Compare And Contrast Essay, Research Paper
Comparing Weddings of two cultures
Weddings are part of every culture throughout the world. It is natural for a person to grow up, get marry, and start a family. However there are significant differences between weddings of every culture. People in Vietnam emphasize wedding more on customs and traditions. It usually takes more time in Vietnam than in United States to prepare for a wedding. Comparing to the casual wedding in United States, wedding in Vietnam are more complex, especially the ceremony and the banquet. The ceremony is usually a combination of the western and eastern style. The eastern style ceremony includes traditional Vietnamese elements and is much more complex than the western style. So the couples usually start to prepare their wedding six months to a year ahead of time. Vietnamese emphasize wedding on customs and traditions. It is important for them to marry on an auspicious day and, if possible, at an auspicious hour.
When a couple decides to get married, both sides of the family will meet together. First, they will decide on the amount of money that the groom should pay for the bride’s wedding preparation. Then they will pick the wedding day by looking through the Chinese lunar calendar and the astrological charts, which shows the days that are suitable for the wedding and will bring them luck. In contrast to Vietnamese, Americans are not superstitions when it comes to choosing the wedding date. They will emphasize on practicality throughout the wedding preparation. The bride’s family usually pays for the whole wedding. In addition, Vietnamese will prepare both western and eastern style-wedding gowns. The bride usually wears the eastern style-wedding gown at the wedding banquet. It is a robe of red brocade or satin richly embroidered in gold thread and sequins. American, on the other hand, will choose only one kind of wedding gown.
Vietnamese wedding and American wedding also differ in ceremony. Besides the church ceremony, the traditional tea ceremony is also important to the Vietnamese. This tradition is often observed after the church ceremony in the main sitting room at the home of the groom’s parents. The bride would “kowtow” to the groom’s parents the groom greets the bride’s parents. The bride then serves tea to the groom’s father and mother. In return, the groom’s parents give her a valuable gift, such as a piece of jewelry. It is a symbol of acceptance into the family. Then the bride will pour tea and bow to the groom’s siblings, starting with the eldest brother and his spouse. Each of the groom siblings must drink the tea and offer a gift back to the bride.
One simple way for an American couple to get married is to go to Las Vegas, spend $25 and have a “simple marriage”. This process takes less than 2 hours. In contrast to Vietnamese, Americans have the simple church ceremony. The Vietnamese usually regard the wedding banquet as the most important part of the wedding besides the church and tea ceremony. Both sides of the family will be pleased to see more guests to come and more tables to serve the guest. Unlike Americans, they will never serve buffet or refreshment as the wedding banquet. Americans will usually hold the banquet at large hotels. On the other hand, the Vietnamese will usually held the banquet at a large Vietnamese restaurant. Every meal that is going to serve the guest will be named a special lucky name. Before the banquet start, the guests will come early to the restaurant and associate with other guests. The bride might change into the traditional Vietnamese wedding outfit when greeting guests. The guest will play jokes on both bride and groom. For instance, they will ask the groom to identify the bride by touching the girl s hands without looking at their face.
Unlike Vietnamese, American is more respectful to the wedding. They will bless both the bride and the groom and will not play jokes on them. In conclusion, we can see how the Vietnamese emphasize more on the traditions and customs when it comes to weddings. The Americans, on the other hand, focuses more on practicality. Although American weddings are casual but Vietnamese weddings are consider being more respectful.