The Wedding of Kai and Miaw
This evening Anita and I attended a wedding at The Well. If you remember pictures of cute little Chompoo, her mother and father married this evening. They have both become believers and wanted to get married. I was honored to attend.
Being a last minute person, I hurried to purchase a dress this afteroon before the wedding.:) I suddenly realized I have nothing in my wardrobe appropriate for dress-up occasions. Thanks to the certificate I just received yesterday, as well as a big sale going on at Central Department Store, I was able to purchase a cute dress, probably not something I would ever have thought about wearing in the US, or maybe not something I would even have been able to purchase in the US. But Thai style is rubbing off on me a little bit.:)
It is not expected that guests bring gifts to Thai weddings. Money is the standard gift. The first picture shows the "guestbook attendants/'gift receivers'". Cute, aren't they?:) They also handed out little "favors" to each guest, in this case little red roses to pin on your lapel.
Kai with his adorable little girl, Chompoo, before the wedding
Kai with a really nice friend of his:)
Two beautiful young ladies, one from Thailand and one from America:)
Miaw and Chompoo coming down the aisle
The wedding guests
The two videos below show parts of the ceremony. The first one is a group of Thais singing a song, and the second one shows Jim sharing a message--in Thai, none-the-less. I'm so impressed--he's been in Thailand only 3 1/2 years.
At one point the bride and groom were told they could exchange a kiss. They very shyly gave each other a kiss on the cheek.:) (maybe the kiss idea was American influence??)
Close to the end of the wedding, many of us gathered around the couple and prayed for them. It was not a "take your turn to pray" kind of prayer; rather, it was an "everybody pray at the same time" type of prayer. It was a beautiful moment to hear everyone pouring out their hearts to God in blessing this couple.
After the ceremony was finished, anyone who wanted could come up and get their pictures taken with the wedding couple. I, of course, wanted a turn or two with them.:)
Jim and Judy's family with Kai and Miaw (Jim and Judy are the directors of The Well)
The bride
There was even a cake cutting ceremony inside the house. Unlike American weddings, this was very obscure, with only a few observers. Celeste, also on staff at The Well, made the cake. Yummm! It was chocolate cake!
What a fun evening! Of course, I now have a lot of pictures to develop again.:0 Mai pen rai! (No matter)