Who Doesn't Love A Good Wedding?

Just a few weekends ago I was blessed with the chance to attend a traditional Thai wedding. Thanks to the director of my volunteer teaching program, Jason Nontaken, I got to witness something I would have no chance of seeing on my own. I don’t care where you live wedding invitations aren't just handed out to backpackers walking down the street.  This thing was something else. The over mining concepts of the wedding were very similar to the weddings I have attended in the United States. Good food, good drink and good people all coming together to celebrate the life of two individuals being united as one. What’s not to love about that? Nothing. They’re even better when I’m not the one getting married so this one was hitting on all cylinders.

While I did say the concepts of the weddings were the same there were a few major differences. Thanks to Jason I was able conduct a small interview with him after the wedding to get an exact understanding of what was going on and whether or not some these things are common in all Thai weddings. Here is a list of some of the differences.

1                 
     1.)    The ceremony setting. Instead of having the ceremony (vows, ring exchange, etc) in front of all the guests the bride and groom were placed in a smaller room where the guests filtered on through to give a more personal exchange of congratulations. Once the guests rotated through the room they went back to their respective tables.

Guest seating area 

Small room with Bride, Groom and close family. Bride and Groom dressed in the white to the right of pole

2.)    Influence of religion. Aside from the various forms of dress and offerings one thing that stood out included a seashell and holy water (the holy water came from the closest temple that was blessed by monks the previous day). During a particular part of the ceremony guests were asked to walk through the small room. They were handed a large seashell filled with the holy water. As each guest walked through with the seashell they poured it through the clasped hands of the bride and groom. The pouring of the holy water symbolized rebirth of one of the Buddhist gods Shiva. I was given the wonderful opportunity to bless the bride and groom with the holy water as the picture below shows.

Blessing the Bride and Groom with the holy water

3.)    There was an announcer! As I said prior the bride and groom sat in a small room while the large masses sat at tables just outside the room in the reception area. While the guests slowly walked through family by family there was an announcer relaying all the happenings to the ones sitting down patiently. While my feelings are questionably inappropriate I found this part highly comical. It’s literally just how you would imagine it. The gentlemen sat off to the side of the bride and groom with a microphone while multiple loudspeakers scattered throughout the tables echoed his voice. I couldn't make out anything he was saying but it was probably for the better.

The announcer himself 

If I were to really get into detail this list could go on and on with differences but we can just leave it at that as these three really stuck out. Religion was the main culprit in most of the minor differences, (such as the white connective headdress pictured above) which makes sense due to the major influence of Buddhism in a lot of Thai lives.

The wedding was such a beautiful day and I feel so fortunate that Jason let me tag along and be a part of something so special. And when I mean be a part of it I literally mean I was in the opening ceremonies. In a picture below you can see bringing in some of the opening offerings. So awesome! 

I stick out like a sore thumb