Before sending the dowries to the bridegroom’s home, the bride’s family would display all the dowries in the courtyard or on the empty ground. After the display, the trousseaux would be loaded onto the dowry tables one after another. The greater the display, the more respected the bride’s family would be. After that, the wedding procession would set out in its way to the bridegroom’s home. People were also particular about the order of the procession of dowries. For example, “lucky” items such as chamber pots, wine brewed for the daughter, chickens, twin bamboo plants were places at the front.

Moreover, the arrangements of dowries varied from place to place according to respective customs. In some places, people might put the betrothal gifts at the front of the procession of dowries; in other places, people might put chinaware and decorative articles at the front, and beddings at the rear. In some places of Shanghai, there was a custom worthy of mention. The procession bearing the dowries would head southeast for two hours, because this direction was said to be auspicious. In this way, the bride’s family could show off the generous dowries to a wider audience.