Chinese Bridal Cake

It was customary for the bride's family to distribute the bridal cakes they received from the groom's family to friends and relatives as a form of announcement and invitation to the wedding feast. Since Joe is a Caucasian, my family did not ask Joe's family for the bridal cakes. Instead, my parents spent the last few weeks doing taste-testing of the bridal cakes in Vancouver, and had placed an enormous order on bridal cakes!

The significance of various kinds of engagement Cakes:
1. Togetherness Wedding Cakes (commonly called Boxed Cakes as in Chinese the word "box" sounds like "together") are now usually replaced with coupons for Western-style Cakes.
2. Courtesy Cakes (commonly called "Large Cakes") are gift boxes of Chinese-style Cakes such as sesame, date paste, lotus paste, walnut, and green bean cakes.
3. Fragrant Rice Cakes (also known as "Old Flowers"). After you eat Fragrant Rice Cakes tradition has it that you will be blessed with a good husband. "Fragrant rice" Cakes can also be replaced with "Saqima" candied fritters.
4. "Ritou" Cakes are gift boxed pineapple and bean paste Chinese cakes. The three types of Togetherness Wedding Cakes above are what everybody recognizes as Lucky Marriage Cakes, whereas you can select one of either the Courtesy Cakes or Fragrant Rice Cakes to give. It is customary to give one box each of Togetherness Cakes and Courtesy Cakes.