Vietnamese weddings often center a tea ceremony that honors family and elders, and many pair it with a banquet or reception that fills a room with celebration. The flowers can range from a warm arrangement for an intimate home gathering to full centerpieces across many tables. This guide offers floral inspiration for planning with your family's own wishes leading the way.
The ways a Vietnamese wedding takes shape vary by family, region, faith, and generation. Some families hold a tea ceremony and a banquet; some include a procession of gifts between the two families' homes; others add a religious or civil ceremony, or weave in details from a life built here in Michigan. Two families with shared heritage may plan in quite different ways.
At Bentley Florist, family-owned in Burton, Michigan since 1963, we begin by listening. We ask which events and customs matter to you rather than assuming, and we treat color, style, and family roles as choices you make. What follows is practical, inspiration-forward guidance for flowers that respectfully support your celebration.
Overview
About This Celebration
A tea ceremony is central for many Vietnamese families, and it is often the heart of the day. The couple serves tea to elders, who may offer blessings in return, and flowers here work best when they frame the moment without crowding it. A low, warm arrangement near the serving area or a family altar area keeps sightlines and photographs clear.
Some families hold a procession of gifts between the two families' homes, a lively moment when trays are carried and presented. When this is part of the day, we can help with presentation touches, following the family's lead on how the procession is arranged and what it should feel like.
A banquet or reception frequently rounds out the celebration with a festive, full room. Round tables suit centerpieces guests can see over, and a fuller design at the couple's table gives the space a focal point. Because customs differ so much between families, we ask which moments to emphasize rather than assuming a fixed order.
Our starting point
Begin With the Family
Before we suggest a single stem, these are the questions we ask — because your family is the authority on your traditions.
- 01Which events are you planning, such as a tea ceremony, a banquet, or a separate ceremony, and which would you like flowers to support?
- 02Where will the tea ceremony take place, and how intimate is the setting?
- 03Will there be a procession of gifts between homes that we should plan flowers or presentation around?
- 04Which colors feel festive and welcome to your family, and are there any you would prefer we avoid?
- 05Who among parents, grandparents, and honored guests should receive personal flowers?
- 06Is there a family member or elder we should coordinate with on customs and timing?
Floral opportunities
Where Flowers Can Live
Tea ceremony setting
A low, warm arrangement near the serving or altar area marks the moment while keeping sightlines clear for serving elders and for photos.
Family altar area
If the family keeps an altar area during the ceremony, flowers can support it respectfully; the family brings the meaning and we follow their lead.
Procession of gifts
If a procession between homes is part of the day, we can help with presentation touches on the trays or greeting area, guided by the family.
Couple's bouquet and boutonniere
Personal flowers can echo the family's chosen palette, whether festive and saturated or soft and contemporary.
Parent and grandparent flowers
Corsages and boutonnieres honor elders and hosts; confirm who should receive them and in what style.
Entrance and welcome table
A greeting arrangement warms the room and can accompany a guest book, seating chart, or family photo display.
Banquet centerpieces
Round banquet tables suit centerpieces guests can see over; vary heights so the room feels full without blocking conversation.
Head table or sweetheart table
A fuller design anchors the couple's table and reads well against a large banquet backdrop.
Stage or backdrop
Larger banquets sometimes include a stage or photo backdrop that benefits from florals scaled to the room.
Palette
Color & Design Considerations
Red and gold read festive and celebratory to some Vietnamese families, and they can be carried beautifully through flowers, linens, and decor. Others prefer soft, modern tones or a lighter mix. We treat a red-and-gold palette as a welcome possibility to discuss rather than a rule, and we ask what feels right to you.
For a saturated, celebratory look, deep reds, warm pinks, and gold accents create a joyful room, and lush arrangements suit a large banquet. For a contemporary feel, blush, ivory, and greenery-forward designs can feel fresh while still marking the day. The direction is yours, and we design to it faithfully.
Flowers can echo the tones of clothing a family plans to wear, such as an ao dai, treated as inspiration rather than a rule to match exactly. If you share photos, we can pick up a color or texture in a way that feels connected without being literal.
We also ask, gently, whether any colors feel better left aside, since preferences differ from family to family. When flowers sit near a family altar area or a meaningful object, we design to support it rather than to compete with or restyle it.
Bring these questions to your family conversation
- Would you like red and gold to feature prominently, as accents, or not at all?
- Are there colors your family reads as festive that you would like carried through?
- Are there any colors you would prefer we avoid?
- Are you drawing inspiration from an ao dai or other clothing we might echo?
- Should the tea ceremony and banquet share a palette or feel distinct?
- Do you prefer full, lush arrangements or clean, minimal designs?
- Are there specific flowers you love or would rather not include?
Planning around the calendar
Michigan Seasons & Your Venue
Spring
Michigan spring brings tulips, ranunculus, lilac, and early peonies. Cool mornings help delicate blooms hold, though a late frost can shift local availability, so we keep alternatives ready.
