I get nervous from time to time. Sleep is never enough these days, and am just too tired from running around the city like crazy.
Posted on Nov. 16, 2006
Ding Hun or Ting Hun 訂婚, though mine was just a simple one, is an age old tradition in Chinese, the extravagance varies now from family to family, but mainly the following are the gift to bring:
Bride will prepare the following:
- For the Jewelry, Men’s watch, Men’s necklace with medallion pendant and Men’s bracelet/ring
- 2 Cakes (should be round or heart shape with the name of the Bride in one cake and the name of the Groom in the other cake, in Chinese characters)
- 4 pieces Pomelo
- 2 kilos of uncooked rice
- 120 pieces of raw egg
- 3 kinds of Chinese hopia (special bean-filled pastry) set
- Assorted candies or cookies
- Red table cloth to be used to cover display table
- Suit/barong material for the groom
Groom will prepare the following:
- Jewelry-Wedding rings, Lady’s watch, Lady’s necklace with medallion pendant, A pair of Chinese bangles with red thread, Sets of jewelries placed in a red box
- Ang Paos- 2 pairs of Ang Paos, one pair of small amount and one pair of big amount, amount should be in the number 9. Like 9 or 99.
- Fabric (Quantity of clothes should be in even numbers)
- Flowers-One box of corsage, One box of boutonneire, 6 or 8 varieties of flowers (all colors are allowed except white)
- Fruits- Boxes of fruits (in even numbers), 4 pieces of Pomelo
- Canned Goods-Canned porklegs (in even numbers), Canned fruit cocktails (in even numbers), Chinese Hopia, Each set has four (4) kinds of Chinese delicacies. (minimum of 12 sets)
- Candies and cookies (preferably chocolate coins)
- Chinese misua (placed in red boxes)
- Gifts- for the bride’s parents and senior members of the family (usually a barong fabric for men and lace fabric for women)
- Sin Na (a 4-layered basket made out of bamboo)
The ceremony is done in the bride's house, but some opt to rent a venue. The bride will wait in her room, while the groom arrives and carries his tokens, with his family or entourage carrying the gifts in two, and they go in the house in two also. When everything is inside the house, the bride is then brought out assisted as she is walking backwards, as belief has it-she will not be returned by her husband. She is then turned 3x before she is allowed to look at her husband-to-be. Orange juice is then given out by the bride-to-be sisters. The gift giving ceremony is next:
1) Groom-to-be attaches corsage on Bride-to-be
2) Bride-to-be gets boutonneire and pins it on the Groom-to-be.
3) Groom's mother puts on the bangles (double bangles tied with red thread) on the Bride-to-be
4) Groom's father puts on the necklace on the Bride-to-be
5) Groom's elder relative puts on the watch on the Bride-to-be
6) Bride-to-be's father puts on the necklace on the guy
7) Bride-to-be's mother puts on the watch on the guy
8) Bride-to-be's elder relative puts on the bracelet on the guy
9) Groom-to-be gets the wedding ring and put this on to the Bride-to-be's ring finger
10) Bride-to-be gets the wedding ring and put this on to the Groom-to-be ring finger
After this the Tea Ceremony begins, the Bride-to-be serves the tea to the Groom's family and the Groom-to-be serves the Bride's family, from the oldest first then to the youngest, this way each is introduced to the family.
Then the Bride's mom will invite everyone to partake of the sweet egg soup and misua. Then the Groom-to-be will get the 2 cakes bring it in his car and drive around the Bride's house 2x and honking his car to symbolize a great marriage. He then goes back in the house carrying only 1 cake which has his name on it, leaving the other cake with the Bride's name in the car. They have to wait 3 days before eating the other cake. Then a meal is taken with everyone.
Goody bags prepared by the Groom-to-be is then distributed to everyone.
After the ceremony is over as a sign of being polite, the Bride-to-be will split the gifts the Groom-to-be has brought to the ceremony and give it back to the Groom's family.
The Engage couple is forbidden to attend to any wake, another engagement party or wedding so as not to pass their luck, until they are wed.
*listings are excerpts from kasal.com and Kanchiu Files
1) Groom-to-be attaches corsage on Bride-to-be
2) Bride-to-be gets boutonneire and pins it on the Groom-to-be.
3) Groom's mother puts on the bangles (double bangles tied with red thread) on the Bride-to-be
4) Groom's father puts on the necklace on the Bride-to-be
5) Groom's elder relative puts on the watch on the Bride-to-be
6) Bride-to-be's father puts on the necklace on the guy
7) Bride-to-be's mother puts on the watch on the guy
8) Bride-to-be's elder relative puts on the bracelet on the guy
9) Groom-to-be gets the wedding ring and put this on to the Bride-to-be's ring finger
10) Bride-to-be gets the wedding ring and put this on to the Groom-to-be ring finger
After this the Tea Ceremony begins, the Bride-to-be serves the tea to the Groom's family and the Groom-to-be serves the Bride's family, from the oldest first then to the youngest, this way each is introduced to the family.
Then the Bride's mom will invite everyone to partake of the sweet egg soup and misua. Then the Groom-to-be will get the 2 cakes bring it in his car and drive around the Bride's house 2x and honking his car to symbolize a great marriage. He then goes back in the house carrying only 1 cake which has his name on it, leaving the other cake with the Bride's name in the car. They have to wait 3 days before eating the other cake. Then a meal is taken with everyone.
Goody bags prepared by the Groom-to-be is then distributed to everyone.
After the ceremony is over as a sign of being polite, the Bride-to-be will split the gifts the Groom-to-be has brought to the ceremony and give it back to the Groom's family.
The Engage couple is forbidden to attend to any wake, another engagement party or wedding so as not to pass their luck, until they are wed.
*listings are excerpts from kasal.com and Kanchiu Files
0 comments:
Post a Comment