you may kiss your bride

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One of the most significant and happiest moments in one’s life is the wedding ceremony; it’s also a symbol of a union of two people’s hearts. Moreover, a wedding celebration will reflect the culture of each country. A typical Vietnamese wedding emphasizes on traditions and custom. It’s also more complex and takes more time to prepare than a casual United States wedding. Growing up in Vietnam and studying in the United States, I have observed some cultural variations in the wedding of two countries. Vietnamese and American wedding customs, Eastern wedding and Western wedding, are beautiful; however, since there are many differences between the two cultures, the wedding style is different as well.
A wedding gown is indispensable in any country wedding. At the Vietnamese wedding, members of both families often wear “Ao Dai”, the traditional dress. The newlyweds’ attire is more brilliant and brighter than everyone else’s. Their dresses always have embroidered golden dragon and phoenix which represent the groom and the bride. The bride’s dress is preferably in red color, which symbolizes happiness, lucky, and joy. The bride also wears a “khan dong”, a headdress (“Cultural Values”). These days, Vietnamese couples also wear western bridal gowns and black tuxedos in their wedding along with Vietnamese classic wedding gowns in traditional ceremonies. In contrast, American couples use black tuxedos for the groom and a very beautiful long wedding dress for the bride in their wedding. Most of the time people choose the dress in white and wear it with one white veil. The white color represents the innocence and purity. The white veil symbolizes virginity, and tradition dictates that brides do not wear it in a second marriage.
According to ...

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... dissimilarity in details. Nowadays, the wedding in Vietnam has changed due to the busy modern life, and influences of western culture. Vietnamese don’t celebrate a complex and expensive wedding like before, but it still keeps the most important parts of the traditional wedding. The American wedding can be simpler and less inexpensive. However, even when the wedding celebration of both cultures is simple or complex, cheap or expensive, it is always the most important and happiest day in people’s lives.

Works Cited

"Cultural Values of Traditional Vietnamese Wedding." Saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/. Trans. Vu Khanh. SGGP English Edition, 30 Dec. 2008. Web. 22 May 2014. .
"Vietnamese Wedding Customs." Vtctravel.net. Vtctravel, n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. .

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