Chinese Wedding – Tea Ceremony
I’ve been a part of a few tea ceremonies during Chinese weddings now, usually helping to get the tea ready or helping to organize the gifts received by the couple. At my good friend’s wedding she wanted me to be the person that actually passes the tea to the couple. Traditionally the “tea person” doesn’t just pass the tea, she also needs to say the name of the person(s) that’ll be receiving it. Something like “mom & dad drink tea” (direct translation from Cantonese) while the couple passes the cup of tea. For me it’s a very interesting experience as traditionally the tea person is supposed to also say good wishes while the people drink the tea. However I have no idea what to say and when I researched on the internet the phrases I found were a bit…interesting. I can only find Chinese versions so if you can read it, here it is. It’s a bit amusing and long…I don’t know if people actually say all this nowadays.
〈敬茶時〉(While pouring and serving tea)
斟茶比姨媽，出年幫手抱穌蝦
斟茶比姨丈，買六合彩中頭獎
飲過新抱茶，富貴又榮華
飲過新人茶，馬仔聽你話
飲過新人茶，麻雀聽晒話
飲過新人茶，子孫聽晒話
飲過新抱茶，出年做嫲嫲
今年娶新抱，出年有孫抱
飲過女婿茶，富貴又榮華
飲茶笑呵呵，好快做婆婆
飲茶笑騎騎，好快做爺爺
飲茶飲到尾，年頭賺到落年尾”
〈飲茶時〉(while drinking the tea)
茶到口，財到手，添福又添壽
茶到口，財到手，買田又買樓
茶到口，財到手，買車又買樓
茶到口，財到手，富貴榮華一齊有
飲深D，赚多D
飲深D，中三T
飲茶到口，橫財就手。
飲茶到口，得心又應手。
茶到口，財到手，今晚麻雀好摸(音:More)手
茶到口，財到手，財神黎到大門口
茶到口，財到手，半山買多幾層樓
茶到口，財到手，出年又飲滿月酒
飲深D，赚多D，中完孖寶中三Ｔ
〈戴飾物時〉(while putting on the jewellries received at the tea ceremony)
戴起金器，大喜大喜
戴起大囍，新娘好快有囍
戴起大囍，戴到風生水起
戴起大囍，戴到兒孫滿地
戴起大囍，戴到金銀遍地
戴起大囍，保你家肥屋潤笑嘻嘻
戴金戴喜，風山水起
戴過金介子，好快生對金童子
戴個大金牌，一世唔洗捱
戴起大囍，好快有新己
戴過金手摙，有錢又有面
戴過金戒指，生個金童子
戴過金頸摙，個個都比面
金扼夾到手，ＢＢ好快有
金鍊戴上頸,好快住山頂。
〈新人與長輩一起拿起金飾合照時〉(while taking pictures with the elders after the jewellries are put on)
八隻手，發到夠
八隻手，乜都有
其他 (other – if it rains and the red umbrella is use)
貴人出門招風雨、新郎份人好相與（如落雨）
I’m definitely going to have the tea ceremony for my wedding because I think it’s a nice tradition to have. But I think it’ll be simple such as just calling out the name of the person instead of saying such long phrases (plus the sayings are so funny that it’d probably make me laugh). However how do you determine who will be part of the ceremony besides your parents and grandparents? Do you have to include all your relatives such as aunts and uncles?
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Comments
Thanks Jan for your wonderful blog and sharing your experiences with us. I’m getting married at the end of the month and trying to figure when and what to wear. Right now I was thinking that I would wear the two piece qua when the groom comes and picks me up. Once we do the tea ceremony at my home and his home, I would change into the white wedding dress before heading to our ceremony. Is this what you would recommend(I seem to remember my friend being in her white dress though for the tea ceremony.)
Also do you know what the timing is for the dress changes during the reception. I am assuming it’s the white dress first, chinese cheongsam and then a regular evening gown? Thanks in advance for your insight and advice!
Hi Chips,
Traditionally you would wear the qua in the morning when the groom comes to pick you up. You’d also wear it for the tea ceremony at your place as well as the groom’s place before changing into the wedding gown for the wedding ceremony.
During the banquet, I usually see the bride start with the wedding gown. Then during the soup course the bride would switch to the cheongsam for the toasting. Then one to two courses after than she’d change to her evening gown. I think it’s really up to you. I’ve seen brides that wear their wedding gown for half of the wedding, switch to cheongsam after to toast and wear that for the rest of the night. If you’re unsure, maybe talking to the restaurant would help. The manager at the Chinese restaurant gave me a rough idea of when to change depending on how many dresses I’d be wearing.
Haha, those are long phrases. Actually very funny. I think for the modern tea ceremony, you just say the name of the person and “drink tea” in chinese. As for determining who will be part of it, it is generally close relatives or family friends that you consider almost relatives. Your parents probably have a good idea who to include.
We included aunts and uncles but didn’t want to include aunts/uncles that were too distant because we didn’t want them to almost be forced to give us lai see. Know what I mean?