Custom holds that one may not get married during the three years’ mourning period for one’s mother or father. To avoid too long a delay, if a parent is dying or has just died, a hurried wedding ceremony may be held. The wedding procession to fetch the bride (đón dâu) is obligatory, but many other rituals may be omitted, such as bargaining over wedding gifts and making sacrifices to the God of Marriage. The bride and bridegroom prostrate themselves before the dying (or dead) parent. If the bereavement happens to the family of the bride, the newly-wed couple should return to her family to go into mourning in the afternoon of the wedding day. If the misfortune happens to the bridegroom’s family, the funeral will begin shortly after the wedding ceremony. Such a wedding may also be held with the assistance of a go-between for a bereaved girl who has no fiancé beforehand.
