photo from benghazii

As a man, I think in this life of mine, I have only bought 2 pieces of jewelry by myself.

And they are the wedding proposal ring and our wedding rings.

Beside these, there are others which my mother bought for my wife as a wedding gift for her.

Traditionally in Chinese wedding customs, this wedding gift can consist of gold chains or gold bracelets.

Especially, since my wife’s family is from Hong Kong, they are even more particular about jewelry that must be made of gold.

Why?

Gold symbolises wealth and prosperity and gold jewelry has to be worn on the wedding day with the wedding gown even though we know it is a total misfit at a glance.

But the importance lies in telling the guests that the bride is marrying into a good and moderately wealthy family and there is no loss of face issue.

I remember during my wedding day, there were some unhappiness about the gold jewelry.

The gold bracelets are splendid. My wife did wear it.

However, for the gold chains which were bigger and bulkier, my mother-in-law insisted that they must be worn and my wife had to wear all 6!

Why can’t she wear all?

But then again, there is always an issue of safety and openly wearing so many valueables is not encouraged.

I think this is a typical common issue faced by many Chinese brides worldwide.

Moreover, the color of wedding gowns is mostly made up of softer colors like white or pink and I feel that the jewelry worn must be able to complement or even enchance the beauty of the brides.