior first). After drinking the tea the elders (usually a couple) would say a few congratulatory best wishes and then give them either red packets or gold jewellery or both. The other seated guests normally just receive a simple toast from the couple when they go round thanking each table. There's no right or wrong routine...so a big YAY to variation! Oh, and I hope those who drunk weren't the ones who had to drive seven hours! :D

As a Chinese I enjoy this channel very much!! Seeing mom and dad experiencing all the Chinese food with you, it’s very nice and I love it!!

I think the Baitang(拜堂) part in a Chinese wedding or Han style wedding is, to some degree, an equivalent to the "I do" part in a Western wedding.

14:12 Actually traditionally, the new couple would go through the ceremony called 拜堂 "Bai Tang" which involves "performing formal bows by bridegroom and bride in old custom; worship of the heaven and earth by the bridegroom and the bride at their wedding" there are three bows, first bow to the heaven and earth; second, bow to the parents; third, bow to each other. However, this goes varied in different families,or places.

14:50 古时候的specific point是拜堂，“一拜天地，二拜高堂，夫妻对拜，送入洞房”，完了就是正式夫妻了，所以古时候要抢婚就要抢在他们拜堂成为正式夫妻前😂😂

I've been to a Chinese wedding myself where there were extensive barricade activities before the groom can pick up the bride in the morning, including some uncomfortable moments such as the groomsmen having to split a spaghetti noodle using their mouths only. There were also tea ceremonies where the groom and the bride offer tea to the parents and other elders later in the morning or in early afternoon....

Thank you for sharing such a lovely wedding, traditions are so amazing!

I love how open you are to Chinese culture

Another awesome video Amy... absolutely love your personality and openness amongst welcoming strangers... great content too! Keep it up🙂

Being able to feel like I experienced this with you was amazing and beautiful. I’m so glad you had the opportunity to make this video. I never knew how Chinese people (or at least in that province) did their weddings

So interesting! Thank you Blondie and thank you to the couple for allowing us to attend their wedding! Wish them a very happy life ! (And Blondie, your earrings are so pretty ! )

I don't know why...but I just love watching these wedding videos...can't get enough of them😂

Traditionally, the couple becomes officially married after the 'tea ceremony' has taken place at the bride's house. This event takes place immediately after the groom has secured the bride from her room and together they serve Chinese tea to the elders of the bride's family -- from the ancestors' alter down to her cousins who are older than her. When the couple serves tea they will bow & address the elders by their seniority in the family as an *initiation ceremony for the groom into the family & as a mark of respect,* & in return receive blessings, jewelry in gold (optional & usually to the bride from her grandparents, parents, uncles and aunties) and ang pows (red packets). A similar tea ceremony is held at the groom's family house immediately after the bride has "entered the door." Only those who are older than the groom gets the honor, too. The dinner receptions are held as 'witnesses' of the marriage.

You are such a good video maker! Just binge-watched your videos for the past 3 hours

Blonde is one of the only china youtubers that do not turn their focus to criticizing China’s politics

3:52, 15:44 and more, is called huaquan (划拳), it's a "fist guessing" game that tests your sobriety and fast response after alcohol drinking, basically if you lose one guess, you are "punished" to drink one cup, or, one sip, depending on the rules.

Thank you for sharing that with us. I have never been to a wedding in China so it's an eye opener. That was a lot of fun to watch but you must had a better time live. Thanks.

This was your best video! So much fun and you edited this perfectly. Thanks

You're Lucky Blondie. I wish the couple a Happy Life! (Hidding shoes, jackets and blocking entrance are practised in Nepal, too. Only cash can win hearts! haha)

oh my, you can feel their joy from the screen!

Thank you for the efforts made in sharing. It does varies. It is indeed amazing. In SEAsian countries, maybe it has standardised. It is now about serving 10 courses wedding dinners. And yes, guests are served Chinese tea, for non-alcoholic drinkers, too. Cheers

this is so interesting! i'm part of the chinese diaspora (Singaporean Chinese) and our weddings are pretty much almost all Western-style but most still retain the gatecrashing and the hongbaos!!

As a Chinese, my understanding is that the couple became officially married when they signed papers and registered at the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The wedding feasts were just ceremonies, mostly for announcing the marriage to relatives, friends and neighbors.

