Wedding ceremonies often live on as cherished memories for decades. Recent years have witnessed great changes to such ceremonies which have improved along with the lives of Chinese people.

1954 -- Simple Weddings

In 1954, Song Guilan, an already elderly woman of today from Hefei, the capital of east China's Anhui province, married her husband whom she had only met three or four times after they were brought together by a matchmaker.

"At that time, life was so hard that we had no dowry, no wedding ceremony, no house, let alone wedding photos. The wedding was really simple indeed," says Song.

Song also recalls that their wedding room was around 20 square meters with no other furniture except for a bed. All they had was a wok and some bowls. They did not have enough money to invite relatives and friends to join the celebrations of their big day.

According to Song, the marriages of many young people of her time were arranged by the Party organizations at that time. She and her husband became a married couple after the Party organization issued her a marriage certificate and gave her two red paper flowers. Soon after they moved their belongs together. The gift money for a wedding was commonly around 0.5 yuan (US$0.073).

1981 -- "36-legs" Weddings

In 1981, Song's eldest son married with his girlfriend after a matchmaker's introduction.

At that time, there was a custom that requires a fiance to prepare "36 legs" of dowry before his marriage. That means the furniture he prepares must include cabinets, stools, tables, beds and chests of drawers, all of which will have to add up to 36 legs. The dowry should also include quilts, pillows and other daily necessities, of course. The most valuable dowry at the time was a radio, as there were no TV sets by the time.

According to Song, her son's wedding room was an apartment of 20 square meters with a bedroom and a living room. Song bought her daughter-in-law a watch, a bicycle and several new dresses. On the wedding day, Song's son went to fetch his bride with gifts including four bottles of alcohol, 10 jin (5 kilograms) of wedding candy, 10 jin (5 kilograms) of instant noodles, four bars of rice cake, 10 jin (5 kilograms) of meat and two fish.

Song says that they held a banquet with dozens of tables at home. Gift money they received from relatives and friends was generally 2 (US$0.29) to 5 yuan (US$0.73), which were considered a fairly big money at the time.

2009 -- New Weddings

On September 9th, 2009, Song's grandson and granddaughter-in-law registered at the local Marriage Registration Office.

"The current life of ours is totally different from that of the old days. I had never dreamed of this before," Song said happily. In the old days, people had to plan to get 2 jin (1 kilogram) of meat and two fish and some flour one or two months earlier ahead of the Spring Festival, the most important festival in China, but now, such food is eaten as normal meals.

Song says that a new apartment is a necessity for a young couple's wedding nowadays. Electrical appliances such as TV sets and refrigerators are not surprises any more. The wedding photos are taken in advance, and the wedding gift money from a relative or friend is usually something around 400 yuan, but several thousand yuan are often expected from close relatives such as uncles, aunts and grandparents.

(CRIENGLISH.com September 19, 2009)