While in Uttaradit we had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Nickie's cousins daughter. It started about 7:30 AM and went until about 3:00 PM. It was a very interesting program. In Buddhist-Thai tradition, the groom's parents pay a "dowery" to the brides family. Early in the ceremony the Monks show up and do the blessings while the primary family is there. When all the guests have arrived around 11:00 or so, the groom entered into the room and had to go through "doors" (chains held by family members) and continue to proclaim his love and desire for the bride. There are normally 3 "doors", some of the people decided to add a 4th during the event. Once that is over, the bride and groom are joined on stage by both sets of parents and the provincial governor. The marriage is proclaimed, and there are several dignitaries Mayor, Judge, etc. that provide toasts honoring the couple. Once the wedding has occured, all of the people in attendance are invited to pour ceremonial water over the hands of the bride and groom. At this wedding it was mostly extended family and a few friends, and there were about 700 people there. The shot here is of the "immediate clan of the bride" ( of course with the exception of Nickie and I). I might also note that I was the only Farang (foreigner) there, and was treated like part of the family. It was a great experience.
2 comments:
wow that is so interesting! i thought maybe you had named your post "Nok & Boy" because you couldn't remember the name of the groom, but i guess his name is "Boy" ~
the traditions are neat, especially the doors and the water over the hands... i am curious why they added a 4th door, tho??
Boy!!! What a wedding and I thought some of ours wee extravagent. This is indeed a great ceremony. I know you did not mind being the only foreigner there. You look like you really are enjoying this event.
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