Not only was it the Chinese New Year this weekend, it was also the Thai wedding of two of my best friends, Mint and Greg. Unsurprisingly, it was a truly spectacular occasion
Still suffering the after effects of having a little too much fun this weekend after attending the wedding of Mint and Greg at the Felix River Kwai resort a couple of hours just outside Bangkok. The Felix is a beautiful location for a wedding – right on the bank of the River Kwai with the famous Bridge Over The River Kwai in the background. Kicking off with a sunset cruise on the river on Friday night, the celebrations lasted pretty much all weekend for those with the stamina to keep going.
Despite the karaoke machine making an appearance on the cruise boat, we didn’t stay out til too late on the Friday night as the wedding ceremony the next morning was due to start early. I felt very privileged to be part of Greg’s procession – Thai tradition dictates that the groom must come to the bride’s house with a procession of gifts and then ask to be let in, paying the gatekeepers with envelopes of money. The gifts themselves are numerous fruits like coconuts and bananas, and also huge sticks of sugarcane. I was carrying a branch from a banana leaf tree, which doubled as a useful sunshade, as it was getting hot even at 8 in the morning.
Because it was Chinese New Year, Greg’s procession to the bride’s family house was led by two Chinese dragons, complete with drummers and many firecrackers going off – it was a riot of noise and colour – definitely the best way to make an entrance. Once the groom had made it past the gatekeepers and been accepted into the house, the rest of us were invited in too to witness yok nam cha, the Thai-Chinese tea ceremony that creates bonding between Greg and Mint’s families. We moved outside again for wai phra, the blessing by nine Thai Buddhist monks. During this part of the ceremony, the head monk blesses the water that is used for lot nam, the marriage ceremony itself.
3 Monks during the Wai Phra ceremony
Lot nam is my favourite part of the Thai wedding protocols – the bride and groom are joined by a string that shows their literal binding together. They then kneel and put their hands into the praying gesture of the Thai wai, the Thai symbol of showing respect to another. Each of the couple’s family and friends step up and pour the water blessed by the head monk onto the couple’s hands, and telling the bride and groom their own personal best wishes for them. I really like this because it’s a moment where each guest gets to say something personal and heartfelt to the bride and groom within the formality of the ceremony itself. Once this is done, our friends Mint and Greg were man and wife.
After that, it was time for everyone to retire and escape the heat of the day as by 11am it was starting to really beat down. We walked over the Bridge on the River Kwai to one of the floating restaurants beneath it, where we had an excellent lunch which set us up for the celebrations in the evening, held outside on the hotel lawn right by the river. Mint and Greg had a very short ceremony in English to profess their vows to each other as the sun went down, Greg’s dad and best man gave equally short speeches, and then stacks of Thai food was served to each table as fireworks went off overhead. It was, in short, a fantastic day, mixing together Thai and English tradition that made the day a lot less formal but no less solemn. I’m really proud and happy for my friends that they have got married, and I feel very privileged they invited me to witness their marriage too.
Ice sculpture at the evening ceremony
Mint and Greg are now on their honeymoon in Krabi, so I thought it wouldn’t be polite to put photos of the wedding ceremony here on the blog without their permission first. Hopefully next week I can put a few of the best pics up.
If you want to read more about Thai Weddings, Gor is a Thai journalist who writes the Thailand Life blog (in fluent English) and who has written some great articles about his own wedding. He explains the background to the Thai wedding ceremony, the paying of the dowry and the ceremonies of the big day itself.
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