It seems way more fun than western wedding :D !

I love the Hello kitties & the priceless look on your face when you got to taste firecrackers. Only you😀I luv it💕💕💕💕

Blocking the door and hiding the shoes are both traditions to show that the family of the bride's sorrows against the leaving of the bride. And the groom needs to prove that he is willing to do anything to show his love.

Awesome! Thanks for your video introducing Chinese traditional wedding in details!

I got to go to four weddings during my time in China. One was in Inner Mongolia and it was traditional and had similar tests as shown. One was a girl who worked for me and my girlfriend and I only went to feast for that one which was in Pingsha Town Zhuhai. I also went to one in Zhuhai for a couple from work. His father was a party official so it was an expensive event of thirteen courses one of which was a suckling pig on each table. The other was a more Western style in Hong Kong. Great memories. Unfortunately I missed the wedding i wanted to go to which was my nephews wedding in DaQing which was a couple of days after I arrived in China so I went to his Western wedding here in Australia instead.

To both Amy and whoever is interested, As a part of courtesy, people tend to avoid dressing something that is too spotlighted in the wedding such as red in order to not take away attention from the bride. Traditionally white colour would be an absolute taboo for wedding because that’s only wore for funerals, but due to impact of European culture for the last two hundred years now this has become less and less sensitive

Hi, I am from Malaysia Chinese ethnic. More or less the same culture in China however, to be more specific a couple is married is where both have served a tea ceremony towards their parents and elderly relatives from both sides.

u are amazing and the energy u bring in your vlog is outstanding

Lovely bride and groom. May they bear many children and good life of health and prosperity.

Hey Amy.. I have to said your channel has to be one of my favourite find so far!!! I can totally binge on it! Love your videos and the topics you are doing. Can I ask how your interest in China started?

Fan of your personality, fitness, optimism, cheerness etc etc. Keep going

When I got married in the USA, my sister-in-law was trying to play those traditional Chinese wedding games on me. At that time I got no idea what was going on because I left China in very young age and grew up in Hong Kong then USA. It is nice to know such light hearted games during the wedding.

Now I understand why Chinese weddings are so culturally important, cost so much and are planned over a very long time. Must be exhausting though for everyone concerned. Thanks for making everything so personal and interesting 🙌🙌

Our weddings are some way, similar to the Chinese. In our custom, you are declare married before the wedding even started. Most of what's going on during the ceremony was just a challenge for the husband to declare his true love to his wife. The 200+ bows to the bride's side of the family was to accept and respect every single body, and it pretty much seals the deal. It's not easy, and certainly very costly. Most men wouldn't wanna go through it twice. Traditional couples are set for life!

I love these longer videos ^^

The bride and groom are such a lovely couple!

What an amazing experience you had being there! I wish I could experience these kinds of cultural experiences... The closest I have experienced to a cultural shock like that was my friends wedding.It wasn't an asian wedding, but there was a Japanese woman there. I spoke a few words of japanese so I talked with her for a while, then to my surprise, the bride had hired a Taiko band because she knew my friend was big into Japan. So we watched the show, and after that, we went and talked with them, in Japanese as much as possible of course. That was so much fun, even though it was only a small part of the night!

中国太大了，十里不同俗。每个村都有独特的习俗。随着社会的进步。趋同越来越接近。但还是每个地方不一样的东西。

I really enjoyed this video! Thanks! (I'm a fan of Andong! Came here via your trivia stream!)

I have a Chinese wedding to go for the first time next week. Excited for this experience.

Hong konger here: We do the same. But here they don't need to bow to anyone. Just both parents and serve them tea. And i must say, if they celebrated a traditional chinese wedding. Wearing white is a total no go, because we only wear complet white on funerals.

15:20 it depend on where is wedding take place, if its a 5 star hotel. you may need wearing formal dressing. as I can see this wedding is more family style.

Firstly a couple registers their marriage at a government office. They receive a health check and are considered officially married after all the paperwork is signed and you pay the fee of 19 RMB (8 years ago in Shenzhen). You receive your officially stamped marriage certificates. The government office provide a red rose for the woman and the couple can take a photo in front of the official red wall (no wedding ceremony takes place). Even though the couple are now officially married by Chinese law the celebration will take place later with the families at the wedding. The couple will then go on to their big wedding plans at whatever date is convenient for them.

