Chinese Wedding Superstitions and Traditions You Should Know

Choosing a wedding date is crucial for any wedding but for a Chinese wedding it is one of the most important steps. It is believed that specific months should be avoided when it comes to choosing a date. 

In the lunar calendar, March, July and September are considered unlucky months to have weddings. This is because those months have the Qingming Festival, the Ghost Festival and the Double Ninth Festival. 

All three of these festivals are related to death. As a result, these months are often avoided. In Chinese culture, leap months are considered the best months to have a wedding. 

Leap months are also known as 闰月 (rùn yuè), which means harvest and abundance.Those married in leap months are believed to have successful marriages and happy lives. 

The next lucky months for weddings will occur in February 2023 and June 2025 in the lunar calendar, or March 22-April 19, 2023 and July 25-August 22, 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. 

When choosing your exact wedding date, it is ideal to choose lucky numbers and to avoid unlucky numbers. Numbers have special implications in Chinese culture. 

For example, the number 2 is considered a good number because it means “double,” which translates to “double the joy.” The number 8 is the luckiest of numbers because it is similar to the pronunciation of the word “prosper” in Chinese.

Another lucky number is 9 because the pronunciation is the same as the Chinese word 久 (jiǔ) which means “long lasting.”  

In many modern weddings, decorations are chosen based on the theme — a beach theme, a rustic country theme, etc. But for Chinese weddings, there are more superstitions regarding different colors. 

Red is the most important color and a symbol for a happy marriage. Red tablecloths, red “double happiness” signs and red bedding for the couple are three common wedding decorations. Other lucky colors are purple, gold and pink!

Taboo colors are black and white. These colors are normally reserved for funerals and events that are related to death and ghosts. People believe using black and white would bring bad luck to the newlyweds. 

In Chinese culture, it is believed that wearing old shoes brings bad luck. This superstition was inherited from ancient times when arranged marriages were common. 

In ancient China, small feet were considered the standard of beauty. The matchmaker would show the bride’s shoes to the groom’s family to prove the woman’s beauty. 

If the family agreed to the marriage, the matchmaker would tell them the bride’s shoe size. The family would then make a new pair for the bride to wear on her wedding day. 

Many of these customs and superstitions may sound out of the ordinary to you, but they have made many happy, long lasting marriages!