I'm so excited! It's about 3 more months to our big day! So if you are wondering what is our next step, we are currently looking at options to purchase the Wedding Biscuits a.k.a Xi Bing (喜饼) which will be given during our Guo Da Li (过大礼).
Why do we need to prepare Xi Bings?
. Here's 3 important things you need to know about giving and receiving your xi bings.- They are presented to the bride's family by the groom's family during Guo Da Li.
- They are symbols of appreciation from the groom's family to the bride's family for raising and taking good care of their daughter.
- They (usually in boxes) will be distributed to family members, together with the wedding invitation card, as a way to announce the upcoming wedding.
Which Xi Bing should we buy?
The answer to this question is basically another question. "What kind of dialect group does your partner and yourself belongs to?" Haha.
For traditional wedding cakes, I will be choosing images from the traditional Gin Thye Cake House. Love how their website is so clear in presenting the different wedding packages!
For traditional wedding cakes, I will be choosing images from the traditional Gin Thye Cake House. Love how their website is so clear in presenting the different wedding packages!
1) Traditional pastries for Cantonese Families
-The Four Coloured Biscuits (四色饼) include 2 coloured types of Dou Sha Bing (豆沙饼), Hong Dou Sha (红豆沙饼) and 1 sponge cake (鸡蛋糕).
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| Two toned Dou Sha Bing Photo grabbed from Gin Thye Cake House |
2) Traditional pastries for Teochew families
-TheFive Coloured Sweets (伍色糖) package comprises 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). Do note that the Dou Sha Bing comes in sweet and savory. |
| Teochew Five Coloured Sweets Photo grabbed from Gin Thye Cake House |
-If bride's grandfather or grandmother are present, you will be advised to get the Lao Gong Bing （老公饼）or Lao Ma Gao （老妈糕）accordingly.
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| Lao Gong Bing Photo grabbed from Gin Thye Cake House |
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| Lao Ma Bing Photo grabbed from Gin Thye Cake House |
-As a return gift from the bride's family to the groom's family, the bride's family will get Da Lao Bing (大烙饼) for the groom's family. Da Lao Bing is also known as the "son-in-law biscuit" (女婿饼). Number of boxes should be in pairs.
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| Da Lao Bing Photo grabbed from Gin Thye Cake House |
3) Traditional sweets for Hokkien families
-It includes red packets together with 6 different sweets. Mi Fang (米方), Dou Tang (豆糖), Ruan Tang (软糖), Dou Sha Bing (豆沙饼), Xiang Gao (香糕), Gong Tang (贡糖). |
| The 6 sweets packed nicely Photo grabbed from Gin Thye Cake House |
4) Western modern cakes
-There is no specific type of cakes when it comes to western cakes. You can basically order from any bakery. The usual cake sets will probably have the traditional sponge cakes with buttercream. Yummmy.
If I can choose one bakery for my modern cakes, I will definitely opt for Pine Garden's Cakes's wedding cake set. Reason is simple. It's affordable, pretty and yummy. I am pretty lucky as I get to taste Pine Garden's cake almost every month. Their lychee martini cake and blackforest cake is still my favourite!
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| The Premium Cake Set Photo grabbed from Pine Garden's Facebook |
As Mr OOPS is from a Hokkien family and Mrs To-Be-OOPS is from a Teochew family, the xi bings which his family are preparing for my family will be following the Teochew tradition. =) However, there is no hard and fast rule about which one you should take up. It is purely a preference by the parents and the couple.
Some things to note:
-You will need 1 or 2 boxes to keep for your own family.
-Request for 2 additional boxes, which are to be used as a return gift to the groom's family during Guo Da Li.
-Total number should be an even number. (If you counted and only needed 15, still just ask for 16 boxes.
-The decision about whether the groom's family need xi bing or not is optional, not compulsory.
There is this saying that if you eat it, it is equivalent to eating away your own happiness.
But I think a more valid reason why brides should not eat xi bing is because... we will be busy losing weight by that time. No extra calories allowed!!!! ROAR!!
Oh well, some sayings are there for a reason. So I will choose to believe this one!
In my next entry, I will be writing about my personal quest to find the best traditional xi bings. I title it Project XiBing. It was a real eye opener so stay tuned! =)
Xi-bing-ing,
Mrs To-Be OOPS
How many boxes of Xi Bing should I buy?
It depends on the number of relatives you are giving. It will be easier if you just ask your parents the number of boxes they need and run through with them who they want to give. Always get 2-3 boxes extra, just in case!Some things to note:
-You will need 1 or 2 boxes to keep for your own family.
-Request for 2 additional boxes, which are to be used as a return gift to the groom's family during Guo Da Li.
-Total number should be an even number. (If you counted and only needed 15, still just ask for 16 boxes.
-The decision about whether the groom's family need xi bing or not is optional, not compulsory.
One last fun fact, which is also something new to me, is the taboo about xi bing.
A bride cannot eat any any xi bing which is exchanged during the Guo Da Li.There is this saying that if you eat it, it is equivalent to eating away your own happiness.
But I think a more valid reason why brides should not eat xi bing is because... we will be busy losing weight by that time. No extra calories allowed!!!! ROAR!!
Oh well, some sayings are there for a reason. So I will choose to believe this one!
In my next entry, I will be writing about my personal quest to find the best traditional xi bings. I title it Project XiBing. It was a real eye opener so stay tuned! =)
Update: Links To Project Xi Bing, first hand reviews of xi bing shops:
Reviews for Gin Thye Cake House, Thye Lee Confectionery and Neo Kian Guan Confectionery & Cake, please proceed to Project Xi Bing 1/3.
Reviews for Pine's Garden Cake House and Thye Moh Chan, please proceed to Project Xi Bing Part 2/3.
Reviews for Tong Heng Confectionery and Poh Guan Bakery, please proceed to Project Xi Bing Part 3/3.
Xi-bing-ing,
Mrs To-Be OOPS
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