Are you having a Chinese wedding ceremony but unsure what purpose the door games would serve?
The “door games” has always been among Chinese weddings’ most significant and engaging traditions. The purpose of the Chinese wedding door games is to prepare the groom, ensure he’s ready to take the next step and have him prove himself as a worthy husband. This tradition is practiced as a sign of the groom’s love and devotion for his bride and as a symbol of his determination to have her as his wife.
The challenges presented to the groom in the Chinese wedding game ideas serve as “hurdles and tests” that, when he surpasses them, will ascertain the groom is honorable. Recently, traditional Chinese wedding door games have become less serious and are seen as less of actual tests but more light-hearted and fun! So the groom and groomsmen usually have a good time completing the tasks.
The bridesmaids have a great time conducting these exercises and watching the groomsmen serve their punishment for failed challenges. They aim to hide the bride until the groom and groomsmen have proven their loyalty.
This post will dig into various popular Chinese wedding door games and how you can play them at your ceremony!
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1. The Red Envelope Game
In this traditional Chinese wedding door game, the groom is tasked with proving his loyalty to the bride. The bride is held hostage by her bridesmaids. Until the groom and groomsmen can complete the challenges set aside for them by the bridesmaids and get to the point where they provide the bridesmaids with red envelopes filled with money to satisfy them, the bride will not be released to them.
This game has the groom proving his loyalty to the bride. It is one of the most traditional games you could come across and can be played following the wedding festivities or even at the door of the wedding feast. This Chinese wedding game requires as many red envelopes as you can find!
The amount of money the groom and groomsmen have been able to negotiate and finally agree on paying the bridesmaids will be called the “bride price”.
2. How Well Do You Know Your Bride
This Chinese wedding game is designed to test the groom’s knowledge about the bride and their relationship. The ‘Question and Answer’ test is a cute and easy wedding game to play at your Chinese ceremony. The bridesmaids gather tricky, cute, and funny questions from the bride, including her favorite memories from their relationship, favorite movies, embarrassing moments, etc.
They would then prepare these questions as a list and check off each one when answered. For any incorrect answer, the groom or his groomsmen will have to do push-ups or any other punishment that the bridesmaids have set aside.
3. Four Flavors Of Life
This popular Chinese wedding game is said to help the groom prepare for every phase of life as a married couple in the form of flavors of life. The Four Flavors of Life game is particularly thrilling for the groom and groomsmen. In this game, the bridesmaids set out a series of food or drinks that may look the same but will taste different.
Various sauces or flavor mixes will be added to the food or beverages to get each of them to taste sour, sweet, bitter, or spicy. If there are no food items, juice, candy, or any snack that can be spiced to derive the four different flavors will do as long as it is safe to consume! The groom and his groomsmen must finish all items, no matter how challenging they might be.
The Chinese wedding game teaches the groom to prepare for the different flavors when they marry.
4. No Pain No Gain
Looking for another game that will have the groom and groomsmen proving their loyalty to the bride? The No Pain, No Gain game is the answer. This is a popular Chinese wedding door game played during weddings where the groom and groomsmen are punished with leg waxing if they fail to complete any of the tasks presented to them by the bridesmaids.
These tasks could range from doing silly dances, completing the lyrics of a love song, or solving puzzles. Each of the bridesmaids would take turns waxing the leg of the groomsman that had failed to complete their task.
This entertaining wedding game gives the groom a small image of what women go through.
5. The Passing Game
The passing game is an exciting addition to any Chinese wedding ceremony! Besides the bridesmaids, the bride and groom’s families could also gather around to watch the fun happen. If you’re looking for a popular Chinese wedding door game to entertain everyone, this is the one! The passing game is done by having the groomsmen pass around an item, such as a fruit, chopstick, or any item.
The winner is declared by the number of times an item is passed from one groomsman to another. The groomsman who successfully passed the most amount of items wins! The twist in this game is that the groomsmen can only pass items to each other using their mouths.
6. The Bargaining Game
This wedding door game is one of the most popular Chinese games played during wedding festivities. The groom and groomsmen try to negotiate with the bridesmaids to get them to let the groom see the bride.
The bridesmaids use this as the perfect opportunity to set up many challenges for the men to complete. Every hurdle crossed will get the groom and groomsmen closer to the bride’s room.
The tasks could be anything, really. From asking them to do silly dance moves wearing female underwear on top of their outfits to singing to the bride or more tricky challenges.
7. The Chopstick Game
In this Chinese wedding game, the groom and groomsmen are asked to pick up peanuts, groundnuts, or any other round food item, using chopsticks. They would each be given a pair of chopsticks, a bowl filled with the round food item, and a cup. They use one hand to hold the chopsticks, then pick up the peanuts using the chopsticks and place them carefully in the cup. They’re not allowed to drop any of the nuts, and the first person to fill their cup wins the game.
8. Eat Up
The groom and groomsmen are up for a huge speedy food competition in this Chinese wedding door game. The bridesmaids would prepare dozens of biscuits or any other snack and ask the groom and groomsmen to eat ample amounts at once. The men who cannot finish theirs in time lose and must serve a punishment.
9. Tough Karaoke
This fun wedding door game will test the strength and stamina of the groom and groomsmen while also testing their vocal cords and the groom’s love. The men are to sing love songs while doing push-ups, and push-ups sure take up some energy! The bride also selects her favorite goofy love song for the groom to perform.
In this Chinese wedding door game, balloons are tied to the hips of the groom and the groomsmen as quickly as possible, and they are tasked with blowing the balloons until they can pop them. If you’re wondering if that’s all, it’s not!
The catch is the only way the balloons can be popped is against each other, so prepare to roll with laughter while watching the men hit each other in all kinds of hilarious ways in the bid to pop the balloons.
FAQs
You might have questions about Chinese wedding games if you’ve read this far. Here are some frequently asked questions and their answers to help satisfy your curiosity.
Where Did Chinese Wedding Door Games Come From?
Chinese wedding door games originated in ancient China, the games were made to take place at the home of the bride. The groomsmen and the groom would visit the bride’s home on the morning of the wedding day and pick her up, while her bridesmaids would arrange for the games to begin in her home.
It was known in Cantonese as 玩新郎, or “playing the groom”, and in Mandarin as; 接親遊戲, or “games with which to receive the groom”. It was also known as “heng dai games” or “brother games”, in Malaysia (with the groomsmen referred to as the brothers of the groom); and in Singapore as “wedding gatecrash”.
The Chinese wedding door games have become much lighter and more fun recently and are one of the wedding activities the couple and bridal party look forward to.
Who Can Partake In Chinese Wedding Door Games?
For Chinese wedding door games, the groom is usually the primary target. This doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t get to participate and have fun; quite the contrary, as there is a role for everyone!
The bridesmaids are tasked with coming up with each door game and conducting them, the groomsmen help the groom in plenty of the games, and the bride and bride’s family equally help out where needed to fill in questions for the groom to answer during the Q&A. But while the games take place, the bride waits in a different room.
How Long Should The Wedding Games Last?
The Chinese wedding door games could last almost an hour. The goal is not to surpass an hour because the day ahead is filled with many more activities. This isn’t saying to cut short your fun, as the door games are one of the most enjoyable parts of the wedding festivities, but to start early and keep track of the time while still having fun!
Serena & Dominic are a married couple and parents to 3 wonderful children. They plan weddings, run multiple small businesses, and curate wedding events.
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