Jiu Zhen Nan Taiwan Pastry
Six Wedding Gifts

Six Wedding Gifts

According to the traditional customs and etiquettes of making a betrothal proposal, a matchmaker will visit the bride's family and make the proposal on behalf of the groom's family. This is called "nazai" ("making the proposal"), which is part of the betrothal process. When conducting "nazai," the groom's family will prepare "Liu Li" (six wedding gifts), and set off firecrackers to inform the bride's family of their arrival, to which the bride's family will respond in the same way. After arrival, the groom's delegates will bring the gifts to the hall of the house where the bride's family will accepts the wedding gift and a red envelope, and subsequently display the accepted wedding gifts. The six wedding gifts include boxed traditional wedding cakes, large round wedding cakes, wedding candies, betrothal money and jewelry, and gift of clothing, which are all placed within "Mu Cheng" (red wooden wedding chests) to show the groom's wholeheartedness and sincerity about the betrothal.

The six wedding gifts should be placed within two wooden chests (which can be borrowed from the wedding cake stores).

  1. Large Wedding Cake (also known as "Ri Tou Bing"): Round Han Bing available in multiple flavors and is usually around 450 grams a piece.
  2. Small Wedding Cake (also known "He Zai Bing" or "He Hun Bing"): Boxed wedding cakes. One box of traditional Chinese wedding cake contains six rectangular Han Bing; nowadays, people also choose Western wedding box of cookies and candies.)
  3. Wedding Incense, Firecrackers and Candles: For the wedding, a specific incense called "Wu Gu Tou Jiao Qing" is usually used; the wedding firecrackers include rolls of firecrackers and firecracker rows; and a pair of wedding candles with dragons and phoenix patterns.
  4. Wedding Candy: Rice, Lu Zai candies, and Fu Yuan (longans, literally translated as "dragon eye"). After the ceremony, half of the wedding candy will be returned to the groom's family. However, the bride's family should not accept Fu Yuan; the bride can only eat two pieces. The gesture symbolizes that the groom can only look at the bride after the wedding.
  5. Betrothal Money and Jewelry: Betrothal money is divided into "Da Pin" and "Xiao Pin"; the former demonstrates the groom's financial prowess, which the bride's family will customarily return, and the latter is usually a common number of betrothal money, which is actually accepted.
  6. Gift of Clothing, or Tou-Wei Gift: this gift comprises of 6 to 12 pieces of clothing selected by the groom's family for the bride, including clothes, purses, socks, and shoes. Nowadays, this gift is mostly selected by the bride's family.
Shopping