"Goh Dai Lai"

"Goh Dai Lai" :
 Passing of the dowry from the Groom's family to the Bride's family.

This is an old asian tradition where the groom's family gives the bride's family food and money. Each family has a different way of doing this. My fiance's family is Chinese. They have to follow the Chinese calender to find a "good date" to do "Goh Dai Lai". On this day the groom stays home. He is not allowed to go over to the bride's house because it's considered bad luck. The groomsmen are the ones who have to take the food & money to the bride's parents. All of this must be done before 12 noon.

My parent's are from Laos (they are chinese born in laos), in their culture they believe that the groom is taking their daughter away. After the wedding their daughter belongs to the grooms family. In return, the groom's family gives : a whole roast pig, buns, fruits, chinese mushrooms, candy, chinese pastry shop gift certificates and money. After the bride's family prays to their ancestors all of the food is cut in half  or seperated in half and returned back to the groom's family. My dad says that this means that both families are joining as one. The whole roast pig's core is cut and pulled out. The head and the tail are put together and given back to the groom's family.