First, the man's parents asked Grandpa Hong (the matchmaker) to propose marriage to the woman's house. If the woman's parents agree, Grandpa Hong will give the woman's "eight-character Geng sticker" (that is, a Cambodian sticker indicating the date of birth of the woman) to the man. Commonly known as "taking eight characters", it is also called "passing Geng". On auspicious days, the man's parents ask a trusted fortune teller to calculate the eight characters of this man and a woman, which is called "matching eight characters". If two people are guilty of each other's lives, then the proposal is abandoned; If they are compatible with each other, they can get engaged The whole betrothal process is decided by parents, and young men and women are not allowed to ask. As the saying goes, "parents' orders, matchmakers' words".
Select a date.
After the engagement, men and women give the woman a gift once a year, which is called "Geng Chong" at an appropriate time. The man asks Grandpa Hong to discuss the wedding date with the woman, and the woman puts forward the specifications of the bride price. After the two sides agree, the bride price is given and the wedding date is determined, usually on auspicious days of the ecliptic or on double days of the lunar calendar. Xiangfan people like to choose the eighth, eighteenth and twenty-eighth days, which is called "getting rich without leaving eight"
Welcome relatives
Folk also called "expired". The day before the wedding, a banquet was held to entertain the guests. The man called it "warm lang wine" and the woman called it "comb wine". On the wedding day, the groom is dressed neatly, dressed in red, sitting in a sedan chair or riding a horse, holding a sedan chair to meet the bride. Firecrackers and gongs and drums kept ringing all the way. Go to the woman's house and worship her ancestors. The bride wears a feather crown, a red coat and a skirt. After bidding farewell to her ancestors, she gets into a sedan chair, which is presented by her brother or nephew. Then, the groom's sedan chair (horse) takes the lead, followed by the bride's sedan chair and dowry, and gongs, drums and firecrackers greet the man's home. When they got off the sedan chair, they were assisted by the bride, and the bride and groom worshipped heaven and earth, worshipped the high hall and went into the bridal chamber to drink. On this day, guests, cousins and uncles can participate in a "noisy room", which is called "three days without size". During this period, guests are given a big banquet, which is called "drinking a wedding banquet". All relatives and friends who give gifts are included in the banquet. The bride's family should take the chief seat, attend the banquet and go home immediately after the banquet. On the third day, the bride's brother or nephew came to meet the newlyweds, which is called "returning to the door". Go back to the man's house after dinner, which means "no room for three days" In the whole wedding process, there are many trivial symbolic studies. For example, sowing peanuts, chestnuts and red dates in the bridal chamber bed is a good omen for "early decision" (jujube chestnuts) and flowers (children alternating). Putting the shoes of the bride and groom together symbolizes that they will grow old together, and so on.