Dress up your home to start year off
Stick with the lucky colours, try lanterns and calligraphy and avoid white at all costs
Unlike traditional Western holidays such as Christmas or New Year’s — the go-big-or-go-home events with expensive gifts, giant inflatable snowmen and two months of holiday tunes — Chinese New Year is a much more focused affair. And the theme is always the same: family and prosperity.
That may be why decorating for a Chinese New Year celebration is fairly simple, incorporating lucky colours (red and gold) and other small symbols of togetherness and wealth in all areas of life.
“It’s symbolic that family comes together at the close of the year and that the family is together at the beginning of the year,” says Wendy Lee, lead planner and wedding designer at Asian Fusion Weddings.
Getting the home ready for the 15day celebration is fairly simple, she says.
“Even though it’s a celebration, it’s not equated with a western New Year’s Eve. It’s more low-key because it’s about family,” Lee says.
“If you do New Year’s Eve Westernstyle, there’s a countdown at midnight. We never used to do a countdown at home.”
Decor starts with red lanterns and signs with Chinese calligraphy, both of which are easily found at Chinese department or grocery stores, according to Lee. The signs have words associated with welcoming the New Year and wishing guests health and longevity, she says. These are placed above doors and in the windows.
Other decor elements to consider when creating a traditional atmosphere are kumquat and mandarin orange trees decorated with red “lucky money” envelopes for wealth and good fortune, Lee says. The Tray of Togetherness It’s common for a family to put out what’s called a Tray of Togetherness a couple of days before Chinese New Year begins.
It remains out until the end of the celebration, the 15th day. The tray has six or eight compartments (the Chinese word for “six” sounds similar to the word for “luck” or “road,” while the word “eight” sounds similar to the word that means “prosperity” or “wealth,” Lee says).
Small edible items that have special meaning for the family are then put in each compartment, and guests can enjoy them when they come over. Black or red seeds represent fertility or having many children, important to older generations within a Chinese family, Lee says. Other items for the tray include: Candied ginger for good health and longevity Lychee nuts and dried candied coconut for strong family ties and family harmony
Dried kumquats and sesame balls for gold, prosperity and wealth Dried red dates for luck in every endeavour Apple for wisdom and peace “A lot of those things revolve around family, and revolve around prosperity,” Lee reminds.
Adults will place a red envelope, containing money, at the centre of the tray after taking a sweet. Dinner time Dinner is often at a round table and is served family- or buffet-style, Lee says, with a turntable-like tray in the middle holding all the food. A traditional place setting will include a large plate with a small, empty rice bowl in the middle, a set of chopsticks to the right of the plate, a spoon and a small teacup.
For her party, Lee is trying to spread the notion of dressing up the dining room, or an event space, with a bit more flair.
“Even if your family is 30 or 40 people and you have a small room enclosed in a restaurant area, you can still bring some of these decorative elements in,” she says.
Look for a rental company that offers an array of options (some, including Event Rental Group in Toronto, may even have rose gold to choose from).
Red linens can also be used with red flowers adding that final traditional touch, she says. For a more modern approach, Lee suggests finding the blue-patterned Ming urns and opting for pink or magenta flowers.
As with all decor decisions, just remember to steer clear of white, which symbolizes death in Chinese culture.