Red is a color of luck, wealth, love and happiness, and as we choose a white color for a wedding dress, Chinese brides wear a red wedding gown. The more wedding gowns the bride changes during the wedding night, the more prominent the family is. Normally, a Chinese bride has three to four dresses. Although a white color is associated with death, you can often find Chinese woman, dressed in a traditional Western white dress, which shows a profound influence of the Western culture on Chinese. Wouldn't you agree that all uncommon to us looks more beautiful? While we admire Chinese traditions of clothes' design, they prefer ours.If you are looking for a Chinese wedding gown, perhaps, a primary thing you think of, what designs are traditional and what ones are modern. A Chinese wedding gown is normally of red color, often embroidered with many designs, made of gold or silver thread. The most typical designs are of dragon and phoenix, which show the union of a male and a female.
The style of a Chinese wedding gown often emphasizes the origins of the family. Most of the dresses worn these days arise from the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty of China, and are called Qi Pao. Areas that are more northern would wear a Qi Pao, while brides from southern China usually wear a two-piece dress, named Qun Gua, Kwa or Cheongsam, also masterfully adorned with golden phoenix and dragon. There are also other styles of dresses in China, arising from the diverse cultures, inhabiting China and including Mongolian, Taiwanese, Tibetian and various minority groups that still find their homes in this hospitable country. The red characteristic has been a part of the ceremonies since probably the first introduction of weddings during the Warring States period. A red veil has also been a natural part of the bride's costume to cover her face during the wedding ceremony. Newlyweds would see each other's face for the first time at their wedding night.
We have gradually come to the most important question where to buy an authentic Chinese wedding dress for your Chinese wedding. The options are many, ranging from searching your nearby Chinese shops and browsing the Internet resources. If you prefer the second variant, here are some websites that offer Chinese wedding gown collections.
• ChinaBridal.com operates exclusively on the Internet. It is not only good for search of a particular Chinese wedding gown, but also a one-stop wedding planning resource center. You can find here all the information, services and products for your Chinese wedding. The products' shipping is available both: inside and outside the US.
• Bitablue.com is an online Chinoiserie boutique, owned by Bravochina L.L.C., introducing to you all the possible variety of Chinese wedding dresses. Here you can find handmade embroidery silk dresses, blue floral silk dresses, handmade sequin embroidery pure silk velvet dresses and many other options from traditional to mandarin style exclusive models.
• www.orienttouch.com carries a large collection of oriental style clothing, clothing accessories, gifts and home decor items, shipping to all major countries with most buyers from the USA, Canada, UK, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, France, Australia and Japan.
Definitely, there are more variants worth considering; however, when purchasing your Chinese wedding gown, do not forget that in a modern Chinese wedding, the bride changes dresses at least three times. The first time it is a white western style wedding gown to symbolize the bride's purity. You will wear it to the church ceremony if you have one, if not, this is the dress you will wear to ascend the bridal car on the wedding day. The second dress is a red traditional Chinese Choengsam dress, also known as Qi Pao or Qun Kwa. You will wear this traditional Chinese dress to greet guests at the reception site and at the banquet. The third dress is an evening gown, when you see off the guests at the end of the wedding. Preserve traditions to make your Chinese wedding truly Chinese!
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