The Betrothal Gift Ceremony marks an important formal meeting between the parents of both the bride and groom. The event takes place two to four weeks before the wedding day. The couple is considered to be engaged after the ceremony.
On this occasion, the parents of both the bride and groom will pick an auspicious date for the wedding ceremony. The groom’s family will present various gifts that represent fertility and prosperity to the bride’s family. Ideally, all gifts should come in even numbers as it means “good fortune” in Chinese culture. In return, the bride’s family will also prepare symbolic gifts for the groom. After this ceremony, the bride and groom are considered officially engaged.
The gifts from the groom’s family are usually transported in traditional betrothal gift baskets and different types of baskets are used for the different dialect groups.
For Hakka and Cantonese, click here.
For Teochew and Hokkien, click here.
Rest of the Wedding Ceremonial
Setting up Matrimonial Bed 安床 (An Chuang)
Hair Combing Ritual 上头 (Shang Tou)
Fetching the Bride 接新娘 (Jie Xin Niang)
Leaving the Bride’s House 出阁 (Chu Ge)
Entering the groom’s house 过门 (Guo Men)
Returning to bride’s home 三朝回门 (San Chao Hui Men)
