ET Speaks From Home

Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way

  • Chinese Culture & Festivals
    • Chinese Culture
    • Chinese Wedding
    • Lichfield Mandarin Club
  • Craft
    • Adult Craft
    • Children Art and Craft
    • Chinese New Year Craft
    • Origami
    • Tuesday Tutorials
  • Family Life
    • Home Improvement
    • Life & Parenting
    • Modelling
    • Printable
    • Sensory Play
    • STEM
    • Summer Activities
    • Tutorial
  • Food & Drink
    • Bake Recipes
    • Chinese Cuisine
    • Cookbook
    • Dessert
    • Drink
    • Food Products
    • Meal Recipes
    • Restaurant
  • Review
    • App
    • Beauty & Health
    • Book
    • Drama, Movie, Theatre
    • DVD & Blu Ray
    • Fashion
    • Game & Board Game
    • Household Products
    • LEGO
    • Products
    • Nintendo
    • Stationery
    • Technology & Gadgets
    • Toy
    • Travel
    • Twitter Party
    • Vlog
  • Giveaway

Chinese Wedding Gifts

9 May 2017 by Eileen 31 Comments

For English weddings, the bride and groom typically have a list of wedding gifts but for Chinese, we are more practical. All we want is money, partially to pay for the wedding costs and partially to pay your mother-in-law!

chinese wedding gifts

In Chinese culture, traditionally the man has to foot the bill for the whole wedding including the wedding dinner, which is different to English culture where traditionally the bride’s parents pays for the wedding dinner. The Chinese mother-in-law would request for 5 or more bride’s tables. So any wedding gifts (money) given from the bride’s tables would go to the bride’s mother. The rest of the wedding gifts from the groom’s tables would be given to the groom to foot the wedding dinner bill. During my sister’s wedding, my mum stood next to the wedding gift box and she would pocket any gifts from my mother’s relatives or friends.

So if you attend any Chinese weddings in Chinese restaurants as a friend or relative, they would expect you to come with a big fat red packet (ang bao) to help cover their dinner costs.

What to get for the wedded couple?

From a Relative/Friend:

Money! Do make sure it is enough to cover your own dinner costs. How to calculate how much to give? Check out the hotel rating beforehand. If it is a buffet, you can give less. If it’s in a posh hotel, then you should give more. Also give amounts in even numbers.

Chinese love the number 8. They would be happy to get 28, 38, 88 etc. but avoid the number four such as 40. Number four sounds like death in Chinese. So this is not an auspicious number. Also remember to write your name on the back of the red packet. The bride and groom will want to keep a record. So next time, if you get married, they will try to give you back the same amount of ang bao.

Avoid buying presents unless it is requested by the bride and groom. If you would still prefer to give a present, the best choice would be gold. It can be in any form like necklace, earrings etc.

From the Groom’s Family to Bride:

In Teochew traditions, they have to give four pieces of jewellery including a gold necklace, a pendant, a pair of earrings and a bangle.

Mr V kindly shared this photo below with us. This is the type of jewellery they gave to his wife 30 years ago.

wedding jewellery in 1970

In Cantonese traditions, bride will received a pair of dragon and phoenix gold bangles from mother-in-law. This is to symbolise a blissful union.

From the Bride’s Family to Bride:

Now that their daughter is going to be moving away from home, instead of money, they would give their daughter gold jewellery. The reason is simple – if the bride receives money, they would expect to share with their husband in their joint account. To protect their daughter, they give gold jewellery for their daughter to wear/keep. So this jewellery won’t be shared with the husband. Also the bride/wife should not tell the husband where she keeps it so that she has emergency funds if required.

So don’t feel offended if asked to give money (ang bao) at a Chinese wedding! What did you receive on your wedding?

 

Share this:

  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • WhatsApp
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Email

Related

Filed Under: Chinese Wedding Tagged With: chinese culture, chinese wedding, gift, wedding, wedding jewellery

« Join the Hasbro HotSpot Community Awareness Program
New Lego Minifigures Series 17 »

Search

Hello!

Welcome to ET Speaks From Home. My name is Eileen, mother of two children aged 13 and 11 with visual impairment. We've been online since 2012 and continue to grow. I love to cook, craft, DIY, write about Chinese Culture and YouTube reviews.
Top 20 UK Parent Blogs 2020
Tots100 2014 Top 20 Blog on Twitter
Tots100 2015 Mummy Vloggers, Tots100 2016 Top 20 Vloggers
Shortlisted Britmums Brilliance in Blogging Awards (BiBs) Video 2014 Read More…

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter

Click here for Media Pack

pr media pack

Recent Posts

  • How to Make Private Belongings Secure in Your Home
  • Important Safety Features That Every Home Needs
  • Furniture Removal Hacks Before Hosting A Summer Party
  • Four Tips For Transforming Your Kitchen Area
  • How does Chinese Wine Compare with French Wine?
  • When the Past was Around
  • Make the most out your Vietnam trip
  • Making The Most Of A Tiny Bedroom
  • Choosing The Right Materials For Your Kitchen
  • DIY Tips for your home and office
  • MECO Eleverde Dental Oral Irrigator Review
  • The Different Types of Damp and How to Manage It
  • Tips to Make Your Home More Eco-Friendly
  • Cert Cleaning Review
  • Fourfit Mini 2 & Mini Review

Archives

TOTS100 - UK Parent Blogs
BritMums - Leading the Conversation

YouTube API Term & Condition

YouTube API Term & Condition

Google Privacy Policy

Google Privacy Policy
bandai stem ambassador
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Copyright

©2012-2021 Eileen Teo unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved. You may not reproduce text excerpts or images without my prior permission.
“We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.co.uk and affiliated sites.”
Disclaimer
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.