Ultimate Guide to Chinese Wedding Door Games
Door games are an important part of Chinese weddings. Door games are used to determine many aspects of the couple’s future: luck, children, and more! Traditional Chinese families use door games to determine many aspects of the couple’s future: luck, children, and more! In this blog post, we’ll go over some popular door games and how they’re played.
Did you know that there are numerous customs and traditions when it comes to Chinese wedding door games? Did you know that the games have a symbolic meaning behind them? And did you know that there are different levels of difficulty for each game, with some being easier than others?
What are Chinese wedding door games?
Many cultures have a set of rituals that must be performed when the bride is trying to find her husband. The Chinese door games require an outside party, usually friends or other family members. These participants create tests for the groom-to-be. These “games” can range from simple tasks like balancing on rice grains (sometimes broken) without falling off at all as well as throwing oranges into holes cut out of bamboo mats while wearing blindfolds!
What is the history behind Chinese wedding door games?
The ancient Chinese door games, called chuangmen, originated from the idea that a bride is a prized daughter and her family would never let someone take their most important possession easily. It is rooted from the ancient fear of families and friends that were hesitant in seeing their loved ones marry and go away. They would make up ways to block access between the groom’s path, including using various objects at hand such as pots or buckets. The Red Lucky Envelopes are just one of the many ways that the groom will do to ‘buy’ his way into the bride’s home. These games can vary from tests of knowledge, strength, or creativity. However, all are done with love in mind for both partners.
Why should I have Chinese wedding door games?
There are many traditions that take place at weddings, but none is more memorable and cherished than the door games. Every groom wants to show their love for his bride-to-be – even if it means getting wet! Not only is it greatly appreciated by the bride and her family, but this tradition also brings laughter and joy to everyone present.
Best Chinese door games split out by category
Funny Chinese Door Games
- Pass the Seaweed
- The Groom and the groomsmen stand in a line and tasked with passing a square of seaweed using only their mouths. This is sure to crack everyone up as the groomsmen get very friendly! Cut the seaweed into small pieces to make the game more exciting.
- Pop the Balloon
- The groom and the groomsmen have to pop balloons tied along their waist as fast as possible. The twist? They can only pop them against one another. Put each balloon in between a pair and see what they come up with. Thrusts, headbutts, extreme hugs- all manners of hilarity will ensue!
- Face-full of Love
- It’s time to get your groomsmen up off their feet and into the flour! This is not merely just doing push-ups — the groom will have to get a ping pong ball out of a bowl full of flour. Make sure to prepare plenty of towels because this game can make quite the mess!
Physical Chinese Door Games
- Waxing Challenge
- This Chinese door game gives the groom an impression of the pain women go through, albeit on a lesser scale. The groom is sitting on a chair, and each of the bridesmaids takes turns waxing his legs. The more uncomfortable he seems with it all – from verbal cues to physical reactions like sweating or shaking- the better chance that you’ll win this game!
- Twister
- The groom-to-be will need some stretching and relaxation before the big day! Make him laugh with an intense game of twister or have him and his gang copy today’s trendiest yoga poses!
- Push-up Singing Challenge
- The groom and groomsmen are in for a tough time singing love songs while doing push-ups. Singing while doing pushups deplete energy almost instantly, so the men will need some stamina!
Chinese Door Games with Food
- The Four Flavors of Marriage
- Friendly Push-ups
- Have the best man lie down with a piece of food on his mouth such as a pizza or a burger. The groom must then do push-ups over his best man while eating the food piece by piece. This game is sure to make wedding attendees laugh and makes for some funny social media posts!
- Food Limbo
- Have the groom and his groomsmen pluck food off a limbo stick as they try to get across to the other side. Get them to do a little dance as they go under the pole, this makes for some great laughs!
Chinese Door games with Music
- Sweet Serenade
- Maybe your fiancé is no poet, but for them to get through this Chinese door game they have to sing a very sappy romantic love song with enough woe and sweets that the bride can hear. The more sappy, cheesy, and sentimental the better! Then we’ll keep asking if you want us to turn up their volume so our ears will bleed from hearing it all night long or not even care how well they hold tune as long as there’s some catchy tunes in between heavy sobbing.
- Musical Simon Says
- It’s a fitness frenzy! Find an intense Zumba dance or sexy video for the groomsmen to follow, the more sensual the better! Have them stop and pose with their dance moves for each time you turn the music off. Enjoy the laughs as your keep them on their toes!
- Extended Bachelorette’s Party
- The groom and his groomsmen are going to put on a show like no other. They’ll don tights, leotards or bra-and-knickers–whatever the bride prefers. The men then dance their hearts out while listening to music set by the female guests of honor–a funky song that gets everyone’s blood pumping is perfect for this event.
Chinese wedding door games are a great way to have fun with your guests and get them up out of their seats. In this blog post, we’ve provided some information on the history behind these games as well as some of our favorite suggestions for what you can do at your reception or even before it starts if you want to set the tone. We hope that by reading through this article, you’ve found something new and exciting that will make your next event more enjoyable!
Do you have other Chinese door games that you love? Shoot me an email and let me know so that I can share those ideas too!
Take a look at some of the other Asian weddings I’ve photographed!
Would you like to see more Quincy weddings? Check out Quincy China Pearl Restaurant Weddings!
