Weddingbee Blog

Those red boxes that Mr Hot Wings’ cousins brought into our tea ceremony contained gifts for my family. Traditionally, the groom’s family brings over gifts such as wine, tea, cakes, fruit, betel, roast pig, and/or areca nuts. Recall that I did not want to feel as if I was being bought with these gifts. Instead, I thought it more appropriate that these gifts represented Mr Hot Wings’ family sharing their culture and family traditions with my family.

So, using the traditional red lacquered tea ceremony boxes, Mr Hot Wings’ family was allowed to fill them up with whatever they wanted. Here’s the list that resulted. This is another detail that really made us giddy with laughter and excitement whenever we talked with people.

(1) Mountain Man Maiden Corn lovingly called “crack corn” in our house because it’s so addictive. We eat this stuff non-stop whenever we have it. It is soooo utterly yummy. Corn to represent Mr Hot Wings’ upbringing in the Midwest. Cliche? Yes, but awesome too. Mountain Man is actually out of Colorado where Mr Hot Wings lived for a while after he finished college. Aside from loving this stuff a bunch, it always represented both Colorado and Illinois.

*right photo from Mountain Man*

(2) Instead of tea, my in laws brought Dancing Goats coffee to honor the coffee addiction that exists for everyone in both of our families. Fair trade coffee, yummy in so many ways.

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(3) Instead of the traditiona wine or cognac, my in laws brought New Glarus Brewing Co Wisconsin Belgian Red. This is a very special Wisconsin craft beer that Mr Hot Wings’ family and I found and loved on a visit to New Glarus Brewery. It was actually my first time on a family vacation with them, and a great memory to include in our wedding.

*personal photo*

(4) Betal and areca nuts got replaced by apples, oranges, dried fruit, and some specialty nuts: Honey Roasted Cashews and Ginger Soy Pistachios from Nuts Online.

*2 lower photos from Nutsonline*

(5) For dessert, my in laws brought waffle cookies from Grandma T who couldn’t make it to San Diego. I loved that these cookies gave Grandma T a way to be part of the ceremony without physically being there. These cookies represented a long-held family tradition and recipe. They were so much better than the store-bought kind.

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(6) Instead of a roast pig, Mr Hot Wings’ family brought brats from Louie’s Finer Meats in Wisconsin. Mr Hot Wings’ family’s and my favorite brat found in Wisconsin, Louie’s brats are to die for. They are so freaking delicious that we had them express shipped into San Diego for our wedding. Remember our rehearsal dinner meat fest? Oh yeah, we’re those kind of people. We love our meat. Our tea ceremony would not be complete without these.

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(7) Earrings. This is the one traditional gift my mom really wanted us to keep. Hot Wing-in-laws were happy to gift me with these absolutely stunning diamond earrings. My mom was really happy that they fulfilled this tradition and that they were happy to do it. To her, it showed their desire to have me join their family and acceptance of me as their new daughter-in-law.

*personal photo*

The number of gifts presented to the bride’s family is traditionally 6 or 8, but never 7 or 9 because those numbers are bad luck. But, count above. No one seemed to notice that we had SEVEN! HA! We had originally thought to have one of the cousins carry the tea set in as another “gift”, but on the wedding day, someone set up the tea set at the ceremony table instead. I laugh in your face, tradition. There’s nothing else we can do about this. I literally just realized it as I wrote this post. Oh well. Don’t tell Mama Hot Wings, she might start praying even more for our marriage.

*All photos by the ever fab Hanssie Trainor unless noted otherwise.*

Do you need to catch up?

• Spilling the Beans on Our Recaps
• With this Wing: Let the Recaps Begin
• With this Wing: Welcome to Our Wedding Weekend
• With this Wing: Let’s Practice
• With this Wing: Street Taco Rehearsal Dinner Details
• With this Wing: Wedding Eve
• With this Wing: Make Me a Hottie (Women getting ready)
• With this Wing: The Wingmen Clean Up Well (Groomsmen get ready)
• With this Wing: Tea Ceremony Prep
• With this Wing: Tea Ceremony Details