Chinese weddings typically feature bright red and gold colors for everything from the bride's dress to the decorations to the wedding invitations. Red symbolizes love, joy, and prosperity. Conversely, white signifies death and is often used in funerals. Consequently, there is very little white in a traditional Asian wedding. Red Asian paper lanterns are a wonderful way to decorate.

Two of the Chinese character "xi" or joy are positioned side by side to create a single character known as double happiness. This very popular character symbolizes the couple's union and wish of a happy life for the couple. Double happiness can be seen throughout traditional Chinese weddings including invitations, decorations, cakes and more. See our Double Happiness collection.

In China, tea is an integral part of an engagement and traditional wedding ceremony. To honor their elders, the bride and groom will offer cups of tea as a gesture of respect. The contemporary bride and groom may choose to incorporate this ageless ritual during the ceremony by serving tea to the parents and new in-laws. Couples can also offer tea to guests in the form of unique wedding favors that celebrate this tradition. See our Asian tea set collection.

Hong Bao are bright red and gold envelopes that hold money or jewelry from guests. These make great wedding favors to thank your guests for sharing in your day. See our Hong Bao collection.

A popular trend is for the bride to wear one dress for the wedding and one for the reception. In China, traditional brides may change dresses up to three times throughout the wedding day. A different dress is worn for the tea ceremony, the wedding ceremony, and the reception. The bride's attire usually consists of a silk red brocade dress called a cheung sam. Depending on the region where she's from, the bride may also don a two-piece jacket and skirt called a hung kwa. Both the bride and groom may wear brocades that feature a dragon and a phoenix. The dragon and the Phoenix originated in Asian mythology. The Chinese dragon symbolizes the groom and the Phoenix, a crested bird with a long tail represents the bride.

A Chinese wedding ceremony is mostly quiet. Remembering departed ancestors is a very important part of Chinese customs. Traditional Chinese couples often, set aside a table or altar decorated with white flowers for the ancestors.

A traditional Chinese wedding will include a lavish reception or banquet that can include a 10 course meal to celebrate the union. Chinese delicacies including, shark's fin soup, bird's nest soup, and a whole fish are often served. See our Asian-inspired favors.

The traditional Chinese wedding guestbook is made of silk. The cover is red and the edges are detailed with embroidery. The dragon and Phoenix are often depicted on the guestbook cover. Wedding guests sign their names and messages on a cloth using a black pen. See our Asian Wedding Essentials collection.