Hefei people have always attached importance to marriage and regarded it as a lifelong event. The marriage of young men and women in Hefei in the old society was bound by feudal ethics, and most of them were arranged or controlled by their parents. Before you get married, you must introduce yourself through the matchmaker or "matchmaker", and pay attention to the fact that the matchmaker is married. As the saying goes, "There is no cloud or rain in the sky, and there is no marriage on the ground." After the agreement is concluded, the wedding date can be agreed, commonly known as "engagement" and "engagement". The specific way is: the man's family fetes the matchmaker and the woman's parents, drinks engagement wine and eats engagement rice, and negotiates the specific wedding date and the bride price required by the woman's family through the matchmaker. The so-called "men plan money, women ask for a gift." After everything is settled, the man writes the wedding date as a formal post, together with the bride price, and sends it to the woman's home through the matchmaker, which is called "placing an order", also called "every other day order", "red order" and "giving a month order", so that the woman's home can prepare the dowry as scheduled and marry the woman at the right time.
Hefei traditional engagement procedure
1, ancestor worship. Before leaving, the man offered sacrifices to his ancestors and prayed for a happy marriage.
2. let's go. On the day of engagement, the man took a bride price (six or twelve copies) and set off for the woman's house with a cannon. People who go to the woman's house should
Older relatives and friends of the man (preferably boys); Parents and groom-to-be plus 2, ***6, 8. The number of people/limousines must be even, but 4 or 8 people should be avoided. Generally, the number of limousines is 6. Both parties should pay attention to the time of wearing the ring (usually before 1 1 o'clock in the morning), and the man should arrive one hour in advance.
3. Welcome. When the man hired a motorcade to go about 100 meters in front of the woman's house, she fired a shot and the woman responded. The matchmaker gets off first, and others are next; Finally, the groom was invited out by the younger generation of the woman's family, and the groom gave the younger generation a red envelope (opening ceremony).
4. introduction The man's relatives and friends filed into the woman's house in turn, and the matchmaker formally introduced the relatives and friends of both sides; Introduce the man to the woman first.
5. Zheng Na (engaged). The man's staff carried Chunsheng (now known as the red wooden box) into the woman's living room as a bride price, and the woman accepted the bride price and rewarded it with a red envelope (a gift from the porter/driver) to show the bride price one by one. The matchmaker sends gifts such as dowry and gold ornaments to the woman's parents, and the woman's relatives and friends collect the dowry and display the offerings on the altar.
6. Serve sweet tea. The elder of the woman asks the relative of the man to sit down according to his age, and the groom comes last. At this time, the bride was led out of the hall by a blessed woman, holding sweet tea for the man's guests one by one. The number of cups is the same as the number of people drinking tea, neither more nor less. The matchmaker reads auspicious words and wishes.
7. Press the teacup. Later, the blessed woman will lead the bride out of the hall with a tea tray to collect the teacups. The man's relatives and friends will put red envelopes and teacups (red envelopes are rolled up and put into cups) on the tea tray.
8. Drop your fingers. Ring: gold ring, bronze ring (taking its sound, meaning concentric. You can also use a diamond ring instead. At that time, the blessed woman will lead the bride into the hall. In the witness of parents and relatives of both parties, the bride-to-be sits on the high chair in the hall facing outward, with her feet on the low chair (facing inward if it is supernumerary). Wear a ring, first the bride's middle finger and then the groom's middle finger (generally only to the second knuckle, both men and women are left-handed), and the matchmaker reads auspicious words. The groom gives official money (red envelopes) to the bride, and the matchmaker reads auspicious words. The prospective mother-in-law put a necklace on the bride as a gift. After putting on the engagement ring, the matchmaker suggested that both parties change their names and address them one by one.
9. Sacrifice ancestors. Ask the bride's uncle to light candles and burn incense. The woman should give her mother-in-law a "candle ceremony" (provided by the man) and two pairs of "incense", one for her parents and four for the bride-to-be. The matchmaker reads auspicious words, and then the woman's parents worship the gods and ancestors, suing for marriage and blessing. When inserting incense, you must not insert it once. (taboo: the possibility of bigamy)
Women's Return in Hefei's Traditional Engagement Ceremony
The gift that the woman sends back to the man is called "rebirth" (also called "pressing life"), and the man's "dowry" is taken out and put in the empty life. The woman returned a part of the "employment gift" sent by the man. If the divorce fee or only a small refund, the woman will leave a red note, and the matchmaker will take it from the woman's parents to the man's parents.
What should I do after the traditional engagement formalities in Hefei are completed?
After the traditional engagement formalities in Hefei, the woman gave a banquet.
At the end of the dinner, the man's parents gave "table pressing ceremony" and "sister table" red envelopes.
The woman should also prepare chicken legs with red paper and attach red envelopes to the young man.
Young women hold washbasin water (with towels in it) to wash their hands for the man's visitors (the man gives a red envelope for "holding washbasin water gift"), which can be omitted if entertaining guests in the restaurant.
The man also gave red envelopes to all those who had helped him as a thank-you gift.
At the end of the banquet, don't say goodbye when the man leaves, so as not to breed complications.
The prospective father-in-law gave the new son-in-law a "face gift" (omitted). The prospective mother-in-law gives the new wife a "face gift" (omitted).
About the cake delivery. The woman will distribute the engagement wedding cake to relatives and friends, and the bride is not allowed to eat her own wedding cake.