Summer
Peonies open in early summer, followed by garden roses, dahlias, and hydrangea at their peak. Heat and humidity stress soft petals, so we choose resilient varieties and hydrate well for banquet-hall load-ins.
Fall
Autumn offers dahlias, chrysanthemums, and warm foliage that suit a festive red-and-gold palette. Cooler air helps full centerpieces last through a long banquet.
Winter
Winter leans on greenhouse and imported roses, ranunculus, amaryllis, and orchids. Deep reds and warm golds read beautifully, and we shield stems from cold during transport.
Vietnamese wedding days in our area often move between a home for the tea ceremony and a banquet hall for the reception, sometimes with a procession between family homes in between. We confirm access and teardown times at each setting and plan how any shared arrangements travel so nothing is left behind.
Banquet halls are typically climate controlled, which helps centerpieces stay fresh through a long evening of courses and toasts. When any part of the day happens outdoors in the warmer months, we choose sturdy varieties, keep flowers cool until placement, and plan for sun and wind.
Michigan winters call for care in transport, since freezing air can stress delicate blooms between the shop, the vehicle, and the venue. We stage arrangements indoors and time delivery so flowers arrive fresh right as guests do.
Making choices with impact
Where Flowers Matter Most
Flowers carry the most impact where guests gather and the day's key moments happen. At a tea ceremony, one well-placed, warm arrangement matters more than filling the room, since the ceremony itself is the focus. At a banquet, the centerpieces and the couple's table shape how the whole space feels.
Repurposing stretches beauty across a multi-event day. A tea ceremony arrangement can often move to a welcome or gift table, and a ceremony piece can travel to the banquet entrance or head table. We plan these moves in advance so each flower earns its place more than once.
Scale is a useful lever in a large banquet room. A smaller number of tall, generous centerpieces can define the space more effectively than many small arrangements spread thin. When a couple wants a festive, full feel, we concentrate flowers where the eye naturally lands.
The couple's personal flowers and elders' corsages deserve steady attention, since they mark the people at the heart of the day and appear in nearly every photograph. We help decide where fullness reads and where a simpler touch serves just as well.
Your family's traditions and preferences deserve to be heard. Share the details that matter to you, and Bentley Florist will help explore floral ideas that respectfully support your celebration.
Conversation guides
Questions Worth Asking
For your family
- Which events are you hosting, and which should flowers support?
- Where will the tea ceremony take place, and how intimate is the setting?
- Will there be a procession of gifts between homes to plan around?
- Will a family altar area be part of the tea ceremony?
- Would you like red and gold to feature prominently, lightly, or not at all?
- Are there any colors you would prefer we avoid?
- Who among family and honored guests should receive personal flowers?
- Are you drawing on an ao dai or other clothing as inspiration?
- Should the tea ceremony and banquet share a palette or feel distinct?
- How many tables will the banquet include, and what are their shapes?
- Is there a family member we should coordinate with on customs and timing?
- Are there flowers that hold special meaning for you, or any to avoid?
For your venue or house of worship
- What time can we set up, and when does everything need to be removed?
- Are there restrictions on candles, open flame, or hanging installations?
- For a home tea ceremony, where will it be staged and how much space is available?
- At the banquet hall, what are the table sizes and shapes, and how many centerpieces are needed?
- Is there a stage, backdrop, or head table that needs larger arrangements?
- Will venue staff help move flowers between the ceremony and banquet areas?
- Where can we store arrangements before the event, and is it climate controlled?
- Are there loading doors or delivery windows we should plan around?
- Is there space for a family altar area or gift presentation where flowers can support it?
- Is there a venue coordinator we should sync setup timing with?
Learn from experience
Planning Mistakes to Avoid
Assuming a red-and-gold palette
Red and gold read festive to some families, but not every couple wants them front and center. We ask how prominent they should be rather than defaulting to them.
Crowding the tea ceremony
The tea ceremony is often intimate. Too many flowers block sightlines and photos, so a low, warm arrangement usually serves the moment better.
Overlooking the procession
When a procession of gifts between homes is part of the day, forgetting to plan presentation and timing can leave that moment feeling unsupported.
Ignoring multi-event logistics
A day with a tea ceremony and a banquet needs a plan for how flowers travel, or pieces meant to be reused can end up stranded.
Restyling a family altar area
When a family keeps an altar area, flowers should support it, not reinterpret it. The family brings the meaning and we follow their lead.
Keep track
Your Planning Checklist
Early planning
Design decisions
Logistics and venue
FAQ
Common Questions
Written by the Burton Floral Design editorial team, presented by Bentley Florist. Published July 22, 2026 · Last updated July 22, 2026.
© Burton Floral Design, presented by Bentley Florist. All rights reserved. This guide may be shared in its original, unmodified form with attribution and a working link to BurtonFloralDesign.com. Content may not be republished, resold, altered, or represented as another organization's work without written permission.



