Chinese Wedding Photography
Chinese Wedding Photography
A Chinese wedding is one steeped in tradition, etiquette and symbolism.
Chinese wedding traditions start before wedding photography even starts. Planning the wedding starts with the right day for your wedding. There are days that are luckier than others for weddings each year. Once a day is chosen. Planning a wedding that will honor the elders, keep within traditions and satisfy the modern youth is the challenge of the modern Chinese couple.
As professional wedding photographers we have seen many different traditions during our over 19 years of photographing wedding in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most Chinese wedding photography will include the basics such as a Tea Ceremony to honor the grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts…the list may go on.
The wedding ceremony is usually “western”, but the reception has so many wonderful traditions.
Chinese Wedding Banquet Photography
Many couples will have a red Chinese Signature Cloth that is laid on the reception desk for guests to sign their names and write their blessing. The Wedding Banquet with numerous courses, each with a special meaning for things like prosperity, longevity, abundance, life together, etc. The symbol for “double happiness” is always displayed at the reception as a symbol for happiness together. It’s always fun when a couple has a lion dance. The lion, a symbol of power, wisdom, and good fortune, chases away evil spirits and brings happiness, longevity, and good luck.
The two colors we see most at Chinese weddings are red the color for happiness and gold a sign of wealth.
Most brides at contemporary Chinese weddings will change her clothes. She will wear a tradition western wedding gown pre ceremony until the reception. During the Banquet she will change her white gown and wear a traditional Chinese dress (usually red). The bride will change her clothes at least one more time into an evening gown. The evening gown is worn as the couple is saying goodnight to their guests.
One of the nicest traditions is when the couple and their parents visit each table offering a toast as a sign of appreciation and also celebration. The table toasts usually take place near the end of the banquet sometime before the last course is served.
As professional wedding photographers capturing the details of your wedding day with creativity is one of our main goals. Chinese Weddings have so many wonderful traditions. For this reason we meet with the wedding couple before the wedding to go over all the detail of the day. We lay out a way for us to document all the important moments of your wedding day. These are the memories that only come around once in a lifetime.
Other Photography Services
In addition to photography coverage we offer albums, professional head shots, engagement portraits, print retouching, cards and many services. We offer special rates for non-profits.
Want to learn more about our photography services, see examples of our work or get in touch with us?
Maybe you just need some unique ideas for an event you are doing yourself and you are curious about our pricing. Either way please let us know if there is anything we can do for you.
If you would like more information about having Hagop and Ano photograph your event, contact us at (650) 494-7215 or email us at wedding@hagopsphotography.com.
