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What comes next is to choose a good day to hold wedding. It is very important in Chinese culture. A wedding, being such an important day in a person's life, has to be held on a day which symbolizes goodness. People will choose best day based on Chinese Lunar calendar, or on any festival days.
The wedding ceremony A formal Chinese wedding requires bridegroom to pick up bride at bride's home after respectfully greeted parents-in-law to be. The couple-to-be will then go to bridegroom's home, where bride will greet her parents-in-law to be, or to banquet location. If they choose to go to bridegroom's home, young couple will have to greet parents-in-law to be with a cup of tea each and parents will return daughter-in-law to be with a red packet of money inside. Similar to western culture, bride and bridegroom will be accompanied by bridesmaids and best men and they are usually still non-married.
One very important procedure is banquet. All relatives and friends will be invited and they will wish new couple with all best. At banquet, newly wed has to drink half glass of wine for a pair of glasses linked by a ribbon. After that newly wed has to cross-hand and drink other half of wine. It is believed that after this ceremony newly wed will love each other more dearly.
In some parts of China, fish served in banquet should not be eaten totally. The head, tail and whole skeleton of fish should be left untouched so as to symbolize a good start and end of a marriage.
After banquet, friends of new couple will usually continue night by deliberately disturbing new couple with a few games. Games will include different quests for some difficult performances or questions. Unfortunately to newly wed that these games usually last till very late in night!
However in modern days, many young people try to skip most of these rituals or ceremonies. They do that either because they think that new generations should not be confined by these old traditions, or some do so just because of economical reasons of trying not to spend as much money as possible.
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