If you are following me on Instagram, you would probably know what I have been up to and what has keeping me busy these few weeks. Yes - its my Cousin, Li Xuan and Cousin-in-law, Jia Ye's wedding last Sunday, 6 October 2013.

While prepping for their wedding, I came across a number of Chinese traditions which I found to be quite interesting and thought that I would share it with you my lovely readers. Even though I'm 100% Chinese, I am quite oblivious when it comes to Chinese traditions. Plus, I have many friends whom got engaged recently or is getting hitched soon hence I thought it would be good to share some ideas and information on Chinese Weddings as a whole.

Do stay tuned for the entire series of blog posts on Chinese weddings, only on SweetestSins!

Up to a month or at least 3 days before the actual wedding day, the groom’s family will deliver betrothal gifts (聘礼) to the bride’s family. The gifts to be exchanged in a Chinese Customary Wedding differ across dialect groups.

To avoid confusion, do note that the traditions that I'm sharing in this post is based on the dialect group, Teochew.

Typically, the betrothal gifts include -

1) Western and Chinese wedding cakes

2) Peanut candies

3) 2 bottles of brandy

4) Pig trotters (replaced by canned ones in modern days)

5) Even number of tangerine or oranges

6) 2 pair of dragon and phoenix candles (龙凤烛)

7) Betrothal jewellery from the groom’s parents for the bride (四点金)

The bride is expected to wear the betrothal jewellery on her wedding day or during the wedding banquet for relatives to appreciate it.

Two weeks before their wedding, Li Xuan and Jia Ye including Li Xuan's family delivered the Wedding Cakes (Xi Bing 喜饼) to Li Xuan's relatives by hand along with the wedding invitation.

Let's take a look at what's in the package.

There's both Traditional Chinese Wedding Cakes, Western Wedding Cakes as well as two cans of pig trotters.

Let's check out the Traditional Chinese Wedding Cake that is from Gin Thye Cake Maker (锦泰饼家).

Wu Se Tang 五色糖, loosely translated as Five Colored Candies is a traditional wedding gift from a Teochew bride to her relatives. Wu Se Tang 五色糖 consists of Dou Sha Bing 豆沙饼, Ming Tang 明糖, Dou Run 豆润, Dou Gong 豆贡 and Lao Ma Gao 老妈糕.

The Dou Sha Bing 豆沙饼 comes in both sweet and savoury (salty). Did I mention how much I love Dou Sha Bing 豆沙饼? I like it with either coffee or milo for breakfast.

Personally, I prefer Dou Run 豆润 and Dou Gong 豆贡, 2nd and 3rd from the bottom of the picture above because they are hard, similiar to that of nougat compared to Ming Tang 明糖 and Lao Ma Gao 老妈糕 which are softer in texture. The Lao Ma Gao 老妈糕 is a tad too sweet for my liking but I quite like how fragrant the sesame seeds are on it. According to my Taiwanese colleague, Ming Tang 明糖 is only available during certain festivals and that it is her brother's favourite.

Now onto the Western Wedding Cakes which is from Pine Garden's Cake.   



Pine Garden's Cake Premium Cake Set - Mini Strawberry Shortcake - Mini Triple Layer Chocolate Cake - Mini Cheesecake - Mini Lychee Martini Cake - Mini Orange Apricot Blossom Cake - Mini Citrus Drop Cake - Mini Blackforest Cake - Mini Raspberry Chocolate Cake - Mini Tiramisu

I was so excited when my cousin told me that these were from Pine Garden's because despite hearing so much about Pine Garden's cakes, I haven't tried them for myself yet. It is till the extent where almost every other person I know rave about how awesome it is and whenever I ask for recommendations for cakes be it for my 21st birthday or family/friends birthday, someone will mention Pine Garden's Cake.

According to my cousin, Pine Garden's Cake is known for their Lychee Martini cake (2nd row, 3rd from the left). If you were to ask me, my top 3 favourite cakes from Pine Garden's Cake would be Lychee Martini Cake, Blackforest Cake and Cheesecake. I like how their cakes ain't too rich hence you won't feel too sick after eating them. They even have Pulut Hitam Cake which I'm quite keen on trying out next time!

Gin Thye Cake Maker (锦泰饼家)

423 Sembawang Road
Singapore 758392

Telephone: 6257 1566 / 6758 3742

Block 152
Bukit Batok Street 11
#01-264
Singapore 650152

Tel: 6899 6929

260 Bangkit Road
#01-21
Singapore 670260

Tel: 6760 1183

Blk 513
Bishan Street 13
#01-504

Tel: 6255 6362

66 Kallang Bahru,
#01-491
Singapore 330066

Tel: 6396 8472

632 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4,
#01-964
Singapore 560632

Tel: 6458 0206


You might also like these posts:

♥ Chinese Wedding Betrothal Gift Exchange (Guo Da Li 过大礼) and Wedding Cakes (Xi Bing 喜饼)
♥ Pre-wedding Guide | To-do list for Sisters (Jiemeis) 姐妹
♥ 6 Wedding Reception Table Decoration Ideas | How to Decorate Wedding Reception Table