So, my good friend (who is Filipino) asked me last year to be one of the veil sponsors in her wedding which is this Saturday. Her fiance is Chinese, so the wedding will be (in her description) half traditional Chinese and half traditional Filipino. I have only been to a few weddings before and they were “American” style, so I’m not sure what to expect. She told me what my duties are as a veil sponsor, and I’m sure my questions will be answered during the rehearsal tomorrow evening…but I’d like to have some prior knowledge.
It depends on the family, etc. Let me tell you how mine went. IANAF (I Am Not A Filipino), but my husband is, so we had a mostly traditionally-Filipino ceremony and I did a lot of research into the various customs.
There are two levels of sponsors, primary sponsors and secondary sponsors. Primary sponsors are the higher honor; they will sign the wedding license/certificate as witnesses, and are generally at least a generation older than the bride/groom. Secondary sponsors include the sponsors of the cord, veil, and coins, and they have an actual role on the ceremony. Both primary and secondary sponsors will be part of the wedding procession, but won’t be standing up during the ceremony but will instead get a seat of honor near the wedding couple.
You will have a co-sponsor (probably of the opposite gender; possibly your spouse if you are married.) At one point in the ceremony you and your co-sponsor will come up and pin a large piece of lace (think a mantilla or nice lace tablecloth; we used a particularly attractive lace curtain >.>) to the bride and groom. It will cover his head, but probably only go over her shoulders so as not to muss her hairstyling.
The symbolism is, like most wedding symbols, one of joining; possibly evoking the sheets of the marital bed (? not sure about this part ?). The bride and groom are joined under one cloth, are one person.
Being asked to be a sponsor is a signal honor; higher than being a bridesmaid/groomsman (and less work!). It’s like being asked to be a godparent to the newborn marriage. Because of this, in my wedding we asked relatives of ours who had long and happy marriages to be out coin, cord, and veil sponsors.
YMMV, as I said IANAF.