Hui Li - Gifts That Bride Should Prepare, Follow This Guide

After reading our guide on Guo Da Li and Bride's Dowry, it's time to talk about Return Gifts, or what is known as Hui Li (回礼). What do the Bride's family have to give back to the Groom? Read on to find out!

Table of Content

• What is Hui Li?
• Essential Hui Li items to prepare for
• Recap: A step-by-step guide to Guo Da Li ceremony
• Don't fret over your wedding preparation, you can do this!

What is Hui Li?

After the Groom delivers his Guo Da Li gifts to the Bride's family during the Guo Da Li ceremony, the Bride's family will have to return a portion of the gifts. This is to reciprocate the Groom's generosity and signifies the acceptance of the couple's marriage. 

Essential Hui Li items to prepare for

Hui Li items are pretty standard across all dialect groups. This is different from Guo Da Li, where the items depend on the Bride's dialect. 

1. Guo Da Li items to return to the Groom's family

• A pair of Phoenix candles - During Guo Da Li, the Bride's family would have received pairs of Dragon and Phoenix candles. The Bride's family has to accept the pair of Dragon candles, and return the pair of Phoenix candles. The exchange of candles signifies the acceptance of the Bride and Groom into each other's family. Acceptance of the Dragon candles means welcoming the Groom, while acceptance of the Phoenix candles means welcoming the Bride.

Check out our dragon-phoenix candles set here

• Betrothal money (Pin Jin) - Usually, the Bride's family will return 50 to 90% of the original amount of the betrothal money. It usually ends with an auspicious number like 8. There's no hard rule to this, but it's recommended to discuss between both families to decide the amount that both are comfortable with. Prepare a Hui Li red packet instead of using back the same Pin Jin red packet.

Check out our Hui Li red packet here

• Return other items that were given as part of the Guo Da Li gifts, in pairs, such as:
  • Wedding cakes or pastries
  • Pork trotter cans (if applicable)
• Guo Da Li items that should not be returned:
  • Alcohol

2. Additional gifts for the Groom

On top of the portion of Guo Da Li items, the Bride's family typically includes gifts like:

• 2 bottles of orange juice
• Huat kueh or fatt kueh
• A set of wallet, belt, (cufflinks and watch)
• Long pants
• Jewellery like gold ring
• Son-in-Law red packet

Belt & wallet gift set can be easily bought from departmental stores

Check out our Son-in-Law red packet here

Again, there is no definite list of gifts to give. You are not required to include everything as it's up to one's preferences. The more popular combination would be a wallet, belt, long pants and a Son-in-Law red packet. Some use the Son-in-Law red packet to replace the set of wallet, belt and long pants while others might still give the set of gifts together with the red packet.

Recap: A step-by-step guide to Guo Da Li ceremony

Step 1: Arrive at the Bride's home & exchange auspicious sayings

During the Guo Da Li ceremony, the groom and his family will visit the bride's home to present the betrothal gifts. Parents of both bride and groom have to be present. Traditionally, a female matchmaker (or a elder female relative) will also accompany the groom to the bride's house, and oversee the Guo Da Li process to ensure everything goes smoothly.

Step 2: Groom to present betrothal gifts to bride's family

For the betrothal gifts to present to the bride, do refer to the list of items we have compiled in a separate article here. The type of gifts will be based on the Bride's family dialect group. Don't forget to include the betrothal money 聘金 (pin jin)! The amount of pin jin should be pre-discussed between the families. It's typically ranged between $1,888 to $8,888, usually ending with the auspicious number 8. 

Step 3: Bride's family to return gifts to the groom's family

Upon receiving the gifts, the bride's family will reciprocate the generosity of the groom's family by returning a portion of the gifts received, including the pin jin. In addition, the bride's family will present 回礼 (hui li), to express their gratitude and appreciation. Refer to the list of items compiled above.

Step 4: Bride to receive dowry gifts from bride's parents

Next, the bride's parents will present a set of dowry gifts, also known as 嫁妆 (jia zhuang) to the bride. The dowry is a symbol of the wealth and prosperity of the bride's family, and signifies the blessings and well-wishes for their daughter's marriage. The dowry typically includes items like tea set, jewellery and sewing kit. The dowry gifts, together with the hui li will be brought back to the groom's home.

Don't fret over your wedding preparation, you can do this!

From understanding the significance of the custom the items involved, to the proper etiquette of ceremony, Chinese wedding preparation can seem difficult and taxing at first glance but don't let this deter you. We promise that it's going to be worth it - what's more important than fostering strong bonds between the bride's and groom's families, and ensuring a smooth sailing marriage? 

Wedding preparation can be easy, leave all the hard work to us! Get everything you need for your Guo Da Li, Bride's Dowry and Hui Li's items with us today.