where & what to buy for chinese wedding customary stuff

ok... today i am going to share some information that i know for the chinese wedding customary stuff as well as where to get the stuff... first lets start from WHERE to get those stuff.... of cause, my favourite is always buy online = from taobao... but since people are quite particular about wedding stuff, i think it is still better to get the stuff locally.... normally the shops will sell the customary stuff in packages so if you are unsure of what to buy, just ask the shop owner & they will pack everything for your... so below are some of the shops that i found which sell quite a variety of customary stuff...

1. little white wedding shop/Golden Happiness

address: Katong Shopping Centre, 865 Mountbatten Road, #01-45, S(437844)

Contact: Shop 63456988/ Eyvon 91716463/ Jeffrey 97958499

opening hours: tue-sun 12nn-6pm, other timing by appointments

i think this is like one of the most popular shop & for those girls who went to master david tong for to get the auspicious dates, you can get 10% off from their packages.... i went to this store before... really good business on weekends man... so many people!!!! normally you will placed order for the items that you want then collect them closer to the auspicious dates.... but the location is quite far for me since i stay in the west... so i didnt get my stuff from this shop...

2. shuangxile
Square 2 #03-39, 10 Sinaran Drive, Singapore 307506 (Novena MRT Station)
Operating Hours:
Monday to Saturday: 11am to 9:30pm (Including Public Holiday)
Sunday : 12pm-9:30pm
Tel: 6397 2018


i never been to this shop before but i received the pamphlet from La belle... i think this shop sell the customary stuff at a slightly cheaper price.... from the website, they seem to sell ALOT of stuff so i think is quite a good place to get your stuff.... 

3. cheok keuw bridal
 Blk 506 Jurong West Street 52 #01-180, Jurong West, Singapore 640506

Today 12:00pm - 8:00pm

Tel:6566 0333
this shop was recommended by master long tian xiang.... i didnt know this store exist... & actually is near my bf's home market.... it just looks like any normal shop in the neighbourhood so you may miss it if you are not careful.... i think they also sell quite an extensive variety of stuff... definitely the place to go if you stay in the west =) gotten some stuff from them too

4. the chinese wedding shop
#02-83 JCube
2 Jurong East Central 1, Singapore 609731
Tel No: (65) 6684 8006
Opening Hours: 11.30pm to 9pm daily

the store

interior of the store

i gotten most of my stuff here.... not that this shop is the BEST but just that this shop is in the west so is more convenient for me to collect the stuff.... they have several outlets so will be convenient for people staying in different parts of SG.... they used to have 1 outlet just outside clementi mall, but it has shifted to Jcube.... another good shop to get stuff for the west-siders =)

basically i would say all the shops sell more or less the same things... the varieties are almost the same and the price may differ slightly.... no matter where you get from, the things are really very expensive!!! like a simple towel set will cost $13 just because it has the 喜喜word.... so i would recommend you all to buy stuff that are absolutely necessary unless you dont mind spending abit more $.... so i will share some of the things that i bought for my customary stuff...

since my bf is a mix, his parents dont know about the chinese customary stuff so i just get the things suitable for my site... so i am a cantonese & depending on where is your hometown, the same dialect may have different stuff.... since i am from HK, i would say we are the "REAL REAL cantonese" so the things we used may be different from the SG cantonese.... so you girls can just use my stuff for reference... i based my reference from 麦玲玲:嫁得好book... she is a famous fengshui master in HK... you can get the book in SG book store too... that's where mama bought the book... basically almost everything you buy must be in numbers of 2... & then the girl side will return half to the groom side... it symbolise 有来有往.. for those items which i put the price will means how much it cost from the shop

1. Betrothal 过大礼 Package

photo taken from here...

