Intimate Wedding Lounge: Asian Weddings

Monday, July 06, 2009

Asian Weddings

Planning an Asian wedding can be just as difficult as planning any other wedding. Celebrating the right traditions with specific religious and cultural needs is often the most difficult part of the planning. Plan an Asian wedding precisely and with ease when you have the right information and a little time. This month I will discuss how to select Asian wedding favors, Asian-themed music, Asian-themed linens, Asian-themed centerpieces, and Asian-themed wedding cocktail hour. I will also share with you some of my favorite venues and vendors who specialize and cater to Asian weddings.

Below are four steps on planning an Asian wedding:

1. Decide on the food and music. Traditional Japanese wedding foods are red rice, sea bream, rice wine and kelp. However, the Chinese traditionally serve foods that are phonetic plays on words. For example, the Chinese word for apple is close to the expression "go safely." Fat choy sounds like "be prosperous." A Chinese menu might consist of apples, lotus seed, tea and seaweed. Weddings in the Korean culture serve noodles which are a symbol for "long life."

2. Choose the correct wedding traditions. Shinto weddings take place at a Shinto shrine or chapel and are held during the spring and fall. In this style of wedding, the bridegroom enters with the family of the bride. The bride and groom are seated in front of the priest and the families sit behind them in age order, and a go-between sits between them. Buddhist weddings are held in the temple. The ceremony includes prayer, the presentation of Buddhist rosaries, incense burning, the drink of the oath and the clapping of hands.

3. Choose the appropriate attire. In a Japanese wedding, the bride wears a quilted robe called a uchikake and an elaborately tied obi. The bride changes her outfit three to four times during the ceremony. The first outfit is white, which shows the bride is adopting the groom's family. Her head must be covered. The second outfit is a western-style wedding gown. Then she changes into a colorful kimono. The groom in a Japanese ceremony wears a white under kimono, a black kimono and haore cords. In Korea, the bride wears a delicate gown decorated with beads, flowers and tiny pendants. The man wears a hat for the first time on his wedding day.

4. Plan the reception. The reception is held in a different area than the wedding. The guests are seated first. The bride and groom, each with their go-betweens, then make their entrance. The go-betweens make short speeches and then introduce the groom and the bride to their new family's history.

Source: ehow.com

This month I will also discuss Chinese, Japanese and Korean wedding traditions. Indian wedding traditions will be discussed next month. I have always been intrigued by Asian wedding decor because of the exotic colors, the details of the wedding reception and of course the Asian traditions, but I'm not the only one, I'm learning that many non-Asian bride and grooms are using "Asian" themes for their wedding reception as well. Planning an Asian-themed wedding entails intricate details, dark colors, Asian-themed decorations, etc., which I will discuss in detail this month, but for now...

Happy Planning!