2。2Opinions of Western wedding cultures

     As for the Western marriage cultures, some foreign experts have also done some researches and written some books。 Zhang Weidong has written a book called Introduction of Western Culture (2008)。 It briefly described a series of programs of wedding, including proposal, engagement, wedding, honeymoon and so on。 It also explained the religious reason for several trivial matters。 The book 100-year History of Western Marriage Cultures (2000) written by Mary Windsor offered much information about Western marriage cultures。 In addition, several influential intercultural communication scholars have done some works to this subject, such as English Across Cultures, Cultures Across English (1989) written by Garcia, O& Otheguy, R。 , and American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective written by Stewart, E。 & Bennet, M。

3。 Chinese Wedding Customs 

3。1 Etiquettes and customs at the Chinese wedding 

3。1。1 Exchange birth dates   

To arrange a marriage, the groom's family will request for the bride's 'Eight Letters' through the matchmaker。 If the bride and the groom's birthdates are suitable (meaning that no disaster or something unfortunate is predicted by the fortune teller if they get married), the two families will reach an agreement on the event。 Then the fortune teller will select a ‘good day’ to hold the wedding ceremony according to the bride and groom’s birthdates。来*自-优=尔,论:文+网www.chuibin.com

3。1。2Send gifts to bride’s family

Nowadays, the groom’s family usually picks a 'good day' to send gifts to the bride's family, which includes gifts, cash, cakes, ‘monetary gift’ and so on。 Usually, most families consult the Chinese calendar to pick a 'good day' which indicates happiness and fortune for the new couple to get married。 

As for the 'monetary gift', the negotiation will focus on how many tables the groom is able to offer to the bride's family during the wedding banquet。 Usually, the groom’s family will pay a certain amount to the bride’s family which is dependent on their number of guests。 If the groom’s family cannot afford all the cost, the bride’s family will compromise。