Vietnamese wedding has its own specialty and cultural characteristic. Click here to discover how Vietnamese wedding are celebrated in both traditional and modern ways.

We describes modern traditional weddings in Vietnam from beliefs to the wedding customs.

In the past, the weddings of Kinh people - Vietnam's ethnic majority - were arranged by matchmakers. Before marriage, the betrothed were not allowed to touch each other. If the young woman wished to offer her suitor a quid of betel, she placed the quid on a tray. Feudal ethics forbade any direct expression of love.

All over the world, wedding are governed by an endless list of customs and superstitions. Elka Ray examines some of the intriguing tradition associated with Western and Vietnamese nuptials.

According to the old custom, after checking the family annals, avoiding the profanation of taboo names (name of a child is same as the name of ancestors); the newborn child is officially given a name. In case of the name of the child is similar the name of ancestors, it has to be changed.

It has some difficulties for the wife when she is pregnant and has baby at the first time. The first-born baby custom means the wife come back to her family to have the first-born baby, and from the second child she stays at her husband’s family.

In Vietnam, there are three main kinds of adopted child: formal adopted child, symbolic adopted child and pretended adopted child.

There are many reasons why Vietnamese do not name their newborn babies when they were born. The reasons are belief, olden government policy in the old society and family customs.

In Vietnamese customs, there are a lot of superstitions related to the newborn baby after birth. These are some most common of them: the praise should not be given to the newborn baby; the pillow of the baby should have seven chunks of mulberry with a needle; and there is a one month celebration for the newborn baby on his 30th day.

Each passing year in a person’s life brings esteem and respect to their family and neighborhood. Formerly, at the age of 40 one was honored for being an old man or woman.

"The sense of the dead is that of the final", says a Vietnamese proverb, implying that funeral ceremonies must be solemnly organized.

In the past, building a house was considered one of the three most important events in Vietnamese life. These were purchasing a buffalo, looking for a wife, and building a house.

The Vietnamese culture has evolved from the basis of a wet rice cultivating civilization. Because of this, the lifestyle of the Vietnamese population is closely related to native villages and lands.

What is the best way to keep a child healthy? An old Vietnamese grandfather believes the charm of a certain necklace wards off evil spirits and he may give it to his grandson to protect the boy. An employee fails to show up for work on the third day of the lunar month because he believes that particular date brings him bad luck. A student tries to borrow money to buy lottery tickets because he dreamed of fire the night before.

The presence of the dead, the behaviour of the living, and an influence on the future - the many generations of the Vietnamese family.

When considering the styling dilemmas once faced by Vietnamese men, a "bad hair day" takes on a whole new meaning. Dao Hung explains why hairdos once led to public ridicule, whippings, and even jail terms.

Control of the rivers has been crucial to the Vietnamese people’s hard-won ability to survive and thrive in a sometimes unforgiving land. The construction of dykes along rivers is without a doubt one of the most important steps in the emergence of the Vietnamese people.