Updated: October 27, 2026
A wedding day with two ceremonies in it
A Chinese or Chinese American wedding in Miami often holds two weddings inside one day. There is the Western part that most vendors know: the dress, the vows, the first dance. And there is the traditional part that many local videographers have never filmed: the door games at the bride's home, the tea ceremony with parents and elders, the change into a red qipao, and a banquet where the couple toasts every table in the room. If your video team only knows the first half, the moments your grandparents care about most can end up as a few seconds of shaky footage.
This guide is for couples planning a Chinese wedding in Miami, Fort Lauderdale or anywhere in South Florida, and for parents helping to organize one. Customs vary a lot between Cantonese, Fujianese, Taiwanese, Shanghainese and Mainland families, and between generations, so treat this as a starting point to discuss with your own family. What follows is how we plan coverage so the traditional moments get the same care as the ceremony.
Start with the date, the time and the family
Many families choose the wedding date, and sometimes the exact hour for fetching the bride or serving tea, based on an auspicious calendar. That time is not flexible, and the video schedule has to work around it. Tell your videographer early if an elder has picked a specific hour, because it decides when the crew arrives, how many shooters you need and whether one team can cover both homes in the morning.
Ask a family member to be the video team's guide for the day. An aunt or cousin who knows who is who will make sure the camera catches the grandmother handing over the jade bracelet, and not just whoever stood closest to the door. We ask for a short list of the elders who will receive tea, in order, with how the couple will address them. Names and titles in Chinese family structure are specific, and getting them right in the edit matters to the people watching.
The door games: loud, fast and worth two cameras
In many families, the groom and his groomsmen arrive at the bride's home and find the door blocked by the bridesmaids. To get in, they have to complete challenges: eating something sour, bitter, spicy and sweet, doing push-ups, answering questions about the bride, singing, and paying red envelopes (hongbao) until the bridesmaids are satisfied. It is chaotic and funny, and it is over quickly.
How we film it
- One camera on each side of the door. A single shooter has to choose between the groom's face and the bridesmaids' reaction. Two shooters get both, and the edit is far better for it.
- A wide lens and a small light. Apartment hallways and condo lobbies are tight. A wide prime and an on-camera LED let us stay close without blocking anyone.
- Audio on the noise, not on one person. A shotgun mic on camera works better here than lavaliers. The point is the laughter and the shouting.
- Ask the bridesmaids for the plan. If we know the challenges in advance, we can be in the right spot for the moment the groom bites the lemon.
Many Miami couples live in high-rise buildings with rules about hallways, noise and vendor access. Check with building management about the morning, and make sure the video team is on the visitor list for both homes.
The tea ceremony: the heart of the traditional day
For many families, this is the moment that actually makes the marriage official in the eyes of the elders. The couple serves tea to parents, grandparents and senior relatives, usually from oldest to youngest generation, often kneeling or bowing. Each elder drinks, offers words of blessing, and gives the couple red envelopes or gold jewelry. It may happen at the bride's home, the groom's home, both, or at the venue before the banquet.
The tea ceremony is quiet and emotional, and it can be easy to film badly. A few habits help:
- Set up before it starts. We place one camera on a tripod for a clean wide of the couple and the elders, and use a second, handheld camera for faces and hands.
- Light the room, not the people. Living rooms in Miami often have bright windows behind the sofa. Moving the chairs, closing a blind or bouncing light off the ceiling keeps faces visible without a harsh light in anyone's eyes.
- Mic the elders' blessings. The words grandparents say are often the most precious audio of the whole day, and they speak softly. A small recorder on the tea table, or a lavalier on the person leading the ceremony, captures it.
- Subtitles later. If blessings are in Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien or another dialect, a family member can help translate so the film carries subtitles for the next generation.
- Stay out of the line. The camera should never stand between the couple and the elder they are serving. We work from the sides.
Getting-ready coverage often flows straight into the tea ceremony. Our guide to getting-ready and first-look coverage explains how we plan those morning hours.
Dress changes and the color red
A bride at a Chinese wedding may wear three or more outfits: a white gown for the ceremony, a red qipao or embroidered kwa for the tea ceremony or banquet, and an evening dress for the later part of the night. Each change takes time and pulls the bride out of the room. Build those changes into the schedule with the planner, and decide in advance whether you want the video team to film each new entrance. Red decorations, double happiness characters and gold details photograph and film well, but red is also a color cameras can oversaturate. We set color carefully for those segments so the qipao looks like the fabric your mother remembers.
The banquet: courses, speeches and yum seng
A traditional wedding banquet often runs eight to ten courses, each with its own meaning, such as whole fish for abundance and noodles for long life. Between courses come the speeches, the entrances, sometimes a lion dance or a slideshow, and the toasts. In Cantonese families, the room may shout "yum seng" together, holding the sound as long as everyone can. Later, the couple visits every table to toast guests one by one.
Coverage priorities at the banquet
- The grand entrance and any change of outfit entrance.
- Parents' and best man's speeches, recorded from the microphone feed or a recorder at the podium.
- The group yum seng toast, filmed wide with a second angle on the couple.
- A short clip at every table during the table toasts, so each family gets a moment in the film.
- Food presentation on a few key courses, which elders often love to see later.
Toasts at a big banquet raise the same sound problems as any reception, only with more of them. We go into detail in our article on filming speeches and toasts.
A sample coverage plan
| Part of the day | Coverage | Crew |
|---|---|---|
| Morning at bride's home | Getting ready, door games, fetching the bride | Two shooters |
| Tea ceremony | Each elder, blessings, gifts | Two shooters, one on tripod |
| Ceremony | Vows, ring exchange, recessional | Two shooters |
| Portraits and dress change | Couple, families, red outfit | One shooter |
| Banquet | Entrances, speeches, yum seng, table toasts | Two shooters |
For a day this long, a second shooter is the only practical way to cover the bride's home and the groom's arrival at the same time.
How our team films Chinese weddings in Miami
We plan traditional weddings with the family, not only with the couple. Before the day, we meet to walk through each ritual in your family's version, learn the names of the elders, confirm the auspicious times, and agree on which moments matter most to your parents. On the day, our team works quietly during the tea ceremony and loudly enough at the door games to keep up. In the edit, we can deliver a highlight film for social media, a longer documentary cut with full tea ceremony and speeches, and subtitled versions for relatives who speak little English.
If your wedding blends several traditions, you may also find our notes on cultural wedding videography and our wedding day timeline guide helpful when you plan.
Planning a Chinese wedding in Miami? Tell us your date, the parts of the day your family wants to include and whether the tea ceremony will happen at home or at the venue. We will send back a coverage plan built around your family's traditions.