Abstract: Since ancient times, wedding has been the most important moment in people’s lives. Wedding customs is a kind of culture. It appeared with the development of the marriage. With a general knowledge of wedding customs, people can have a clear understanding of the history in human society and explore the basic principle of social development of human beings. As China is gaining its strength, the cultural exchanges between Chinese and western countries are becoming more and more frequent. There are many differences between Chinese and western wedding customs, Chinese wedding custom is more traditional while western wedding custom is more romantic. Wedding custom is also a symbol and culture of a nation. It is said that wedding custom plays an important role in the development of human history and ethnology history. All these differences are caused by different historical backgrounds and cultural backgrounds. So it is necessary to understand the differences existing in Chinese and western culture. This thesis attempts to discuss the differences between Chinese and western wedding customs and analyze the differences.
Key Words: difference; wedding customs; Chinese; western

摘  要：自古以来，婚礼就是人们一生中最重要的时刻。婚礼习俗是一种文化，它伴随着婚姻的产生而产生。通过对婚礼习俗的大概了解，人们能够对人类社会历史有一个清晰的认识。同时也能对人类社会发展的基本法则进行探索。中西方在婚礼习俗上有巨大的差异。中式婚礼趋向于传统，而西式婚礼更偏向于浪漫。婚礼习俗是一个国家文化的象征。可以说婚礼习俗在人类历史与人类文化学历史中扮演着重要的角色。造成这些差异的原因也有许多，例如历史背景和文化背景的不同。因此去了解中西方婚礼习俗所存在的差异是必要的。本文具体讨论了中西方婚礼习俗的不同，并对这些习俗间的不同进行了分析。
关键词：差异；婚礼习俗；中式；西式

Wedding plays an important role in social development and people’s lives. Not only in China but also in western countries, wedding is a great moment for everyone. This thesis discusses the differences between Chinese and western wedding customs.
With a general knowledge of wedding customs people can have a clear understanding of the history in human society and explore the basic principle of social development of human beings. The various factors which cause the differences between Chinese and western wedding customs have been analyzed in this thesis. It can provide people a better understanding of Chinese and western wedding customs, as well as the different cultures between China and western countries.