The wedding

This was a traditional Thai wedding, only shortened to maybe 20% of the usual time due to my highly efficient German friend. The “normal” one could take an entire day. Kade wore a traditional gold Thai silk dress. Her makeup and hairdo was flawless. Ralf seemed relaxed only because he probably did not know what was going on at any given moment. He was just following the flow.

As we sat down, the monks came in one by one, each wearing an orange robe and holding a colorful fan. They sat in a row on the long platform in front of the room and chanted for 20 minutes when the ceremony started. The groom and bride sat on the left side of platform. The parents sat in the front row. For the guests, there was no differentiation like in the west for the bride’s side vs. that of the groom. There were obvious similarities but also quite a few differences between a Thai wedding and a western one. Similar activities included lighting a unity candle, receiving the blessings, having a reception banquet after the ceremony …

Ceremony part I - monks chanting

Differences abounded: The bride and groom stopped in the middle of the ceremony (it seemed very abrupt to me since I couldn’t understand the Thai chanting). Kade and Ralf went to the left side of the room where two round one rectangular tables were placed. They split rice evenly from a container and put it on the plates and shared some other auspicious food items to serve the monks. Ralf held Kade's hand like what the cutting cake would be in a western ceremony.

Food serving during the ceremony

The monks, after chanting, got off the platform and were seated at the round tables and started eating. I guess it was obligatory to serve breakfast to the masters after the very focused blessing session (this was about 10 AM).There was about 20 minutes of break when the monks were enjoying their meal. All the guests left the room and went into the outside hall where tea, coffee and refreshments were served. The photographer was busy taking photos of the bride, groom and the guests. Some gifts were given during this time, the bride and groom happily accepted the gift and even took a picture with the guest, holding up the gift together.

Meanwhile re-configuration of the room was taking place when the guests mingled. The hotel staff rearranged the entire room so the chairs were no longer facing the platform where the monks were seated. All chairs were turned 90 degrees counter-clockwise so they faced the stage on the left side of the room. Here the real ceremony of “tying the knot” took place. The bride’s father put a white headpiece on the groom then the bride. The two pieces are linked by a thread. A bindy was dotted onto the foreheads for good luck.

Ceremony Part II - tying the knot and Dotting the bindy

The guests, starting from the parents then close relatives then last but not the least even the clueless foreigners were ushered up stage to greet and congratulate the newly weds. The procedure went as the following: take the pot from one of the bridesmaids, pour the water over the groom and bride’s hand, walk off the stage from the right side, and congratulate the parents of the bride and groom. Mike and I held the pot together and poured water slowly over Ralf’s palms. Kade was smiling sweetly as we poured water over her hands. We wished them “Best of luck”. On my three inch heels, I was very concerned of falling off the stairs screaming and making a bloody fool of myself in front of the very composed audience. Everything went in motion in peace and perfection. Nobody fell on their face... When I got back to my seat, I whispered to Katja about my “fear”, who told me that she was also completely nervous.

Pouring water for good luck

At this point, the ceremony adjourned and the guests moved to a banquet hall for the feast. The prime mister of Thailand also showed up and sat in the front center table just next to ours. We noticed that ours was the only table served wine, probably because of the Europeans, who instead of letting the wait staff serve by glass, insisted on keeping the bottle at the table.

Ralf and Kade accepting a wedding gift from the Thai Prime Minister

Ralf made a simple toast in English. Kade did one in Thai and English. The Prime Minister also made a toast. He seemed like a very nice man. There were at least three hundred people at the banquet. A band played Beetles on stage. Ralf and Kade even cut the cake, which we later found out was fake on all levels for show, except for a tiny triangular spot where a real piece of cake was lodged in surrounded by its plastic counterpart and was used for the “cut the cake” procedure.

Light the candles on the cake

The morning after the wedding, we took off, taking fond memories with us back to the States.