Annually, the criteria for conducting weddings in a “Formal – Healthy – Economical” manner have been incorporated into the cultural title assessment by localities and linked to the implementation of two Codes of Conduct.
Directive 11-CT/TU, issued on October 3, 2012, by the Hanoi Party Committee (15th term), aims to enhance civilized practices in wedding ceremonies throughout Hanoi, curbing extravagance, ostentation, and wastefulness while fostering an elegant and civilized Hanoian citizenry.
Over the past decade, Party committees and local authorities from the city level down to the groundswell have actively implemented this directive, encouraging officials, party members, and citizens to participate. Numerous innovative models promoting civilized weddings have emerged. Notable examples include the “Six Nos” wedding model in Ngoc Thuy Ward (Long Bien District) and Quoc Oai District; the “Savings in Weddings” model in Me Linh District; the “New Weddings – Ido, Civilized Wedding Festivals – Golden Weddings” model in Ba Dinh District; the “Collective Weddings Following New Customs” initiative launched by the Youth Union; and the “Skillful Mobilization in Civilized Weddings” campaign by the City’s Mobilization Board.
According to statistics, over 90% of weddings have been conducted in compliance with regulations, with no instances of child marriages or legal violations.
Hanoi has summarized ten years of implementing Directive 11-CT/TU.
Over the past ten years, wedding ceremonies in Hanoi have become increasingly simple and streamlined. Engagement parties and wedding ceremonies are often held on the same day, music is not played past 10 PM, and many cumbersome, ostentatious, and outdated procedures have been eliminated. The trend of organizing weddings with dignity, focusing on the couple’s happiness, is becoming more prevalent. In Dong Da District, all weddings held in recent years have adhered to the civilized lifestyle principles of “formal, joyful, healthy, and economical.” As part of the “Civilized Weddings” initiative, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in Dong Da District and its 21 wards have assigned staff and youth members to assist with and organize weddings for young couples, dismissing and awarding distinguished weddings that embody the civilized lifestyle. In Ha Dong District, regulations limit the number of banquet tables to no more than 40; officials and party members who knowingly violate these rules face penalties. In Son Tay Town, many weddings have been organized with a focus on informal sweet treat receptions and public announcements of marriage. Most ceremonies are held in one day, with simpler, more economical rites compared to previous years.
Many families in districts such as Ha Dong, Bac Tu Liem, Long Bien, Tay Ho, Dan Phuong, Dong Anh, Hoan Kiem, Dong Da, Bac Tu Liem, Hoai Duc, My Duc, Gia Lam, Ba Vi, Thach That, Thanh Tri, and Soc Son are organizing weddings in accordance with civilized practices, offering tea receptions, announcing post-wedding marriages, refraining from demanding cash gifts, and avoiding elaborate ceremonial gifts, with no more than 40 banquet tables. Additionally, couples often lay flowers at the memorials for fallen soldiers.
In Dong Anh District, thousands of meetings have been held in villages, residential groups, communes, and towns to discuss civilized wedding practices. Many localities have incorporated civilized wedding practices into their community regulations.
In Ba Vi District, many communes have mandated that families sign commitments to refrain from hosting extravagant weddings, emphasizing the organization of simple and modest ceremonies. Families that violate this guideline face fines ranging from VND 500,000 to VND 2,000,000.
The Women’s Union of Me Linh District has expanded 36 models of “Women’s Civilized Associations in Weddings and Funerals.” The organization has promoted civilized weddings linked to savings models and the movement “The Whole Nation Unites to Build New Rural Areas and Civilized Urban Areas.” Organizations and unions such as the City Youth Union, the Hanoi Federation of Labor, and the City Women’s Union have replicated successful models for conducting weddings in a civilized and economical manner.
Notably, over the past decade, most localities in Hanoi have adopted the implementation of civilized wedding practices as a standard for evaluating officials, and party members, and for assessing annual commendation titles within agencies, units, and social.
As the state management agency responsible for implementing Directive 11/CT, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports has aligned the execution of Directive 11-CT/TU with the promotion of the movement “The Whole Nation Unites to Build a Cultural Life” at the local level. The Steering Committee for the movement “The Whole Nation Unites to Build a Cultural Life” in various districts and towns has effectively played its role by assigning members to oversee and monitor the implementation of civilized wedding practices. According to the leadership of the Department of Cultural Lifestyle and Family, the criteria for conducting weddings in a “Formal – Healthy – Economical” manner are included in the annual assessments of cultural titles and are connected to the implementation of two Codes of Conduct. Notably, all 30 districts, towns, and city committees have translated this into local thematic resolutions and have reinforced the content of Directive 11 among local Party committees and Government authorities at the commune, ward, and town levels to lead and implement these initiatives.
A collective wedding in Hanoi
Each year, districts and towns hold ceremonies to recognize and reward individuals, families, and groups that embody civilized practices in weddings during the summation meetings of the movement “The Whole Nation Unites to Build a Cultural Life” or at “People’s Representatives Discussing Cultural Life Building” meetings. Furthermore, efforts to promote civilized wedding practices have been prioritized by various localities in Hanoi, especially through broadcasting systems. This has led to timely criticism of negative practices while highlighting positive contributions to the implementation of civilized wedding practices.
Quynh Anh