These Pants Are NOT Made for Wearing

These Pants Are NOT Made for Wearing

December 22nd, 2010 @ 12:30 pm by Mrs. French Toast
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In fact, they’re made for the bride and groom to walk under.

What in the world, Miss French Toast, are you talking about?

Fear not. I did not lose my (fashion) sense.

In the Chinese culture, it is believed that the order of weddings amongst the siblings should coincide with their birth order. Which means the eldest should get married first, then the middle child, and then the youngest should be the last to tie the knot. Of course, in this day and age, the likelihood of that happening gets slimmer and slimmer.

That’s where the pants come in.

source

Can you spot the pants?

If a bride is getting married before her elder brother, the couple has to purchase a brand new pair of pants to hang over the front door of the house. The couple then has to walk under the pants as a symbol of respect. Trust me, the tradition baffles us, too. Knowing my silly older brother, he probably would get a kick out of requesting something like this for us to walk under:

source

Thankfully…he’s already happily married with two beautiful daughters, so Mr. French Toast and I escaped this practice!

The hanging pants is just one of the many customs that happens on the wedding day. There are more that I’d love to share as the day gets closer and I learn more about the significance of them, but this wraps up today’s Chinese culture lesson.

Are there any interesting or funny wedding customs in your culture?

Tags: cultural, pleasanton |

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10 Responses to “These Pants Are NOT Made for Wearing”

Member

luckyduckluk (message) 127 posts, Blushing bee

Thanks for sharing toasty! Interesting and bizarre, but I love cultural traditions!

12/22/10 @ 12:35 pm (reply)

Member

Julefay (message) 41 posts, Newbee

I’m of German ancestry and there is an old custom that if your younger sibling gets married before you, you have to dance in a hog trough at their wedding. I totally made my older brother do it He’s a ham, so he loved it! It was one of my favorite moments–him dancing in a dirty old hog trough (that we always pour beer into-but that might be a recent addition to the tradition!) to Johnny Be Good…

12/22/10 @ 12:47 pm (reply)

Member

soontobemrsreeves (message) 57 posts, Worker bee

Oh my…thats a cute little culture lesson!

12/22/10 @ 1:00 pm (reply)

Member

alivoo01 (message) 2,625 posts, Sugar bee

I didn’t know about this tradition! Thanks for today’s cultural lesson.

12/22/10 @ 1:29 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Giraffe (message) 4,219 posts, Honey bee

This is hilarious! It’s too bad you’re missing out ;-).

12/22/10 @ 1:53 pm (reply)

Member

Kemi82JP (message) 749 posts, Busy bee

@Julefay: omg that is so funny! but back in the day that must have been so humiliating! I can’t believe there are traditions like that but at least they provide for good entertainment now-a-days lol!

the pants tradition is really interesting, i wonder where it stems from? like, WHY pants and WHY walk under them??

12/22/10 @ 2:27 pm (reply)

Member

Megrit (message) 478 posts, Helper bee

I like that! I’d be walking under three pairs of pants (my older brothers need to get a move on).

12/22/10 @ 4:32 pm (reply)

Member

jordynrose (message) 6,351 posts, Bee Keeper

I’d never heard of this before. Very interesting tradition!

12/22/10 @ 7:44 pm (reply)

Member

mrspaetz (message) 3,805 posts, Honey bee

That’s hilarious and yes, it IS Chinese tradition. My husband’s younger bro got married before us but no, we didn’t make him do the limbo rock under any pants