It's June - the time for confetti, blushing bridges and the exchange of wedding vows.  June is not the traditional month for Chinese weddings - that comes during the Mid-Autumn festival in the fall.  Still, many nuptials do take place during the warm summer months. And, like western weddings, there are many special traditions associated with the Chinese wedding ceremony. 

Many cultures have unique wedding traditions.  A gate of honor for the newly married couple to walk through - made from pine branches - is customary at a Danish wedding. The formal signing of a marriage contract or Ketubbah is the first step on the path toward a Jewish wedding. Traditionally given to the bride for safekeeping, the Ketubbah outlines the rights and obligations of both parties.  Meanwhile, African weddings often feature a broom jumping ceremony.  This tradition dates back to the days of slavery, when slaves weren't legally permitted to marry and had to come up with other means of signifying their union.  Jumping over the broom symbolizes sweeping away the old and welcoming the new.  It customarily takes place either after the minister pronounces the couple married or at the reception.    

Many of the customs associated with modern day western weddings - from the bridal veil to the honeymoon - also go back several centuries.  One such custom is the wedding cake, which dates back to Roman times.  At the end of the marriage ceremony, the cake was broken over the bride's head as a symbol of fertility.  Guests then eagerly took pieces of the crumbs for themselves, hoping they would bring good luck.  In Anglo-Saxon times, wedding feasts included baskets of crackers, which the guests took home and distributed to the poor. 

During medieval times, it became common for the happy couple to exchange a kiss while leaning over a number of buns or cakes that were piled high on a table.  Their ability to do so was considered a symbol of future prosperity.  At some point an anonymous baker cleverly decided to amass the pile into one large cake, and the modern day wedding cake was born.   

As you may have guessed, Chinese weddings are loaded with ritual.  In the 5th to 3rd centuries B.C., guides such as The Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial laid out the rites that were considered to be an essential part of any wedding.  There were a number of rituals to follow, from the marriage proposal to the preparation of the bridal bed.  On the wedding day itself, the bride underwent a special hairdressing ritual, bathing herself in scented water to get rid of any evil spirits.  Three days after the ceremony, she returned home for a final visit with her family before beginning her married life.  She brought several gifts, including a roasted pig, and often stayed for several days. 

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