How Weddings Differ in Vietnam and America

People in all countries of the world celebrate their important events like birthdays, graduations, weddings, and funerals, etc. However, the ways we have celebrations are different from cultures to cultures and countries to countries. Thus, Vietnamese and Americans have different celebrations for their events, and people in those countries celebrate their weddings differently in preparations, costumes, and ceremonies.

One of the important differences between the ways weddings are celebrated by Vietnamese and Americans is preparation. According to the culture, Vietnamese wedding first begins by choosing a date and time for the marriage ceremony which is matched to both bride’s and groom’s ages in the oriental zodiac. For example, I am married to a man who was born in the year of the cat, and I was born in the year of the pig. We therefore are two of three matched ages including pig, cat, and goat, so the best time for our wedding is the time of goat. Moreover, before the wedding day, the groom’s family would make a trip to the bride’s home to inform the best date for the wedding ceremony. After wedding date was informed, bride and groom start sending invitations to their guests. Vietnamese wedding uses lunar calendar for the ceremony and invitations for their guests at the wedding parties, even though people in Vietnam use both western and lunar calendars. On the other hand, Americans prepare their weddings by the most favorable day for both bride and groom which mostly happen on the weekend. Many American brides also have bridal showers before their weddings. For example, my next door neighbor in America had a bridal shower about more than one month before her wedding. After that, she and her fiancé started sending in...

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...church, a courthouse, or a wedding venue. Both bride and groom exchange wedding rings and kiss before the witnesses and their families. Flowers are thrown at the newlyweds when they leave the place of ceremony. The banquet party happens in a restaurant where the bride’s and groom’s families, their relatives, and guests are sharing their joy and celebration. Dancing in the party is the loveliest part of the American wedding culture and happens at every American wedding. In addition, at the end of my husband’s coworker wedding party, I saw the guests enjoyed dancing happily around the newlyweds until late in the night to share the joy of happiness to the newlyweds.

All those people of Vietnam and America celebrate their wedding events, but the way celebrations are differences include in planning, dresses, and observances besides the similarities in those areas.