 so the first step in chinese customary is 过大礼.. it is like to make "downpayment" from the groom side to "chop" the bride... so if your family is the very traditional one like mine, then you can only send out the wedding invitation cards after this date... & normally its done 4-6week prior to the actual day.... so this package is bought by the GUY side... above is an example of the 过大礼 package BUT for the price the shop quote DOES NOT include everything in the picture.... normally when you go to the shop, the staff will explain to you what does the individual items symbolised... if you get the package, average it will cost $198 & it contains alot of stuff not commonly used in HK setting so i only choose what was written in the book...
聘金红包 ($2.80)- this is like THE　most important thing for 过大礼
礼饼-2 dozen, dont have to be those traditional chinese pastries, can use normal swiss roll & nice cakes that are sold in normal bakery.... the guy side will bring 2 dozen over & girl side will return 1 set to them
烧猪红包 ($1.60)- so last time 烧猪 is another MUST cause it symbolise your status in the family & will distribute the meat to your relatives....but nowadays its quite difficult to get & you dont have so many people to share the meat with.... now is replaced with ang bao....
包罗万有 红包 ($2.80)- for the traditional customary, you need coconut, live chicken, fresh fish, etc which most things are not available now... so this ang bao will replace anything that you cant find or miss out...
龙凤烛 ($12/set)- you need 2 sets, girl side will return 1 set... the candles will be burnt when the groom leave his home & both family will lit the candle at the same time
京果 ($24/box)- 2 boxes, will return 1 box to the guy
水果- 2 dozen, same as the cakes, will return 1 dozen to the guy
酒 - 4 bottles, 2 to be returned to the guy....
片糖- just get 2 package from NTUC & paste 喜喜word on top to save $
茶叶 - get the nice tea leave kind from those chinese herbal store, not the tea bag kind... then again just paste 喜喜word on top to save $

2. Dowry 嫁妆 Package

photo taken from here...

 this set will be bought by the girl side.... it will be brought over to the groom side.... the book say this ceremony doesnt need to find another auspicious date to do it, can do on the same day as 安床....
luggage-last time people will use those big wooden wardrobe but nowadays will replaced with luggage (normally red or pink colour)... inside will put the bride's clothes (preferably new 1)
tea set ($60)- used for the groom side, for the girl side dont have to use new 1, can get from siblings
cushion- for kneeling down during tea ceremony
bedsheet- for the couples' bed... preferably is a NEW bed, if not, the minimal is a new bed sheet
chopstick+bowl ($38)- i think is for eating the dumpling at the groom side after tea ceremony
子孙桶 ($39.80)- this is the big pail, potty, plastic cup + ruler set... honestly, it's just going to sit in the storeroom... but for good luck, best that you buy it...
red umbrella-  this is to be used when the bride leave home together with the groom... so dont bring over to the groom side
针线盒($28)-inside they will put scissor, threads & other things

3. . Bed Setting 安床 Package

photo taken from here...

there wasnt much information about this from the book, so i just bought the package ($38)... so it will include the different nuts, red tray, ang bao to be put at 4 corners of the bed.... so you can get nice fruits to put at the 4 corners too

4. Hair Combing 上头 Sets

girl set

guy set

this is to be done the night prior to actual day.... this will be done at the respective home....
girl set ($22.80)
guy set ($16.80)
red string ($2.80 each)
扁柏- this is actually pine tree leaves... so supposed to tie this with the red string & clip onto the bride's head after 上头
米桶 ($28)- this is optional, can use it to the candle during 上头
red pyjama - to be worn by the couple during 上头& subsequently to sleep

so to get these stuff, it already cost me $400 not to mention the other stuff that i bought previously in HK & online.... me god... this customary things are god damn expensive lo.... so if your parents are not so traditional, GOOD FOR YOU!!! simplify the whole thing!!!! or at least buy from online, i bet you can save at least half the price.... most importantly is decide the necessary stuff to get between the 2 families & try to plan early cause it get really frustrating when you have other things to do prior to the wedding & still have to debate what things to get for customary stuff... it is happening to me & i do get irritated... but i try to keep calm cause i dont want to have wrinkles because of this... is not worth it.... hopefully these information has been useful to you all =)

the search for kua (裙褂)

*back dated entry*

this post is on the search for kua for my wedding.... La belle also provide rental of kua but they only have 2 designs, 1 is peony & 1 is dragon+phoenix... peony is OUT cause mama say is like for "dead" people, again... my whatever expression.... for the dragon+phoenix kua they have, is more of a sequin design, so mama reject cause she only want gold+silver thread embroidery.... as a result, i have to find alternatives from outside store since she somewhat insist me on wearing kua for my actual day... personally i dont mind wearing cause some of the designs are not bad but it isnt a necessity for me.... but mama insist... what to do... so after some internet search, i managed to find afew stores in SG that do rental of kua... there might be more but i only can find a handful....

