T+R kicked off their wedding festivities with the traditional Lao ceremony today. The Lao Ceremony took place at R’s family home in Cambridge. Let me re-phrase that…it took place at R’s family compound in Cambridge ! Their whole family owns an entire complex and the homes are occupied by his family and his aunt’s and uncle’s ! It was pretty wild and such a great idea. I mean, if you have a rowdy, drunk neighbor that is making so much noise, you just have to walk over to ‘Uncle Bob’ and tell him to settle down. And if your home gets broken into, the robber has the whole complex to deal with
Ok, back to the important details – The Wedding. The bride and groom got ready in separate homes and dressed in their traditional wedding garments. Their outfits are so rich in color and T’s outfit was brought back from Laos.
Like some other Asian weddings, it started off with the groom side of the family heading over to the bride’s house to try to get her family to let him in to marry the bride. This usually entails some sort of negotiating between the families and often includes giving of money, jewelry, clothes, or objects for the home. I am a little weak in Lao language, so I can only describe this negotiating as yelling, drinking shots, and rushing the door. Below are images that will tell the story:
R’s Posse:
The ceremony is conducted by an elder in the community, who is knowledgeable about both Buddhist and pre-Buddhist traditional Lao rituals.
Short ‘blessed strings’ are tied around the bride and grooms wrists (and some along with money). This is done to keep all the spirits, that the bride and groom have, healthy since this is a big transition for them both.
The conductor was cuttin’ loose too:)
Stay tuned for Part II, which is their huge reception in August.
-JW
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