My cousin who is Hmong decent was marrying into a Thai family. The morning of June 8th arrived. Everyone was up by 3:30 a.m. to get ready for the Buddhist blessing. The Buddhist blessing had to be done no later than 8:00 a.m. My aunt and uncle’s house was busy from the moment everyone got up. Families arrived to help finish prepping food and decorations for the party. You can hear everyone chattering, yelling, people walking up and down the stairs and in and out the doors. You could also hear knives hitting against the thick cutting board that’s being used to chop up meats. My cousin Mylee had nine bridesmaid because the number nine is considered lucky in the Thai culture. Every helped one another get ready and put on their traditional Thai outfits.
As 6:30am rolled around, the Buddhist blessing was ready to begin. Nine Buddhist monks in their orange robes, made their way inside my cousin’s house. In the basement was where the monks sat. The carpet of the basement floor was covered with reddish brown linen. As the bride and groom made their way to the monks, they first lit up some incense, candles and gave the monks fruits and money that is sealed in an envelope because the monks could not handle money. They both then kneeled in front of the monks to begin the blessing ceremony. After the blessing from the monks, the bride and groom receives three white dots marked on their foreheads. They also got sprinkled with the water that has been blessed from the monks. The water is sprinkled on their heads and all over their bodies. Before the Buddhist blessing is over, the monks are feed while everyone waits. It was brought to my attention that you could not eat while the monks were eating. After the monks ate, everyone finally ate. The groom then leaves the house to begin the second part of the wedding.
Everyone left the bride’s house and made their way to the wedding Hall. This next part of the ceremony is the Kahn Maak parade. This parade is considered the engagement part. The groom and his side of the family parades from outside to the inside of the wedding hall to make their way to the bride. The parade also consists of drummers and traditional Thai dancer leading the way. During the parade, the groom is holding onto a gold engagement tray. The tray the groom is holding is filled with sesame seeds, rice and banana leaves that has been turned into neatly designed shapes. The other golden trays consist of the dowry such as, money, gold, and jewelry. The last golden tray consists of food and sweets.
As the groom reached ceremony room, he is teased by not being able to reach his bride until he passes the doors. The doors weren’t really doors, they were just strings of threaded flowers held by two bridesmaids that is standing in his way. In order for each “door” to open, the groom must give gifts and money to each bridesmaid. When the groom finally made his way to the bride, he took her by the arm and made their way to the ceremony stage to begin the counting of the dowry.
Counting of the dowry is the groom’s side of the family presenting the dowry they prepared for the bride and her family. As the bride’s parents are sitting on the couch, the groom’s parents give jewelry and gold to the bride’s parents. The dowry shows the bride’s family that he is financially stable and that he could take care of her. A dowry in the Asian culture represents a compensation to the bride’s family for raising her and for the mother’s milk.
After the showing of the dowry, the bride and the groom will begin the ring exchange. The bride and the groom sits on the carpeted floor in front of both the parents and exchange the rings. The groom also then accessorize his new bride with additional jewelry from his family.
The ring exchange is then followed the water blessing ceremony. To begin the ceremony, the bride and groom sits on a gold stool that is padded with cotton and covered in white faux leather. They rested their arms on the ceremony table. This ceremony table stands as tall as a dinner television stand. It is also gold and is covered with the white faux leather. A cotton headdress is worn on both their heads and is connected to one another. The bride and the groom is also given a flower garland scarf. The water blessing ceremony always starts with the bride and groom’s parents. With both their hands together, the water that’s being poured out of a gold conch shell runs down their thumb to their fingers. The water then drips into two golden trays filled with flowers that is placed under their hands. After the parents have given their blessings, everyone else lines up to give their blessings. Once the water ceremony was over, the food were brought out in buffet style down a long table. Tables and more decorations were added to start the night reception. The ceremony staged was tore down and became a regular stage. Everyone lines up to eat and enjoy the rest of the night. Although we both come from an Asian background, we still have very different practices. It was interesting to see how much goes into a Thai wedding. It was also an experience to see another culture’s religion. Everyone from the groom’s side of the family were generous to explain what’s happening and why. Even though some things were different, there were also some similarities between our cultures.