Our friend and translator for the day, Nella (leader of the Tamar Centre in Pattaya), stayed by my side through the whole ceremony and helped me with translation and understanding what was going on.  She did a great job and I was very thankful to have her with me!

At the house I had to retrieve Pook from the room she was waiting in, but before I could get to her room I had to pass through seven “gates”.  The “gates” were two people holding a gold chain between them.  One of Pook’s cousins took me by the hand and led me to each gate.  Upon reaching a gate the people holding the chain would not let me pass until I gave them an envelope with money in it.  After I gave them the envelopes they would let me through and I could continue on my way to the room with Pook in it. Pook and I planned ahead of time for five gates, but when I realized I was running out of envelopes and there were still more gates to pass through I had to quickly grab some more cash out of my wallet.

After I retrieved Pook from the room we sat on the floor in a big room with everyone sitting around us.  Pook and I honored her mom and uncles/aunts by “wai-ing” them.  In Thai culture one typically greets someone with the wai.  This is done by placing your palms together and raising your hands up to your chin or mouth.  On some occasions when you want to show great respect and honor (as was the case with our wedding) you bring the hands up higher and bend your head.   We wai-ed and bent our heads down all the way to the ground to show respect to her family.  We also wai-ed each other.

Following the initial greetings to her family we presented the dowry to Pook’s mom.  The dowry consisted of 100,000 Baht in cash (approximately $2500 USD) and two solid gold necklaces.  Pook’s mom gave the necklaces back to us and we put them on and wore them for the remainder of the ceremony.  (While the dowry price was 100,000 Baht, Pook's mom did what many Thai parents do these days and she gave back most of the dowry, keeping only 30,000 Baht.)

Wai-ing Pook's Mom

The Dowry is given and displayed

After Pook’s mom accepted the dowry, we sat on the floor and Pook’s extended family tied white strings on our wrists one-by-one.  Tying the strings was an act of blessing hoping for all of the bad things out and only good things in.  There was also a plate underneath our hands for people to put money.

When Pook’s family finished tying strings, it was my family’s turn.  Pook and I wai-ed and honored my parents just as we did with her family, and then they started tying strings on our wrists again.

At the end of the ceremony Pook and I released two baby chickens outside the house.  The chickens were supposed to represent us and our new life together (or something like that).  The chickens ran off together which Pook’s uncle said was a sign of good luck.

We had lunch catered at the house.  The tables were setup outside and Pook and I walked around and greeted everyone and passed out our little souvenir gifts (a little bell with our names and date on it).

Tying Strings and Speaking Blessings

Greeting and Passing Out Souvenirs

Pook and I again parted ways as she went to the wedding studio to get dressed and made-up in her white wedding dress and I went back to the hotel to get ready.  The American style wedding started at 2pm at the hotel.

For our American wedding we had Pook’s nephew and cousin light candles, and another cousin was the flower girl.  Pook’s best friend, Taay, was her bridesmaid and my Dad was my best man. Stuart (from Singapore) did the ceremony with Nella translating.  For our vows and exchanging of rings, Stuart said it in English and I repeated after him.  Then Nella said it in Thai and Pook repeated after her.  So I said my vows in English and Pook said hers in Thai.  It was nice.

After the ceremony we took photos and photos and more photos.  At the end we had a little program – the girls from the Tamar Centre had prepared a song for us, a few people shared stories about Pook and myself, and we officially said thank you to everyone for coming.

Around 6pm Pook and I had changed into our regular clothes and we left for Bangkok.  I think we finally arrived at our hotel in Bangkok around 9pm and we promptly ordered room service as we were both starving!  The following day we flew to Hong Kong where we spent four nights on honeymoon.

We had a wonderful day.  The Thai ceremony was very fun and enjoyable for everyone.  All of the foreigners (my family and our friends) really enjoyed it.  The American ceremony was very sweet and meaningful for us.  It was a wonderful day!