Elegant Park Hyatt Sanya Resort Chinese Wedding

Bride wearing a traditional Chinese wedding dress

It’s been such a pleasure looking back on last year in recent blog posts – and now I’m excited to share details from my final wedding of 2019! I have always wanted to visit Asia, so I was thrilled when I got an email asking if I would travel to China to photograph this celebration on the island of Sanya in Hainan. I never imagined that China was home to a tropical location like this! The vegetation looked so much like Brazil – there were palm trees and bougainvilleas everywhere! Truly an incredible backdrop for this sumptuous wedding.

Although the bride and groom reside in New York, they chose to marry in China, where both of their families share roots. The ceremony and reception took place at the Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort, which sits on a beach overlooking the South China Sea. The hotel is designed to feel like a private mansion on the water, with panoramic windows in the guest rooms that make for the most spectacular views. The wedding itself was as lavish as the surroundings! The day began with a tea ceremony, and the main ceremony took place in the afternoon – with three complete hair, makeup and dress changes for the bride along the way! Vows were exchanged on one of the hotel’s extraordinary outdoor terraces, a glass platform built on top of a fountain. It felt like the ceremony was floating on water, and the stunning flower scheme only added to the magic effect!

This wedding was truly an experience unlike any other, and top it off, my husband was able to join me for the trip. We spent two weeks in Asia, visiting Hanoi and Halong Bay in Vietnam, then traveling to Hong Kong and finally landing in Sanya to finish out our tour with this celebration. I love to see other cultures – it broadens my view of the world. This trip was truly a dream, and I already want to go back badly!

In the meantime, I’m grateful to hold on to the memories, and to be able to revisit the photographs. I hope you enjoy them too!