A Traditional Thai Wedding

People around the world have many different kinds of wedding due to the differences in their religions and cultures. Since most Thai people are the Buddhists, the traditional Thai wedding is mainly related to Buddhism. However, it is also blended with Thai culture and Thai people's ways of life. Traditional Thai wedding can be organized in various ways depending on the local people's beliefs. In this essay I will describe some details of the general traditional Thai wedding.

First of all, the man who is going to be the groom and his parents or his respected elders must go to the bride's house and ask the bride's parents for permissions to marry their daughter. Then they will make a deal of how much money the groom has to give to the bride on their wedding day. After that they will go to a monk to ask for an appropriate wedding date. And when the date is arranged, the wedding will be prepared by the parents and relatives of both sides.

On the morning of the wedding day, a procession of the groom and the relatives will bring the money, gifts, and food from the groom's house to the bride's. They will play music and sing along though out the procession. Before the groom can get to the bride's house, he has to cross two gates formed by the relatives of the bride called "Silver Gate" and "Gold Gate". The gates are on the way from the groom's house to the bride's. In order to open the gates, the groom must give away gifts or money to the people at the gates.

During the wedding ceremony, the bride will dress in a traditional Thai dress which made of silks and the groom will wear a white Thai suit. At the beginning, the groom will give the money to the bride's parents. After that both the groom and the bride will pay respects to each other's parents and the parents may give some money or gifts to the couple. In the next event, the guests will pour holy water or "Nam Sung" which is filled in a shell on the hands of the groom and bride and they will say blessings to the couple.

On the night of the wedding, the host will organize a wedding feast which might be at their house or a hotel. The guests who come to the feast will give some money to the groom and bride; the money is for the couple to start their lives together. During the feast, the groom and bride will be invited to say words to thank everybody in the ceremony.

After the feast