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 We
began our initial immersion into Vietnamese culture by going
to our friend Hanh Vo's
buddhist wedding. It was unlike any other I had ever seen.
The wedding started out with the first of two receptions in Ho
Chi Minh City (Saigon) and ended in Dalat, the home town of her
new husband Trang.
The wedding took about 24 hours to complete.
The bride was not actually married until the ceremony
took place in her house the next day. The first reception was
just the beginning of many festivities.
It was here on the banks of the Song Sai Gon
that the wedding began with the first of six gowns. She wore
three that first night. Each was more beautiful than the one
before it! We dubbed her "the Goddess". In Vietnam,
it is very cheap to have the gowns made up for this special occasion.
It only costs $150.00 for each dress, compared to the U.S. where
it would be around $500.00. If this wedding was held in the U.S.
there would have been only three or four gowns: one Ao Dai (traditonal),
one western style gown, and possibly a cutting cake gown.
Interestingly, there was lots of music but
no dancing at these affairs. Vietnamese never dance at their
weddings! However, here in the states American Vietnamese do.
They like to take lots of photos and video at their weddings,
the photos were more important than the wedding itself in that
the bride posed in every gown at every table, the results were
absolutely stunning.
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