A
traditional Lao wedding is usually held at the brides residence
in the afternoon. The time doesn't really matter but usually
around 4pm so that the evening meal can be served to guests
when the one hour official ceremony is finished.
The groom, his friends and relatives march together to the
brides residence accompanied by the sound of banging drums and
other traditional Lao instruments such as the khaen. If the
groom lives far from the brides residence, then he and the rest
of his connection would drive closer about 50 metres to 100
metres away from the brides residence then they commence their
walk from there, playing musical instruments and chanting along
the way, everybody laughing, cheering and smiling in the most
joyous way. A Lao wedding is supposed to be a really fun and
happy day.
The groom and bride can see each other before the official
wedding ceremony begins. The both of them can do anything or
even stay together at the brides residence to help with the
wedding preparation but when it's time for the wedding to begin,
the groom needs to get dressed in traditional clothing then
go out with his friends and relatives and start the walk to
her place.
When the groom and his party arrives at the brides house, they
will be met by the bride's relatives where bargaining and questioning
will take place before admittance. The brides relatives will
ask the grooms relatives some customary questions such as: What's
your name? Where did you come from? What did you bring with
you? etc.
During this process the groom doesn't do any of the talking,
only the elder relatives talk to each other in a friendly and
polite way then the groom has to give some money to brides relatives
which is like an entry fee but it doesn't have to be alot. This
would already be prepared for the groom by his relatives, all
he has to do is hand it to the brides relatives. If the brides
relatives are satisfied with the small money gift (100% of the
time they will be satisfied), then the groom must wash his feet
before he and his party can enter the house. Washing feet is
an exceptionally good idea when marrying the likes of TR.
Inside the house, the bride and groom sit along side each other
with their parents also near by and the "soo kuan"
ceremony starts. This involves handing the gift to the brides
parents, the couple praying for both parents, the tying of the
white strings on wrists to unite the couple and the master of
the ceremony "mor phone" talking and explaining the
meaning of the marriage to everyone. The "soo kuan"
ceremony goes for about an hour and other guests will be waiting
outside drinking and chatting while all this is going on inside.
After the "soo kuan" ceremony is over then the real
party begins. Everyone will be drinking, dancing, listening
to live bands, eating dinner etc. Some people might not want
to do this at home and they prefer to invite guests to eat at
a restaurant or go to a hall to party in the evening.
Another important thing you should know is that a Lao wedding
ceremony does not involve any buddhist monks like they do in
a Thai wedding ceremony. Lao custom is very different to Thai
and and we do not conduct a traditional wedding the same way.
In Lao custom, although not necessary we can invite monks to
pray at a "duck baht" ceremony which can be held before
or after the wedding day, but we don't have monks on the wedding
day because a Lao wedding ceremony has got nothing to do with
religion. A Lao wedding is officiated by an old man from the
village, who is the master of the ceremony.
Also in Thai culture, they do not have "soo kuan"
for special occasions such as weddings, engagements, farewells,
new baby, sickness, just to name a few. Only Lao ethnics in
Thailand do this ceremony so there are alot of difference in
Lao and Thai culture that foreigners do not know. |
