What does it mean to put straw on the wedding bed?

The custom of "making the wedding bed" has a long history in rural areas of Xiangyang and is very particular.

On the night before the groom gets married, the groom's mother will ask two young and beautiful women from the neighborhood to make a new bed quilt, new pillows, etc., which is called making the wedding bed.

In the past, although the rural people in Xiangyang were poor, they were very particular about making their wedding beds. The marriage bed had to be padded with millet straw, and then a brand new quilt cover, sheets and double pillows were laid on top of the millet straw. . Never use straw for paving. It is said that there is tares in the straw. The homophony of this tares is "lost son".

Why choose millet grass as a mattress? Rural elders have old ideas and say that millet grass is mixed with grapefruit grass. The homophonic pronunciation of this "grapefruit" weed is "having children". Using millet grass to spread the mattress means that the bride will be pregnant and have children after entering the house.