It didn’t take long for Lin Han to know that Wanwan Lei was the one. The two met at a dinner held by mutual friends. They went on three dates in the three consecutive days that followed their initial introduction, and then Han proposed.
“I didn’t take him too seriously,” admits Wanwan. “Six months later, he conspired with my family to secretly book a park in Beijing and get me there under the pretense of a family dinner. My mum had told me to dress up as there would be family photos after the dinner. When I arrived with my sister, candles lit the pathways and there was a grand piano in the middle of the park, with a pianist playing our favorite classical pieces by Chopin. My parents, his parents, and friends from all over the world emerged from different places, and finally Han himself came out and proposed in front of our loved ones.” Han designed the engagement ring himself—a teardrop diamond with a band made to look like his hands. “The moment was unforgettable,” says the bride.
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The two had founded a contemporary art museum in Beijing called M WOODS in 2014, so they were not only now engaged but already partners in art and commerce as well. “The museum caters to young people and Beijing’s growing appetite for contemporary art,” says Wanwan. “We run a team of about 30 staff members—organizing exhibitions and education programs, collecting, curating, and collaborating.”
Initially, Wanwan and Han struggled to find a wedding venue that felt right—then an old friend came into the picture. “The artist Not Vital became something of a mentor to me when we were both between Beijing and New York,” says Wanwan. “When I told him we were having difficulty finding a location, he encouraged us to hold it as his castle, Schloss Tarasp, in Switzerland. There we were surrounded by art. He actually plans for it to become a foundation one day, so he thought it was fitting that we marry there.”
Han meticulously planned every detail of the wedding day, while Wanwan focused on her wardrobe. Masha Ma, a close friend of the bride’s who runs her own atelier in Shanghai, designed two dresses for her: a white dress for the ceremony and an evening dress. “We both agreed that classical beauty is not enough for a wedding dress—there needs to be a personal connection between the wearer and the dress,” says Wanwan. “With that in mind, she used canvas for both the underlayers of my white dress, which are visible at some angles, and in my veil.” For the evening dress, Wanwan and Masha decided to do something sculptural and chose to use poppies, what Wanwan calls “a beautiful, poetic, and dangerous flower” as a starting point. The bride’s jewelry was by Chaumet, and her makeup was done by Ding Wei. Meanwhile, Han wore Tom Ford throughout the day.
The ceremony took place in a tiny chapel on the grounds. “It was the perfect intimate setting for our 20 guests,” says Wanwan. “In a reversal of the tale of Prince Charming riding a white horse, I rode up to the chapel at the castle to meet Lin Han.” Not Vital married the couple, and an organist from Zurich played at the ceremony. Flowers were arranged by two local artists.
Afterward, dinner was served in the castle’s dining room. “Not Vital made the cake as our wedding gift—an enormous chocolate model of one of his artworks, Sunset House (2005), which is in Niger. He has made five of these works around the world, structures specifically built to watch the sun go down. It was extremely poetic,” says Wanwan. “After the cake cutting, my sister Judy played the piano.”
Dinner was followed by fireworks. “We all went to the very top of the castle to watch,” says Wanwan. “We were actually able to catch glimpses of their reflections on the lake. Such a short moment, but something I will remember forever.”
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