1. some wedding shop at people's park complex, level 2 (above the market/hawker center)
sorry... didnt managed to catch the name nor the exact address of the place as i just happened to stumble upon this shop when i was searching for cloth in chinatown... the shop mainly sell wedding stuff like tea sets, double happiness stickers, etc.. but they do have rental of kua but only 1 design...

the kua on display

 personally i thought this kua looks pretty nice... but apparently mama bet to differ cause she say the designs are sew on, not embroidery... at first i didnt understand what she meant but when i saw the actual embroidery kua then i realised the differences... but seriously, i think both will look equally nice on pictures lo... anyway the rental for this kua is $100 for 3D2N, deposit $500


2. Gemini Body shop @ 57 pagoda street
this store is on the right side of the street when you came out of the chinatown station... again, the shop focus more on wedding stuff than the kua... similar to the shop at people's park complex, they only have 1 kua but i think that 1 is really embroidery...

photo taken from http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/39662-chinese-wedding-dress-kua/

photo taken from http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/39662-chinese-wedding-dress-kua/

i didnt manage to take picture of the shop so i just kope them from this site... the rental for this kua is $250 for 3D2N, deposit is about $300... personally i feel the sew-on design kua look nicer....


3. House of Etiquette @ 16 Jalan Masjid, #01-01
this store really focus on kua & some wedding/evening gowns.... even mama say they have a wide selection of kua, at least in SG...  the store has 3 categories of kua, the simplest = princess, not so much of embroidery but still look pretty nice.... middle = queen, much more embroidery.... super gao = king, full of embroidery till you will look like a gold/silver bar....they also do sell some wedding goodies but comparatively lesser to other stores

the princess style, photo taken from original site

queen style, of cause ignoring the headdress... photo taken from original site

king style, really look like a gold/silver bar right??? photo taken from original site

the staff there was really nice & patient, we spent like almost 2hr there trying out the different kuas..... the staff first took my measurements, i predicted it to be L since that was the size i tried in La belle but surprisingly my size was actually M... & even more surprising is that M is actually not a common size... apparently most girls who rented their kuas belong to size S and L...so the staff only managed to find 1 piece of princess & 2 pieces of queen style for me to try...

princess style

queen style 1

queen style 2

actually we are not supposed to take picture unless we are renting the kua but the staff was very nice to excuse us =P.... of cause if you compare the designs, i would say queen style will be nicer, look more formal since it has much more details but seriously the rental price is too expensive!!!! princess style = $268, queen = $568, king = $868.... i was like OMFG when i heard the price.... like seriously, do you have to spend so much $ just for a dress that you wear for afew hours???? but well... they do have wide selection of kuas IF you are not M size...

4. Little white wedding shop by Golden happiness @ Katong Shopping Centre, 865 Mountbatten Road #01-45
this store has ALOT of people, i was really surprise since most of the wedding shops i went are pretty empty.... as usual they focus on wedding goodies... they do have afew designs of kua but for the embroidery kind, they only have 1 design & sadly... the workmanship wasnt that good which also correspond to the much cheaper rental fee...

the shop

some of the wedding goodies

the embroidery kua

kua selection

 for them, the kua rental was pretty cheap, since we dont intend to rent from them, we didnt ask for the exact price but from the poster at the entrance... the rate is at $68-268


5. I wedding @ People's park complex, level 1 
mama happened to come across this store, really very ulu, deep inside the people's park complex, at the far end, closer to the outram park mrt side rather than chinatown mrt..... again... focus on wedding goodies & only 1 design of kua.... didnt manage to take any picture but the condition of the dress looked really worn out.... & the rental is like $580!!! like WTH..... if you compared to like house of etiquette, that kua is only in the princess to queen range & yet they charge so much for such a dirty dress....

the shop... sorry ar... signboard reflection too strong

goodies sold at the store

after looking at a couple of stores in SG, i would say house of etiquette is definitely THE store for rental of kua but sadly the price is out of my budget.... so after this incident.... mama is actually spark the idea of going back to HK to rent the kua since most of the kua came from HK/china.... & which is why I am flying back to HK tmr (6th May)... haha... really sudden.... super last min decision... leave SG in 1 wk from the day i bought the ticket.. cause cathay is actually have promotion, so my ticket only cost $286.2 including tax!!! like OMG cheap!!!! let see if i managed to find any good stuff in HK =)