For our guests who may be less familiar with Chinese wedding traditions

A Chinese tea ceremony with family members is a tradition that symbolizes a union of two families. It is one of the biggest components to a Chinese wedding. During the ceremony, the new couple will serve tea to the elders in their families as a sign of respect. After drinking the tea, family members give the couple red envelopes with money inside or jewelry to wish the couple a happy life together. This will be a private event the morning of the festivities.

Traditionally, family members and guests will give red envelopes with money inside to the couple as wedding gifts. These red envelopes are called 利是 "lai see", which represents good fortune. The red envelope is the most common Chinese wedding gift because it helps the newlyweds begin to establish their lives together. Generally for an auspicious number for weddings, red envelopes are given in pairs.

The envelopes are red with gold writing and designs on them. Red symbolizes luck and good fortune in Chinese culture. You will see red envelopes are also used during Chinese New Year and other celebratory events, like birthdays. The designs often include zodiac animals, Chinese last names, or auspicious phrases.

You may see this symbol, 囍, everywhere for a Chinese wedding. This is a symbol of good fortune, more commonly seen at weddings. The double happiness symbol is quite literally the word for happiness, "喜", twice.

Tradition Chinese lion dance, 舞獅 (mou si), is a loud and exciting tradition. Performers wear elaborate costumes and imitate the movements of a lion. Why lions? You're likely to see the southern-style of Chinese lion dancing in the U.S. Different styles have different origin stories. The southern-style (including design of the lion, how it moves, and the music that accompanies it) is based off the folklore of Nian and the dream of an emperor.

Nian, is a mythical creature, described as a flat-faced lion with four legs. This creature would eat crops and villagers. It fears loud noises and the color red. Villagers found dressing up like the creature and banging on drums and instruments were effective in keeping it away. Thus, creating a tradition every year to keep it away.

The emperor's dream on the other hand, may be a little more realistic. An emperor had a dream about an auspicious animal so he had his subjects to recreate this animal as a symbol of good fortune and prosperity for festivals and important events. The characteristics of this animal matched the animal from the stories from the west. An animal four legs, sharp teeth, furry mane from the India and the sub-Saharan plains, the lions.

You'll hear loud music from drums, gongs, and cymbals. You may even hear some firecrackers go off. It is thought to bring even more luck if you feed the lions red envelopes.