The Beijing Olympic Games found people full of expectations for 2008, considered a lucky year in China because of the eight. It is also considered a good year for marriage when using the lunar calendar. This left hundreds of Chinese wanting to get married in 2008, truly a “Marriage Year”.
Chinese marriages traditionally include many must haves like dragon and phoenix jewelry, mandarin duck quilts, Double “Xi” cut outs on red paper, Chinese dates, chestnut and the marriage shoes.
Dragon- phoenix jewelry
On her special day, the bride wears a flowery beautiful dress with glimmering jewelry to enhance her beauty. Dragon-phoenix bangles are classical marriage jewelry and are a necessary part of a Chinese wedding. In the Chinese tradition, parents of the couple will give them a pair of Dragon-phoenix bangles which represent eternal love. Dragon- phoenix bangles consist of a lifelike dragon and phoenix carved onto gold bangles. Some of them have a dragon and phoenix on each bangle while others have a dragon on one bangle and phoenix on the other.
In recent years, dragon- phoenix rings have also become very popular in traditional marriages. The bridegroom wears the dragon one, while the bride gets the phoenix, symbolizing best wishes of staying together forever. As the saying goes “fingers connected with your hearts, to keep you holding hands forever.”
Mandarin duck quilt
Mandarin ducks, which our forefathers call “double ducks”, mate for life always staying together. They fly together, swim together, and rest together, if one of them dies the other will live alone for the rest of its life. Because of this they have become symbols of eternal love and marriage. Many wedding items and gifts have mandarin ducks pictured on them, such as quilts, pillows or clothes. The picture of a mandarin ducks and winter jasmine wishes the couple a safe and calm marriage, and the mandarin ducks swimming with water lilies wishes the couple a happy life.
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