Lotus & Lemons: Inside Isabelle Yong & Jordan Lelli’s Tea Ceremony & Engagement Party

When East meets West, tradition becomes something entirely its own.

Some celebrations are designed to impress. Others are designed to remember.

For Isabelle Yong and Jordan Lelli, their tea ceremony and engagement party became something far more intimate: a living tribute to heritage, family, and the quiet ways love carries generations forward.

Held as a celebration of two worlds coming together, the day unfolded under a theme that felt poetic from the start — Lotus & Lemons. One rooted in Isabelle’s Chinese heritage, the other a nod to Jordan’s Italian background. But beyond aesthetics, every flower, fabric, and carefully chosen detail became part of a larger story about honouring where they came from while creating something entirely their own.

What emerged was a celebration that felt deeply personal, visually unexpected, and emotionally layered.

A Celebration Rooted in Memory

While many couples treat the tea ceremony as one chapter of a larger wedding story, Isabelle made it the emotional centrepiece.

What inspired you to make the tea ceremony such a significant event in your engagement journey?

Isabelle:
“While planning my wedding, I felt the absence of my late grandparents, Yang Berbahagia Dato' Dr Lew Sip Hon and Datin Molly Goh Min Chek.

As a teenager, I helped decorate their home for Chinese New Year, hanging lanterns and cherry blossoms from the ceilings. Their love for family traditions, beautiful celebrations, and gracious hosting taught me the art of creating warmth, joy, and atmosphere, shaping who I am today.

In Chinese culture, the tea ceremony is the highest expression of respect and gratitude to family, making their absence especially meaningful on this day.

To honour them was the reason for this tea ceremony and engagement party.”

The result wasn’t simply ceremonial — it felt emotional. The celebration became an extension of memory itself, carrying forward the values and rituals Isabelle inherited from the people who shaped her.

Designing Two Cultures Into One Language

Visually, the day felt playful and elegant at once.

Pink lotuses emerged from fresh lemons. Traditional silhouettes met unexpected textures. Bright tones replaced convention. Every corner invited guests into the story.

From the florals to the overall atmosphere, every detail seemed to tell a story. How did you and your florist approach blending Eastern traditions with Western influences, and were there any symbolic flowers, colours, or design choices that held special meaning?

“The theme of our tea ceremony was Lotus & Lemons — symbols that represent our cultures, our roots.

Impian Design took on this new challenge by adding pink lotus flowers stemmed into fresh cut lemons as the table centrepiece, nodding to Jordan’s Italian roots and my Chinese heritage.

Liza Salam helped me narrow my colour scheme down to bright tones of pink, yellow, and green throughout the celebration.

Our cake by Brown & Syai was inspired by classic Nyonya tiffin carriers.

Orchids were especially meaningful to me because they remind me of my grandmother and her beloved orchid sanctuary. I still remember her lovingly — though firmly — yelling at me whenever I ran too close to her orchids.

Even the smallest details, like the Chinese brocade on the lanterns, helped weave everything together.”

The celebration never felt divided between East and West. Instead, it existed somewhere beautifully in between.

Finding Familiarity Across Cultures

When two cultures meet, differences often take centre stage. For Isabelle and Jordan, it was the similarities that surprised them most.

Were there any cultural moments, conversations, or customs that surprised you both while blending your backgrounds, and how did those shape the celebration?

“Food and family have always been so important in both our lives.

Spending time with each other’s families over the years, we noticed all the similarities in our cultures and also the little things that made us so different.

In my family, children traditionally serve food to the eldest first as a mark of respect.

In contrast, Jordan’s family prioritises guests by serving them first and themselves last.

It has been fascinating to discover the many similarities we share between our cultures.

We decided that since tiramisu was always a requirement for special occasions in his family, we had to have it for this monumental celebration that we were sharing — especially since his family wouldn’t be able to attend.

It’s what made the ceremony feel more like home to him.”

The details became acts of translation — not changing traditions, but introducing them to one another.

Creating A Celebration Everyone Could See Themselves In

The beauty of the day wasn’t only in the styling but in how intentionally every choice was layered.

If your tea ceremony had one message or feeling you hoped guests would leave with, what would it be?

“I wanted everyone to leave feeling the same warmth and sense of belonging that Jordan and I felt throughout the day.

Every detail was intentionally chosen to celebrate the cultures that have shaped our lives — from my sari-inspired draping to the Chinese collar to my batik-inspired nails.

The lemon embroidery to the gothic knot buttons on my fiancé’s Italian-inspired tang suit.

It was important to me that every guest felt a connection to the celebration and saw a piece of themselves reflected in it, no matter their culture.”

That feeling lingered long after the ceremony ended: not tradition for tradition’s sake, but tradition made personal.

The Ring That Quietly Tied Everything Together

Sometimes symbolism only reveals itself in hindsight.

Jordan’s proposal ring featured a pear-cut yellow sapphire inspired by the lemons of Italy — a detail that unexpectedly became a thread running through the celebration.

Jordan’s proposal ring featured a pear-cut yellow sapphire inspired by the lemons of Italy — such a thoughtful nod to his roots. How did that symbolism shape the feeling or aesthetic of the tea ceremony itself?

“Truthfully, I didn't see the correlation until my Maid of Honour shared a heartwarming blessing that stayed with me:

‘And when Jordan slipped a pear-cut yellow sapphire onto Isabelle's finger, inspired by the lemons of Italy, it felt perfectly fitting. A little piece of where he comes from, wrapped into the beginning of where they're going.’ — Nalisa Alia Amin

Looking back, that's exactly what our tea ceremony represented.

It was a celebration of family, heritage, and the joining of two worlds.

The ring carried a piece of Jordan's story, while the tea ceremony honoured mine — together creating a beautiful beginning that felt uniquely ours.”

And perhaps that’s what made Lotus & Lemons feel so memorable.

Not because it merged cultures.

But because it made space for both to remain fully themselves.

The Details

Bringing Lotus & Lemons to life was a collaborative effort led by event planner and coordinator Liza Salam (@saljoliza) alongside Another Half (@another.half3), whose vision helped transform the celebration into a layered expression of heritage, family, and modern romance. The atmosphere was further elevated by Impian Designs (@impian_designs), who translated the couple’s East-meets-West concept into florals and décor that felt both playful and deeply personal. Guests were also welcomed by a fruit and flower bar curated by Kurnia Kirana (@kurniakiranaflowers), adding another thoughtful detail to the experience. The celebration took place at Sun & Moon (@sunandmoon_my), with live entertainment by Ronnie Jupiter (@ronniejupiter) setting the tone for the day.

Every moment was documented through the lens of The Noir (@officialthenoir), capturing both the grandeur and intimacy of the occasion. Isabelle’s beauty look was completed by a talented team that reflected her intentional approach to styling: makeup by Mandy Leigh (@mandyleighxmua), hair by Steff Yip (@bysteff), nails by Angeline Edem (@madamxlaw.nailstudio), and lashes by Yota Lash (@yota_brows_and_lash).

For fashion, Isabelle and Jordan embraced tradition with a contemporary edge through two distinct looks. Their first ensemble featured a Cheongsam and Tangsuit by Lililala Bridal in Ho Chi Minh City (@lililalavietnam) — a fitting choice for the tea ceremony’s cultural significance. Later, Isabelle changed into a romantic white gown from Adelaide Bridal Collective by Made with Love (@mwlbride), bringing the celebration into its next chapter while maintaining the timeless spirit of the day.