Top Sydney Wedding Celebrant for Chinese or Japanese Couples
Multicultural Weddings ►
Chinese Weddings & Wedding Rituals
In civil wedding in Sydney with Nitza, Sydney Marriage Celebrant
Chinese & Japanese couples, please note:
Top Sydney Celebrant, specializing in Multicultural weddings, with respect & knowledge of Chinese & Japanese cultures
and all the Chinese and Japanese wedding rituals & customs.
Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony, Japanese wedding Sake drinking ceremony
Chinese wedding tea ceremony
The most significant ceremony in the modern Chinese wedding
I will include the Chinese tea ceremony in my civil wedding if the couple wishes to do so. The bride is formally introduced to the groom's family through the Chinese wedding tea ceremony. It will usually take place on the wedding day when most of the family members are present. In very traditional family, the young couple is required to serve tea whilst kneeling down. Most modern family only requires them to bow while serving tea. The bride will stand to the right of the groom. The male elder being served will sit facing the bride. The female elder will sit facing the groom. The bride and groom will bow to the elders and greet them by their formal title in the family while serving them tea.
After drinking the tea, the tea ceremony gifts for the bride and groom will be presented on the serving plate.
The gifts are usually in the form of red packets (red envelopes with money)or jewellery.
Some relatives prefer the bride and groom to wear the jewellery gifts immediately and will even put it on for them.
With generous relatives, you may look like a Christmas tree after the tea ceremony! Unmarried elder siblings will not present the couple with gifts after drinking the tea. The bride and groom will present gifts to the younger siblings and cousins who serve them tea. The bride's parents will pay for the tea set which is part of the dowry. The Chinese wedding tea set is a meaningful keepsake of the wedding. The bride will use it again when her own daughter gets married in the future.The order of service is usually parents, grandparents, grand-uncles & grand-aunties, uncles & aunties, elder brothers & sisters, elder cousins
However, there are also families that prefer to serve the grandparents tea before the parents. Within each generation, dad's relatives are served before mum's relatives.
Lets' talk: 0418453865
nitza.lowenstein@gmail.com
Japanese Civil Wedding & Rituals
in civil wedding in Sydney
with Sydney Celebrant Nitza Lowenstein
I welcome Japanese tourists coming to Australia especially to get married, in a simple civil ceremony.
I can include the Sake Ceremony if you wish.
Nitza Lowenstein is a celebrant with Deep sympathy, respect & understanding of: All Cultures, Religions & nationalities
Bring Japanese Rituals in your Marriage ceremony,
With
Your celebrant in Sydney, Nitza Lowenstein
I performed Japanese Style civil weddings for many couples.
In multicultural Australia I have couples from every religions and every continent.
I have been much honored to meet many Japanese brides and grooms and assist them with a beautiful ceremony that includes their customs and rituals.
Very often they will go back to Japan for a traditional wedding reception with their extended families. Never the less, they are very excited & proud to include their traditions in our civil wedding in Sydney I also explain the rituals during the ceremony so everyone understands.
Japanese Wedding Sake Drinking Tradition
(San-san-kudo)
With Sydney Wedding Celebrant, Nitza Lowenstein
The sharing of sake is one of the oldest traditional Japanese wedding ceremonial customs dating back to the 8th century.
The sharing or toast of sake symbolizes a formal bond between the bride and groom. The exquisite miniature sized sake set consists of three flat cups escalating in size. Starting with the smallest of the three cups, the groom will lead taking three sips and then the bride. They will then proceed to the middle size and then to the large. At the conclusion of the sake toast ceremony, both families drink a cup of sake to signify not only the union of the bride and groom but the unity of two families. This beautiful custom is called San San Ku Do, which means "three sets of three sips equals nine". During the ceremony, the groom is seen to drink something from a small cup – this is actually sake!
The sake is used to ‘seal’ the marriage.
Sake drinking dates back to the samurai period where common people used to drink sake in a Shinto ritual to form a bond with the deities.
This was always done in a group where it is thought that this sharing of sake ritual united people and created a bond of friendship between them with God as the helper. Why three times? Three is considered a lucky number in Buddhism and nine means triple happiness.
Clapping Twice
After the san-san-kudo, everyone stands and claps twice.
This is similar to when you clap twice in a Shinto shrine before you make a prayer which is said to bring the attention of the deities and ward off any evil spirits.
Harai-gushi
The strips of white paper attached to stick that the priest waves around three times in the ceremony is called the harai-gushi and is a form of purification for the room and the participants.
The actual Shinto ceremony is attended by close family of the bride and groom with the reception being held after.
Bridal Headdress
There are two types of bridal headdress’ that can be worn:
tsuno-kakushi and wataboshi.
These headdress’ date back to 14th century period, where upper-class women used to cover their heads when outside the home.
The bride is also wearing a wig and heavy white make-up which again plays a role in covering her features from public view.