A friend reminded me that in fact traditional weddings have an immense number of intensive rules. The couple has to kneel in front of their parents and bow repeatedly, they have to drink and eat some special foods together. If the bride is pregnant, she has to keep some bamboo thing over her head. They have to sit in special chairs, etc. There is a long list of complicated things.
It doesn't just start or stop there though. In tradition there are events before and after the wedding. It starts with going to a fortune teller to have them choose the best day for the wedding, and sometimes even decide if the couple is suitable to get married. There is also special decorations that must be put in their new house together, and even a ceremony performed for their new bed.
But as I said yesterday, pretty much none of this is done (well seeing the fortune teller to choose the day is still done). It has become too much of a hassle so instead weddings have become like what i mentioned yesterday. The thing I admire most about people is when they take from their traditions and their beliefs and experience and then decide what they feel is best for them. So I really like that in the case of weddings many people have decided what they feel is best for them. I'd love to see more traditions in Taiwan questioned, discussed and thought about. I always have no problem when somebody does something because they feel it's the best thing for them, but it does bother me when people do something just "because it's tradition" and blindly follow it.
Anyway I know I'm giving too much credit for people who decide to have a more western style wedding. I know it's just because traditional weddings are too strenuous and western style weddings are viewed as fun and extravagant. Score one for western movies i guess, the true cultural ambassadors.
Above is a picture of a wedding planner shop. It seems to be one of only a few which remain in the "wedding district." This was an area in the city that was full of shops for dresses, wedding planners, etc. A few years ago there was a fire in this area so that contributed to some of the shops going away. Also now a few wedding shops have their own attached reception hall, so they moved to places that have a bigger area.
Please stay tuned to a future photo of this area when it becomes full of law offices and is known as the "divorce district."
