Cultural Wedding Photography Guides

A Library Of Cultural Knowledge, All At Your Fingertips

Our cultural wedding photography guides are designed to help you gain a comprehensive knowledge of 4 vastly different cultures that comprise a large portion of the wedding photo & video industry: Hindu, Jewish, Persian, and Asian (Chinese, Korean, & Vietnamese). To ensure your success, these guides explore traditions and offer specialized photography tips that will help you anticipate significant moments before they occur.

Jewish Weddings

Jewish wedding days constitute one of the holiest days of the bride and groom’s lives and are often compared to the holiday of Yom Kippur (or “day of atonement”), which is one of the most important holy days of the Jewish year. The journey towards this unification of souls is built on a number of unique traditions that make up a Jewish wedding day, and even these traditions vary within different branches of Judaism.

Chinese Weddings

In Chinese culture, the tea ceremony is widely considered the most significant part of the wedding day. During the ceremony, the bride and groom will often kneel before their parents and honored guests to pay respect for all they’ve provided in life. The groom generally serves tea first (before the bride), using both hands to deliver the cup. The recipient is then greeted respectfully and asked to drink the tea. After drinking the tea, the guest will then give a gift of jewelry or money in a red envelope to the bride and groom and offer a blessing for their marriage.

Hindu Weddings

Hindu weddings are unlike any other weddings you will ever experience! They are filled to the brim with vibrant, cultural events, lasting over the course of several days. It is interesting to note that various aspects of Hindu traditions have blended into Indian culture so that even those not practicing Hinduism still borrow traditions during important events like wedding ceremonies.

Korean Weddings

Though traditionally a significant part of the wedding ceremony, the pyebaek is typically practiced during the reception in modern Korean weddings. At the start of the ceremony, the groom’s parents sit across a decorated table from the newlyweds. The bride will bow before offering a cup to the father, and the groom will offer a cup to the mother. Finally, they will throw dates and chestnuts toward the couple, and the bride and groom will try to catch these objects with the bride’s wedding skirt.

Persian Weddings

One can’t help but notice the rich symbolism present in each of the Persian wedding traditions. Every element of the ceremony reflects a different aspect of the ancient Zoroastrian religion. While they may explore various customs, modern couples often seamlessly blend these ancient traditions into their ceremony.

Vietnamese Weddings

As the site for Vietnamese tea ceremonies, these special altars carry significant meaning and contain symbolic elements that have been part of these ceremonies for generations. From the altar cloth that commonly reads “Tram Nam Hanh Phuc,” which translates to “100 years of happiness,” to the ceremonial dragon/phoenix candle set (also used in several Chinese traditions), as well as fruit, flowers, and images of relatives, Vietnamese tea ceremony altars provide a beautiful backdrop for the ceremony and feature objects that represent direct links to the past.

Extensive Glossary Of Cultural Terms & Traditions

Gain access to a library of culturally specific terms pertinent to Hindu, Jewish, Persian, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese weddings. By understanding these terms & events you’ll not only have a greater understanding of how these traditions shaped these cultures but also how to better tell a wedding story.

Culturally Specific Terminology

Each culture is comprised of a plethora of symbolic traditions and rituals that are derived from their respective history & religion. We’ve compiled a list of terms that range of rituals to important objects that will help you better understand the inner workings of these cultural wedding days. Each term is defined and has a photo reference to help you identify these moments.

Tips On How To Capture Each Moment

Your images should be used to tell a stronger story and once you have a general understanding of the terms related to each culture, we provide a timeline of events that helps you to identify when these key moments will occur and how exactly to capture them. This will help you anticipate the major events that are scheduled to occur throughout the day and plan accordingly in regards to camera angles & gear choice.