A typical wedding comes with a thousand and one details that the bridal couple have to plan for and decide on, making wedding planning a thriving industry. However, for the Chinese, there is one extra detail that couples have to consider: the traditional wedding gifts.

Although the practice of giving traditional wedding gifts has started to die out in today’s modern society, these gifts are still a treasured part of the wedding process for traditional Chinese families. As the Chinese consider the bride a gift to the groom, the wedding gifts are traditionally given by the groom’s family to the bride’s family in return for raising the bride to marriageable age and to “compensate” them for this service.

As with most traditional Chinese events, the wedding gifts are surrounded by symbolism and imagery. The gifts are believed to bring happiness, prosperity and many offspring to the happy couple. Different provinces in China have their own wedding traditions. The top three traditional Cantonese wedding gifts include:

1. Roast pig

Traditionally, the groom’s family will present a whole roast pig to the bride’s family on the day of the wedding. The bride’s family will then return the head and the tail to the groom, with the middle section of the pig replaced with a pair of trousers. The word for “trousers” in Cantonese sounds like the one for “prosperity,” making this a favored gift. However, since the pig is a symbol of the bride’s virginity, if the bride is not a virgin, the groom’s family reserves the right to return the bride and demand for the return of their pig!

2. Sugar cane

Sugar cane is a favored part of the wedding trousseau as its long length symbolizes a long marriage, while its sweetness symbolizes a happy marriage. Typically, a large bunch of this bamboo-like plant is tied with auspicious red ribbons and presented to the bride’s family.

3. Five assorted seeds

The bride’s family typically requests five types of seeds from the groom’s family as part of the wedding dowry. The seeds represent fertility while the type and number of seeds represent a large number of children. Traditionally, the seeds are presented on a red plate that is segmented into five sections.

What if you’re a friend and want to give the bridal couple a gift? Traditional Chinese weddings do not come with gift registries. Instead, the bridal couple will throw a grand celebration dinner, inviting all their family and friends. Guests who wish to repay the favor typically leave red packets stuffed with money as a gesture of their appreciation. Red is the favored color as, in Chinese, “auspicious” is a homonym of “red.” To be nice, guests typically include the cost of the dinner in the red packet. To be generous, feel free to add a bit more to this amount.