Abstract:

Wedding is a religious and legal notary rite. Wedding ceremony is crucial in a person’s life. First of all, this thesis introduces the definition and significance of wedding ceremonies. Second, comparison and analysis are made between Chinese and American wedding ceremonies from three aspects, including pre-wedding ceremonies, while-wedding ceremonies and post-wedding ceremonies. Finally, through history, values and religion, the reasons for the differences between Chinese and American wedding ceremonies are analyzed. By studying the differences, the thesis aims to help people further understand the differences between Chinese and American wedding customs and make cross-cultural communication effective.

Key words: Chinese wedding ceremonies; American wedding ceremonies; differences of wedding ceremonies; cross-cultural communication
                               
摘要：

婚礼是一种宗教仪式或法律公正的仪式，婚礼仪式在人的一生中至关重要。本文首先介绍了婚礼仪式的定义及其意义，其次对中美婚礼仪式从仪式前、仪式中、仪式后这三方面存在的差异进行比较及分析，最后从历史、价值观、宗教方面分析了造成中美婚礼仪式差异的原因。通过研究中美婚礼仪式的差异，本文旨在加深人们对中美婚礼习俗文化差异的理解，从而有效实现跨文化交际。

关键词：中国婚礼仪式；美国婚礼仪式；婚礼仪式差异；跨文化交际

1. Introduction
 Since ancient times, people like to use a variety of ceremonies to celebrate or commemorate significant changes in life, such as birth, marriage, death, etc. With the development of the history, various rituals were settled down and gradually formed a colorful culture. Marriage is a major event in terms of humanity, not only to the individuals, but to all aspects of social life. As a major social issue, a lot of marriage ceremonies had been formed.
   Wedding ceremonies are a reflective mirror of a nation’s social life, as well as aesthetic attitudes, ethics, values, religion, and developing trend of the national psychology. It is the accumulation of human creativity and spiritual wealth. Wedding customs are an important manifestation of the country's national cultures and wedding ceremony is a crucial stage in a person's life. Due to different customs and historical development of China and America, the wedding ceremonies of the two countries differ from each other.