A Traditional Chinese Wedding – Both Sarah and Vincent wanted to stay true to their Chinese heritage and so opted for a traditional Chinese wedding complete with Chinese customs such as Chinese Wedding Door Games. This involves the male wedding entourage (Hing Dais) being stopped at the door by the female members of the wedding party (Tze Muis), who will prevent him from seeing his bride-to-be until he has passed a selection of tests. The groom will hand over a red envelope (Li Shi) to barter for the right to be given access. The idea behind the games is that the groom has to prove his love for his bride. A Chinese Tea ceremony followed which demonstrates the importance of tea in China. This is the time when the bride is officially introduced to the groom’s family and both the bride and groom will then serve tea to their respective parents as a sign of respect and gratitude.
I played the part of the Chinese wedding photographer for the day, which was such a great honour! I started early, arriving at Sarah’s hotel for 7.30am which was fine because thanks to the jet lag, I had no real concept of time anyway! The bridal preparations were already well under way and before long Vincent arrived with the Hing Dais to perform the Chinese Wedding Door Games. This leads me onto one of my favourite images, the moment when Vincent, as part of his task, was reading out a beautiful speech to his unseen bride-to-be, who can just be seen peering around the door. It was such a cute moment – see if you can spot the image!
As a destination wedding photographer it was a privilege to be asked to travel 10,000 miles to photograph Sarah and Vincent’s wedding at the Sydney Opera House. I am proud to say that I am a Sydney Opera House wedding photographer from the UK.
If you’re getting married at the Sydney Opera House and your looking for a wedding photographer that will give you something a bit different please do get in touch.
