Chinese Wedding Gift Exchange Ceremony
Getting married? Congratulations! If you’re of Chinese descent or just looking to integrate Chinese wedding customs into your big day, we are here for you in planning out this important traditional ceremony.
Guo Da Li 過大禮 or Chinese betrothal ceremony is a significant ceremony among Chinese wedding customs with long history in China (since Han Dynasty 202 BC - 220 AD). This special engagement ceremony symbolizes the groom’s sincerity in marrying the bride and taking care of her in their marriage.
The Chinese betrothal ceremony is usually held between 2 weeks to a month before the wedding. The groom will pick a “lucky day” to present the bride’s family with a variety of precious gifts. Items including dried seafood, fruits, lucky money, a pair of coconuts and wedding cakes that represent fertility and wealth. Different dialect groups may have different list of items.
BETROTHAL GIFTS GIVING CHECKLIST
In Chinese wedding tradition, people believe that good things come in pairs, so the gift for this pre-wedding ceremony comes in even number.
Betrothal Dried Seafood Basket
Dried seafood is always the first choice for the Chinese Wedding Gifts. Dried Seafood is so popular because it is a rare, expensive treat, but also because of the seafood names are phonetically similar to the auspicious meanings in Chinese.
The traditional dried seafood set category includes 6, 8 and 10-kind style. Auspicious meaning of the number of items:
Depending on the price range, the number of seafood increase according in different style. Whatever style you choose, the gift basket always have Fat Choi 髮菜 (black moss) in it which symbolizes good fortune. Other optional dried seafood include abalone, dried mushroom, dried conch meat, fish maw, dried sea shrimp, dried oyster and dried scallop, etc. Each type of dried seafood shall have two portions, which make it easier for the bride’s family to return the gifts.
Fine Delicacies Selection includes :
- Abalone (Dried Abalone / Canned Abalone) (signifies the abundance, wealth, and luck)
- Dried Fish Maw (symbolizes strong binding relationship)
- Dried Sea Cucumber (represents deep love as the ocean)
- Bird Nest (Dried Bird Nest / Bottled Bird Nest) (represents treasure of the beauty and happy marriage)
- Shiitake Mushroom (promotes blooming prosperity)
- Black Moss (Fa Cai) (brings good fortune)
- Dried Oyster (brings good deeds)
- Dried Scallop (signifies a house of treasures)
- Dried Shrimp (represents liveliness, also rhymes with joy and laughter)
- Dried Conch (symbolizes longevity and honor)
- Dried Bamboo Fungus (Zhu Sheng) (represents long-lasting and happy union)
- American Ginseng (homonym with blooming flowers under the full moon which symbolized a beautiful marriage)
Auspicious Wedding Coconuts Basket
In traditional practice, Guo Da Li need red baskets to hold all the ceremony gift items. A pair of coconuts decorated with red double happiness “囍” character are included in the gifts list. Coconut pronounces “Ye” and “Zi” in Chinese, which rhymes with grandpa and grandchildren, which signifies multiple generations to come.
Within the basket, you will also find the fine wine and high quality tea leaves set (see also our BLOG - Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony for tea selections), wedding cakes and granny cake 老婆餅, gold & jewelry, a pair of double happiness couplet and wedding banner to decorate the door. In which the Chinese betrothal dried fruit and nuts platter 十京果 is essential for the “bed-laying ceremony 安床儀式”. This custom is to wish the couple for a happy and harmonious marriage, praying the couple with a lot of children in the future.
Each item in the Betrothal Dried Fruit and Nuts Platter has its auspicious meaning :
- Red Bean and Mung Bean (red bean together with Mung bean represented beautiful couple)
- Red Dates, Peanuts, Longan Pulp and Lotus Seeds (to bring off-spring soon)
- Lily Bulb (to bless the couple for an eternal union)
- Sesame (a lifetime full of happiness and love)
- Walnuts (symbolized harmony within the family)
- Lychee (hope for an early son )
