Jan and Mike, the couple I met in India had kindly invited Graeme and me as well as Martin - my friend from India to their wedding in Bangkok on the 10th of March, 2007.
Graeme had checked us in at the very exclusive Davis hotel for our last night. This was conveniently just around the corner from the wedding and was quite amazing!
We arrived at the Imperial Queens Hotel in Sukhumvit for the Water Ceremony at 4.30pm.
It was great to see Mike and Jan again. They both seemed a little nervous and overwhelmed. Jan's parents are Thai, although she was born and raised in California. She can speak Thai but feels a little removed from the culture. Mike's parents are Chinese. He too was born and raised in California. Jan's parents wanted their only daughter to get married in the Thai tradition.
Martin arrived a little late. We were all in tears of laughter when he showed up with BLUE hair. He was dressed in a suit and flip flops. Ahhh the life of a backpacker eh. I was impressed that he made do with what he had. He did a great job! And made us laugh too! I am not sure the rest of the guests were that impressed!!
Both Mike and Jan looked gorgeous. Mike was wearing a tailor made suit that was beautiful. Jan was wearing a traditional Thai wedding dress made of cream coloured silk. In her hair she had beautiful gold ornaments.
The water ceremony is reserved only for close family and friends. We felt honoured to be invited. At the ceremony the couple, is lead to the front of a stage. They both wear wreaths which are connected to one another's with a string of tiny white flowers. Both kneel on the floor with their hands together as if they were praying. The wedding guests go up one by one and are handed a small ornamental jug filled with water. Each guest pours water over the hand of both the husband and wife and gives them a blessing. Mike and Jan were both in tears soon after this tradition began.
When I spoke with them at the reception they said it was really overwhelming to have the people closest to you shower you with only positive hopes, and wishes for the future. In the negative world we live in, it is not surprising that the two of them were in tears.
After the ceremony we all got to have professional photographs with the couple. We were then lead to the reception whilst the couple change into western wedding outfits.
The reception was incredible. A lavish feast laid on 4 large tables was put before us. The food was really good and interesting too. As this was a Thai wedding we got to sample the real deal! There was also some delicious western food served. Fabulous. The massive ballroom was decorated with red roses. In the center of the room stood a GIANT wedding cake of 6 tiers! This was surrounded by ice sculptures.
We ate well and sat at a table with some of Jan's Thai relatives. We got talking to an uncle of hers about Thai politics, India, China and the East. It was really interesting to have his view on things.
In the background a small orchestra played some old classics. This was lovely too.
Mike and Jan eventually joined the party looking lovely, albeit a little fraught! They'd been having more photographs taken of their special day! They come over to talk to us. Both of them felt a little stressed, but were pleased to see us which was really nice.
The reception is not like a western reception which is quite jovial. Its a little more serious. People sit at tables, eat and talk or they swan around the room picking at the delicious food. Once the bride and groom return, the family gets up on stage with them and speeches are given in Thai. We were then entertained by a Royal Thai opera singer. This was great!
After the singing, Jan and Mike were lead to the massive cake in the center of the room. Here they were handed a sword to cut through the vanilla cream and pieces of cake were dished out.
The wedding ended early - about 10pm. We were the last people left! Graeme and I walked back to our hotel and enjoyed our last bit of Bangkok together. We were both very sad to say goodbye to one another.
We both had to get up early the next morning. Graeme had an 8am flight to London. I had a 6am bus to Siem Riep, Cambodia.
Graeme had checked us in at the very exclusive Davis hotel for our last night. This was conveniently just around the corner from the wedding and was quite amazing!
We arrived at the Imperial Queens Hotel in Sukhumvit for the Water Ceremony at 4.30pm.
It was great to see Mike and Jan again. They both seemed a little nervous and overwhelmed. Jan's parents are Thai, although she was born and raised in California. She can speak Thai but feels a little removed from the culture. Mike's parents are Chinese. He too was born and raised in California. Jan's parents wanted their only daughter to get married in the Thai tradition.
Martin arrived a little late. We were all in tears of laughter when he showed up with BLUE hair. He was dressed in a suit and flip flops. Ahhh the life of a backpacker eh. I was impressed that he made do with what he had. He did a great job! And made us laugh too! I am not sure the rest of the guests were that impressed!!
Both Mike and Jan looked gorgeous. Mike was wearing a tailor made suit that was beautiful. Jan was wearing a traditional Thai wedding dress made of cream coloured silk. In her hair she had beautiful gold ornaments.
The water ceremony is reserved only for close family and friends. We felt honoured to be invited. At the ceremony the couple, is lead to the front of a stage. They both wear wreaths which are connected to one another's with a string of tiny white flowers. Both kneel on the floor with their hands together as if they were praying. The wedding guests go up one by one and are handed a small ornamental jug filled with water. Each guest pours water over the hand of both the husband and wife and gives them a blessing. Mike and Jan were both in tears soon after this tradition began.
When I spoke with them at the reception they said it was really overwhelming to have the people closest to you shower you with only positive hopes, and wishes for the future. In the negative world we live in, it is not surprising that the two of them were in tears.
After the ceremony we all got to have professional photographs with the couple. We were then lead to the reception whilst the couple change into western wedding outfits.
The reception was incredible. A lavish feast laid on 4 large tables was put before us. The food was really good and interesting too. As this was a Thai wedding we got to sample the real deal! There was also some delicious western food served. Fabulous. The massive ballroom was decorated with red roses. In the center of the room stood a GIANT wedding cake of 6 tiers! This was surrounded by ice sculptures.
We ate well and sat at a table with some of Jan's Thai relatives. We got talking to an uncle of hers about Thai politics, India, China and the East. It was really interesting to have his view on things.
In the background a small orchestra played some old classics. This was lovely too.
Mike and Jan eventually joined the party looking lovely, albeit a little fraught! They'd been having more photographs taken of their special day! They come over to talk to us. Both of them felt a little stressed, but were pleased to see us which was really nice.
The reception is not like a western reception which is quite jovial. Its a little more serious. People sit at tables, eat and talk or they swan around the room picking at the delicious food. Once the bride and groom return, the family gets up on stage with them and speeches are given in Thai. We were then entertained by a Royal Thai opera singer. This was great!
After the singing, Jan and Mike were lead to the massive cake in the center of the room. Here they were handed a sword to cut through the vanilla cream and pieces of cake were dished out.
The wedding ended early - about 10pm. We were the last people left! Graeme and I walked back to our hotel and enjoyed our last bit of Bangkok together. We were both very sad to say goodbye to one another.
We both had to get up early the next morning. Graeme had an 8am flight to London. I had a 6am bus to Siem Riep, Cambodia.
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