Before the Western wedding gown, Chinese brides got married in a traditional wedding dress called the qun kwa (群褂). It is a two-piece loose jacket and skirt in striking red to symbolize luck and happiness for the auspicious occasion and is usually heavily embroidered or embellished with colourful threads, pearls, coloured sequins. The Kwa Qun is always embroidered with a dragon and phoenix down the front. The dragon in the Chinese culture represents the male while the phoenix represents the female. Having them side by side symbolizes the perfect balance of yin and yang of the bride and the groom. Traditionally, the qun kwa was worn with a red head cloth covering the bride’s face as the groom was not allowed to view his bride until after the marriage. Today, many modern Chinese brides have done away with the red cloth replacing it with stylish fascinators but still choose to preserve their Chinese heritage by wearing the auspicious qua during their wedding.

The kwa was traditionally worn throughout the wedding. Now, most brides usually wear it for just a few hours. You can wear it during the morning “picking of the bride” session when the groom arrives with his entourage to add a delightful splash of colour. Most brides choose to wear it during the tea ceremony as the traditional Chinese wedding dress blends in perfectly with the traditional ceremony of respect. Alternatively, wear it during wedding reception in the place of an evening gown after you have done your walk-in in your Western or Chinese wedding gown.

We strongly recommend you use our Size Guide for selecting the right size for you. As our Qun Kwas are manufactured in China, the sizing will differ compared to the standard US sizing matrix.

A traditional Kwa Qun is designed to be worn fairly loose to allow the bride to serve tea in a relaxed outfit, allowing extra space in the arms and waist line to manoeuvre whilst kneeing and reaching out without any difficulties. For this reason, we recommend you go for a size up if you find yourself in between sizes.

Please be aware that the Qun Kwa sleeves are specifically designed to be ¾ in lengths to allow the bride to showcase her gold bangles and other gold jeweleries.