Please join us in 蘇 州Suzhou, China, on June 21-22, 2025

Wedding Ceremony | June 22nd, 2025

Tea Ceremony and the Three Bridges

Traditionally, the tea ceremony is where the bride and groom prepare and serve tea to their respective families. The event is considered the traditional nuptial ritual.

The all-day ceremony will begin at the bride’s birth home, where the bride and the groom will serve tea to the bride’s parents as the bride bids farewell to her birth family, followed by a procession across the town to the groom’s home. At the groom’s house, the bride and groom will again serve tea to the groom’s parents as recognition of the joining of two families.

In Suzhou and especially near the ancient Tongli Town, couples cross the three auspicious bridges over the canals after the tea ceremony. The three bridges symbolize peace, luck, and lasting celebration.

The ceremony at the bride’s home will be an intimate celebration of family and the wedding party only. We invite our guests to gather at the groom’s (temporary) residence to observe the second tea ceremony and the crossing of the three bridges. After the ceremony, we will shuttle guests to the reception venue at the Tongli Lake Resort.

Details with location and time will be sent out to the guests.

Welcome Tea | June 21st, 2025 2-5PM

Qi Garden Whiskey Lounge 天光·齊

Address: steps away from 拙政园 the Humble Adminstrator’s Garden

For the pre-wedding celebration, we welcome our out-of-town guests to a garden lounge steps away from the Humble Adminstrator’s Garden, which we hope our guests can take advantage of the wedding to visit. The Humble Adminstrator’s Garden Is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that preserves both the architecture and zeitgeist of Ming Dynasty Suzhou - a celebration of elegance over extravagance, culture over politics, and homecoming and sitting underneath one’s own vines and fig trees. An exact replica of one corner of the garden is installed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Reception | June 22nd, 2025 6PM

Tongli Lake Resort 同里湖度假村

For the reception after the tea ceremony, we want to bring guests to the Tai Lake near the ancient Tongli Town, where we will host a Chinese banquet featuring Suzhou delicacies, popular Chinese fare, and, of course, an unnecessary amount of bai-jiu.

We do hope out-of-town guests can bring some moves and help break Suzhouneses’ unspoken fear of dancing

Travel

Suzhou is a big city to navigate, with five districts and four towns. For accommodation, we recommend guests either stay in the Gusu District, where the majority of Suzhou’s historical landmarks are and where we will host the welcome tea, or remain in the ancient Tongli town near the reception venue. For booking, please use trip.com for the best and most comprehensive hotel list.

南园饭店 Garden Hotel Suzhou

Gusu District

99 Daichengqiao Road, near Fenghuang street, Gusu, Suzhou

#gardens #Lion garden

Address-Chinese: 苏州市姑苏区带城桥路99好，近凤凰街

花筑·育青阁酒店 Yuqing Garden

Tongli Town

You Jia Nong, Zhu Xing Jie no. 122, Wujiang, Suzhou

#groom’s residence #tea ceremony

Address-Chinese: 苏州市吴江区竹行街尤家弄122號

同里湖度假村 Tongli Lake Resort

Tongli Town

88 West Lake Highway, Dongjiao, Wujiang, Suzhou

#Banquet venue

Address-Chinese: 苏州市吴江区东郊环湖西路88号

FAQs and Travel Tips

  • Depending on your travel plans, you can fly in several international airports within China. Shanghai PVG airport should be the easiest to fly into and get from on your way to Suzhou.

  • Hotels in Ancient Tongli Town

    Hotels in Gusu District

  • Please download WeChat prior to your travel to ensure good communication for the event

    We will send out a QR code to join our WeChat out-of-town guest group

  • Baijiu is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume. Tip to avoid over-consumption: avoid cheeky Chinese uncles who bring a suspicious shot glass with them

  • You will need a VPN for majority of your time here. I recommend using Shadow Rocket where you can link up with fast-speed and reliable VPN IP addresses (which I can share), or Express VPN (paid plan but a better UI).

    You will not be able to access majority of the social media, messaging apps, Google Services and western news outlets. But you can access Zoom and Microsoft Services

  • Suzhou has a very good subway system and has rentable bikes as long as you have a Chinese number to receive texts with. Ride-hailing is also relatively affordable - the rideshare platform is the DiDi Rider app.

  • Suzhou is 20 min away from Shanghai and 5 hours away from Beijing by high speed train. If you plan to travel, please click here to join this WhatsApp pre-travel group where we will share resources and tips.

  • Gifts are not necessary nor expected for out-of-town guests. Your travelling across the world to celebrate us is a gift in itself.

    If you do want to contribute, please refer to our registry page where you can contribute what you wish. If you want to take part in the Chinese tradition of red envelops, aka Hongbao 🧧, you can wrap a note, a card, or 5 RMB bills in red envelopes, which you can find in convenience shops and most stores in China.