Couples encouraged to honor fallen soldiers, plant trees on wedding day in Vietnam’s Quang Tri

The recommendations are included in regulations recently signed by deputy chairman of the provincial administration Hoang Xuan Tan to promote civilized practices at weddings and funerals across the province.

The new regulations were issued to coincide with the country's marking of the 79th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs' Day (July 27, 1947-2026).

Under the rules, families that temporarily use sidewalks to hold wedding or funeral ceremonies must report the use and obtain approval from the local administration of communes, wards or special administrative zones.

For weddings, couples are encouraged to lay flowers at memorials and martyrs' cemeteries, combine their celebrations with charitable activities, or plant commemorative trees at public places and historical sites.

These practices are intended to promote the tradition of honoring those who sacrificed their lives for the country and express gratitude to those who made such sacrifices on one of the most important days in a family's life.

The regulations also call for participation in mass wedding ceremonies organized by socio-political organizations, the use of digital invitations and thank-you cards, and the decoration of venues with signs and electronic screens.

Couples are also advised to limit alcohol and beer consumption and not smoke during wedding ceremonies.

For funerals, the regulations recommend using recorded music instead of live funeral bands.

Families are advised not to serve meals to people attending or accompanying funeral processions or offer alcohol, beer or cigarettes during funeral ceremonies.

They are urged to avoid lavish wreaths and ceremonial banners and give priority to reusable wreaths and environmentally friendly materials.

Residents are advised not to scatter votive paper, imitation money, Vietnamese banknotes or foreign currency along funeral routes or burn votive paper at burial sites.

They are also called on to minimize waste generated during funeral ceremonies.

The province encourages families to hold funerals at funeral homes or cremation centers and opt for cremation, electric cremation or single burial while limiting exhumation and reburial.

If a wedding and a funeral take place simultaneously in the same residential area, the families involved are expected to coordinate with each other to maintain solidarity and good relations among neighbors.

Traditional commemorative ceremonies, including the first-week memorial, 49-day and 100-day ceremonies, the first death anniversary, subsequent death anniversaries and reburial, should preferably be held within a single day and only among family members and relatives, according to the regulations.

The rules do not specify how long funeral ceremonies may last.

According to a leader of the Quang Tri Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the duration of funerals is governed by local community conventions in villages and hamlets as well as central government regulations.