Your Chinese wedding banquet footage, cut into a highlight of the night
The Chinese wedding banquet is the public celebration that usually closes the wedding day: a dinner of many courses at round tables in a restaurant or hotel ballroom, with the couple's grand entrance, an MC, speeches, and toasts that in Cantonese, Malaysian and Singaporean families often build to the long yam seng shout. To get a highlight of it, upload the banquet footage as its own WeddingEditor project, name the entrances, speakers and toasts in the preference questions, and WeddingEditor's AI editing makes a Highlight Reel of about 5 minutes or a Social Teaser.
Running orders differ a lot between venues and families. Get the MC's programme before the night and use it to write your brief.
Creating an account is free.
Last updated October 2026
How to get a highlight of the banquet
- 1
Upload the evening on its own
Create a project for the banquet and upload everything from the evening: guests arriving at the sign-in table, the hall before the doors open, the entrances, the speeches, the toasts, the table rounds and the send-off at the door. Bring in your stage camera and roaming camera without trimming or renaming.
- 2
Turn the MC's programme into your brief
List the programme items you want kept in the moments question, in order: the parents' entrance, the couple's first and second entrances, the speeches, the cake or champagne tower if there was one, the yam seng and the table rounds. Name each speaker with their relationship to the couple in the speeches question, and say which entrance outfit is which.
- 3
Review the night, then share it
Start processing with One Wedding or a plan credit; it typically takes 24 to 72 hours. Watch the highlight in the app and download the 1080p MP4. WeddingEditor sends nothing to the couple, so you choose when they see it, and up to two revision rounds by email are there if a speech or a toast needs adjusting.
Moments of the banquet to list
Most of these happen in a set order on a programme. Copy that order into your notes.
Before the doors open
Guests signing in and handing red packets at the reception table, the decorated stage, the double happiness backdrop, and table settings before anyone sits.
The grand entrance
The couple entering through the hall to applause, in many families with parents entering first, and the couple walking to the stage or the head table.
Courses arriving
Dishes brought to every table at once, such as a roast suckling pig at many Cantonese banquets, a whole fish or noodles for long life. One shot is usually enough.
Speeches
The parents' or a family elder's thank you, the best man or a close friend, and in many banquets the couple thanking their parents, sometimes with a bow.
The yam seng
Groomsmen or family on stage leading the hall in the long "yaaam" before "seng", often three times, each louder than the last. Mandarin speaking families may simply toast with gan bei.
Table rounds and send-off
The couple going table to table to toast every guest, and at the end of the night standing at the door with their parents to thank people as they leave.
What happens at a Chinese wedding banquet, in order
This is a common running order. Some banquets are smaller and quieter, some add games, performances or a lion dance, and Christian couples may hold a Western style reception instead.
1. Arrival and sign-in
Guests sign a guestbook and many give a red packet at the reception table run by friends or relatives. Seating is at round tables, commonly of ten, with family seated near the stage.
2. Entrances
The couple makes a grand entrance, often after the parents. Many brides change outfits during the evening, for example from a red qun kwa or qipao to a gown, and some couples make a second entrance after the change.
3. Dinner, speeches and toasts
A long sequence of courses is served across the evening, with speeches and toasts between them. In Cantonese, Malaysian and Singaporean banquets the yam seng is often led from the stage by the groomsmen or family.
4. Table rounds and farewell
The couple and often their parents visit each table to toast the guests, then line up at the exit to thank people as they leave. The table rounds produce many short clips that look alike, so say in the preferences which tables matter.
Venue light and sound
Ballrooms and restaurant halls tend to have dim house lights, colored stage lights and spotlights for the entrances, and the sound is the MC on a microphone over a loud room. The edit lets the MC and the toasts be heard and uses music alongside them, balanced by your audio preference.
One edit from the evening
This project makes one edit: a Highlight Reel of about 5 minutes or a Social Teaser of the banquet, made by WeddingEditor's AI editing. Every speech in full is a cut you make yourself.
Parts of the banquet and what to put in the preferences
| Part of the banquet | What it looks or sounds like | Preference note |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-in | Guests at the reception table, red packets, the guestbook | "Two shots of the sign-in table, no close ups of envelopes." |
| Grand entrance | Spotlight, applause, the couple walking to the stage | "Keep the first entrance from the doors to the stage." |
| Outfit change entrance | The bride back in a second or third outfit | "Second entrance in the blue gown, short." |
| Speeches | Microphone voices over a busy room, some in Chinese, some in English | "Bride's father in Cantonese, then the best man in English." |
| Yam seng | A long rising shout from the whole hall, glasses raised | "Keep the full third yam seng with the crowd shot." |
| Table rounds | The couple toasting each table in turn | "Only the grandparents' table and the university friends' table." |
| Farewell line | The couple and parents at the door thanking guests | "End on the couple waving off the last guests." |
What is a Chinese wedding banquet?
The Chinese wedding banquet (often called a wedding dinner, or hei jau in Cantonese) is the evening feast where the couple's families host their guests, thank them, and celebrate the marriage in public. A banquet highlight is a short edit of the evening, made from your footage, that keeps the entrances, speeches and toasts in order.
It is not the tea ceremony, which is the private family rite earlier in the day, and it is not quite a Western reception: the toasting moves from table to table rather than happening once, and the dinner itself is part of the programme rather than a break from it.
Chinese wedding banquet video questions
Can I get a highlight of only the banquet?
Yes. Upload the evening's footage to a project of its own; that project's one edit is the banquet highlight. The morning and the tea ceremony can be a separate project if the couple wants those too.
Will the yam seng be loud and clear?
It will sound as your cameras captured it, with music in support. If the hall was very loud, say in your notes which camera caught it best, and pick more speeches and voices in the audio question if the shout should lead.
How do I stop the table rounds taking over the edit?
List only the tables that matter, such as the grandparents or the couple's friends, and say "all other table rounds briefly or not at all" in the avoid question. The edit follows the balance you write.
The bride wore three outfits. Will all three be in the highlight?
Only if you ask. Describe each outfit and when it was worn, for example "red qun kwa for the first entrance, white gown at dinner, blue qipao for the table rounds", and say you want each one seen.
Will the film have music as well as the room's sound?
Yes. WeddingEditor uses music together with the room's own sound, and the audio preference sets how much of each: mostly music-led for the table rounds, or more voices if the speeches matter most.
How much does a banquet highlight cost?
One Wedding is $119 one-time for one wedding; subscribers spend a plan credit on the project instead.
More for Chinese weddings
The entrances, the speeches and three yam seng
Create your account, upload the banquet as its own project, and paste in the MC's running order.
Start your first wedding