Multicultural & Asian Wedding Traditions

Persian weddings tend to have between 300 – 1000 guests and it’s common for the groom’s family to pay for the venue. Below are a couple of pre-wedding rituals that happen before Persian ceremonies take place.

Tabagh Baroon

The Tabagh Baroon is a party that takes place a couple of days before the wedding day. The bride’s parents will supply some necessary items for the couple’s lives such as furniture or an oven. The couple’s relatives will come together at the couple’s house before the wedding.

Esfand

Before the ceremony takes place, an incense stick may be burned before the bride walks down the aisle to unwelcome negative energy and to deter anything causing harm. It may even be circled around the bride a couple of times.

Chinese weddings take anywhere between four hours and three days. They usually involve auspicious symbols such as mandarin ducks, double happiness symbols, gold pig necklaces and dragon and phoenix wax candles. It is common for the couple to go to a fortune teller to determine a wedding date. The bride’s birthday is usually taken into account while finding a wedding date for them.

Betrothal Gifts

This is where the groom gifts presents such as tea leaves, gold jewellery, lotus seeds or brandy to the bride’s family as an act of prosperity and good fortune. It is a tradition that the bride’s parents will them return half of the gifts as an acceptance of the proposal if they are willing to have a good relationship with the groom’s family.

Au Chuang

Two or three days prior to the wedding, a female relative will make the couple’s bed with new red bedding and pillows with mixed dried fruits and nuts to symbolise a sweet and long marriage together.

Hair Combing Ceremony

The hair-combing ceremony takes place the night before the wedding and symbolises the couple entering adulthood. It also includes the couple showering with pomelo leaves to cleanse off the bad spirits, before dressing in red clothes and slippers.

Door Games

The groom usually arrives at the bride’s house with his groomsmen to collect the bride. However, first, he has to get through a range of challenges set by the bridesmaids before he can see the bride. She will be locked in her room until the bridesmaids are happy with the groom’s answers. They may even ask him for money! The final task for the groom once he can see the bride, is to find one of her shoes.

At Woodhall Manor, some couples choose to incorporate the door games into their wedding day, after the Chinese tea ceremony.

Other Chinese wedding traditions include the bride tossing a fan behind her, before heading to the groom’s house (to get rid of past stubbornness and bad tempers). Walking under a red umbrella whenever the bride is outside will ensure fertility in the marriage. It is also customary for guests to present the couple with red envelopes containing money in even numbers, containing the number eight for prosperity.

Traditionally Jewish weddings take place on Sunday’s. They will only rarely take place on Friday, but never on Saturday as weddings aren’t allowed on the Jewish Sabbath. They will also take place later on in the day than many British weddings, as the reception tends to be a dinner dance event.

The bride and groom will also separate from one another for a few days so that they can have time apart.

Henna Party

The bride will gather her close female family members and friends for a henna party. At the henna party the bride’s mother and mother-in-law will feed the bride delicacies such as sugar, honey and almonds.

Mikvah

The next tradition is where the bride takes a ritual bath, followed by a small party. She will get gifted soaps and perfumes from her bridal party and family members.

Fasting

The couple may fast from the night before the wedding until they have their first glass of wine together under the chuppah.

Plate Smashing

The bride and groom’s mothers smash a plate together to accept the couple’s marriage before the marriage ceremony takes place.

Tisch

The groom will have a pre-wedding drink (usually whisky) before the ceremony, along with some singing and dancing with his party. Woodhall Manor has a Rock Bar that tends to be a popular space for a groom’s den!

Before a Sikh wedding, there are several pre-wedding traditions that usually take place before the ceremony. Take a look at some of the traditions below, as well as our tips for planning your perfect Asian wedding.

Karahi Chadana

Karahi Chadana is one of the wedding traditions that takes place five days before the wedding. This is where a huge wok (karahi) is used to cook a meal, before being served to any guests visiting the house, up until the wedding day itself.

Warna

The Warna is where money is waved clockwise around the couple’s heads, before being dropped onto them. The money is to be donated to charity to get rid of any evil spirits that may surround the couple.

Gaana

The Gaana is a red thread tied on the bride’s left wrist, and the groom’s right wrist, to ward off any negativity.

Mehndi

The Mehndi is where the friends and family of the bride join together to decorate their hands with small intricate designs of henna. It enables family to come together and bond, laugh and dance. Henna is said to help regulate body temperatures and to relieve stress and headaches. This usually takes place a couple of days before the ceremony.

Choora Ceremony

The night before the wedding day, the Choora Ceremony happens. The bride’s uncles will bless some bangles in a tray of milk and water in front of her. They will then take turns putting the bangles on the bride until she has two full sets. A bangle with a coconut-shaped decoration is then placed on afterward.

The bride will then have a silk shawl placed over her shoulders as she is presented with jewellery, before everyone drinks milk together to end the ceremony.

In the past, couples have chosen to book a multiple-day wedding at Woodhall Manor, to enable them to have their Mehndi or Choora Ceremony at the venue the day or two before the wedding.

Sehra Bandi

The Father of the groom will tie the groom’s turban before he leaves for the wedding ceremony. He will also present the groom with a sword to carry. The sister will then tie the sehra, which is made of golden ribbons and pearls, covering the groom’s face.

Soorma and Kalgi

The final pre-wedding tradition is where the groom’s sister-in-law, places a Surma (dot) on the side of the groom’s head to defend him against negativity. She will then stand in front of the door demanding gifts, before letting him out of the house to attend his wedding.