This looks so much fun!

It’s all thanks to you that i get to witness these amazing things. Man this was so cute and beautiful. I hope to go to china one day too

Sometimes its decided when the groom ask their brides parents for her hand and dowry ks negotiated. They usually have a tea and bowing ceremony to honour the parents, ancestors, heaven and earth (gods) This all depends on how the family's customs like.

Your new makeup is beautiful:)

This is an awesome video..! Thanks so much for posting it.

I'm from southwest China. Almost every wedding custom mentioned in the video is similar with ours, We do those too. 😃😃

天啊，越来越喜欢你的频道了。竟然可以这么深入了解中国民间文化。

it was amazing to watch this! Thanks!

Wow this wedding must have been so fun !!!

In a Cantonese wedding, the groom picks up the bride at her maternal home. The Bowing and ceremonies takes place at home not at the restaurant.

@8:30: I guess that was *literally the groom's "bride price" (聘礼)!* Now, *I wonder what the dowry (嫁妆) is going to be!* If anybody else also speaks *Vietnamese* , you might also know that while our *word for "bride price" is the same (sính lễ)* , but for some reason there's a *different word for "dowry" (hồi môn / 回门).*

very thankful you showed some cultural elements of my province!

Chinese weddings are so EXPENSIVE! 2 dinners, 2 dresses. You should definitely give the couple a huge hongbao to help them cover their expenses. Malaysian Chinese wedding traditions are similar. When my cousins got married they played that game where the groom has to give enough hongbao to meet the bride too.

Welcome to Fujian, welcome to Fuzhou, I hope here can bring you good memories

You are so beautiful . And I love the way you immerse in chinese culture .

love your earrings!

You are so accepted and respected by both side .. and you speak great Chinese ... Great video, and now I know about China Wedding . I am Indonesia Chinese, and yes, the wedding here for Indonesia Chinese not far different.. it is always White, Red, Red envelopes, Bowing to elders ....

I was visiting my friend’s place today and my friend was trying to show my boyfriend (British) how Chinese traditional wedding looks like, so he randomly researches it and found your video. It really shocked me because I am from FUDING, we are now living in Dubai. It's so amazing to see such a coincidence. Got the goosebumps. 😆

I’m almost fall in love with you 😍😍😍when I watching your videos in China 🇨🇳 you look real.. humble..pretty..not ego & pretending...which is i really like about you.. i wish I can travel around the world together with you amy...

Great video blondie so happy

Beautiful Amy as always

Gurl, let me tell you, you've saved my bacon! My partner's cousin is getting married in three weeks and this is legit the video my white ass needed. (It's also my first time meeting his family, eep!) . Thank you so much! xx

I do have to disagree with Shady, because you absolutely can't go to a wedding in white in rural China. It is what you wear when attending a traditional Chinese funeral.

Usually in different part of China we all have diffenrent wedding culture, thank you for sharing this video which surprised me a lot, I have never seen a lot of things even I am Chinese. But as I know, most Chinese couple will sign the marriage certificate before the wedding party.

The wedding was so cool

Amy, I was meant to be going to China this year after my final exams but due to the recent outbreak I am scared I won’t be able to go, what has the news in China been saying about this virus, will they be able to contain it and get rid of it? I am really worried for everyone’s health as well! Please stay safe Amy! Always wear a mask and try and limit your exposure outside

can someone gave me an explanation of what are the traditions in a Hebei style wedding? or a North Chinese wedding? The only videos I find about Chinese weddings are always from the South

Attended a wedding in a Shanxi village hick town. The pre-wedding game is much more intense as the groom's side are actually barging through the door to get to the bride and we're actually pushing against the door and poking sticks out the crack to keep the groom out. After they barge in, it's followed by an intense negotiation of red packets for the location of the shoes while the groom's men searched the room. Good times

That looks like so much fun

You have been digging so deep ,fuding is actually a county level city

You look gorgeous in that dress

I’ve been to four weddings in Harbin China. Definitely something to see. Also been to three funerals. You have to get up early for them. A lot of funerals are like five or 6 o’clock in the morning.

I love your video so much.Thank you for showing diverse Chinese culture to us.😜