[Tainan]

Its a pretty common deal at most Asian weddings. At the dinner the guests hand over red envelopes with cash inside.

Its a very long-standing tradition.

[raygun]

Gee, dunno. I worked as a bar tender at a banquet hall. Each Sunday night was a Chaldean wedding. At some point during the hoopla (prior to the dinner), was "the dance".

While the bride and groom danced in front of the 1000 or so guests, people came up and showered them with money. After the dance was over, the bride and grooms's mothers gathered the money off of the floor into large plastic garbage bags.

There was at least one garbage bag full of money that was then hauled upstairs, and the banquet was paid for then and there in cash.

I seen this with my own eyes to know what I'm talking about. And when I say at least one I mean at least. The most most I've ever seen was four garbage bags full of cash (and I'm talking the big lawn clipping sized bags).