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When are you having your tea ceremony?

J+WJ+W
First Comment
in Asian Weddings
For those that are doing everything in one day.

When are you having your tea ceremony in your day of events?

I want to do it at the venue after the ceremony so everyone can experience it. But I'm not sure if we should do it during cocktail hour or during dinner.

My brother said it should take about 45 minutes but it would make cocktail hour very tight. I will basically have to run to change into my cheongsam after the ceremony. Start tea ceremony immediately and not to mention completely missing out on cocktail hour.

But if we do it during dinner when should we do it?

What are you ladies doing?
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Re: When are you having your tea ceremony?

  • ring_popring_pop member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We did it as a private ceremony before our wedding. My parents only wanted family to be present.

    If you want all of your guests to be present, you'll need to accept that people will be milling about, chatting, not fully paying attention. It could be a little distracting.

    But anyway, I'd choose cocktail hour. A lot of brides have to miss out on cocktail hour for various reasons anyway - many brides use that as the their time to do pictures, change for the reception, etc.

    During dinner would be a really odd time for the tea ceremony, not to mention that you won't have any breaks between dinner courses that long.
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  • trisha_nybntrisha_nybn member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I've always thought the tea ceremony is done in the morning.
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  • J+WJ+W
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks girls!

    To clarify, for my people (Fujianese) we always do it at the reception. For example for my brothers weddings both my SIL had tea ceremonies in the morning at their houses when my brothers went to pick them up. My one SIL was Cantonese adn the other Wen Chou (Sp?). But we always do them at the reception.

    I'm stilll torn between cocktail hour or perhaps at the beginning of dinner. We're doing a Stations style so it won't be a big deal. And yeah it's totally fine for me that other people will be doing other things as well. I don't expect people to be intently watching the ceremony. Laughing
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  • yamsuyamsu member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    hi j+w!

    my wedding is a 2-day thing but all chinese traditions (tea ceremony and banquet style dinner) is crammed into one day.  i know that the tea ceremony is typically in the morning but i only booked a photographer for a 6 hour period starting in the evening. And so, we'll be doing the tea ceremony and family portraits before the actual reception.  This way, for guests who aren't part of the ceremony, but would still like to come and see - they can.

    my brother just got married in august 2010 and he took a super unconventional approach that i thought was pretty cool.  his wife is american and so they opted for a traditional american ceremony.  after the "i dos", the officiant said that the couple wanted to pause the ceremony to partake in a Chinese tradition to honor their parents.  so essentially, they threw the tea ceremony in!  i don't think it works out too too well if you have a ton of ppl doing the tea ceremony, but i think that it moved flawlessly and it was just really special. 

    all the best!  let us know what you decide! :)
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