Vietnam + Wedding Short trip
Well, I got a message from my good friend , khuong, that he is getting hitched in July. When dropped the bomb to me, it was around april/ early May and the next thing I knew that his marriage was going to happen in less than 2 months’ time.
Definitely, a shocking news to me as I remembered clearly that was talking about the person whom was dating just a year ago but less did I know was all ready to get married to him.
Apart being flabbergasted, I was definitely on cloud nine hearing the news that was going to get marry soon. Who wouldn’t be happy to see their good friend settling down with their love of their life?
After discussing on the dates with him, I finally booked my tickets to Hanoi. I got a pretty cool deal on Skyscanner for S$244.60 round trip tickets with air asia for travel.
Now for The Big Day
Let me give you a brief on how a Vietnamese wedding happens. Firstly, I should say that it is similar to the Chinese customary of a tea ceremony. The only difference is that in a Chinese wedding, the young couples kneel in front of the elderlies of the family and serve them tea in tiny teacups. However, in the Vietnamese wedding, the couples go around to each table to pour the hot tea in each cups of the guests at the tables. Probably it is just an elevated version of the usual practice. Who would want to kneel with their huge wedding gowns on? Definitely, I would not want to go through that but I can already imagine the stress on my big day if it happens in the Indian customary way (falling on the feet of the elderlies for their blessings). Hmm still a long way to go, I suppose.
Beside that, this is something I wasn’t aware of in Vietnam. They practice it in Vietnam too. Unlike the Indians, the practice is for the groom side to offer to the bride side. Apart from the usual wedding bands and rings, my friend also received a thick gold necklace as part of the dowry.
Once I head home, I could not wait to change and take a nap. We were dead tired. Weddings are definitely not easy in any culture. It is a daunting task. With the amount of time, money and energy invested in weddings, I wish all couples around the world a blissful marriage.
I’ll admit when I first got the invitation months ago, a lot of thoughts ran through my mind. I was scheduled to coordinate an action film (which I finished just 3 days before my flight out to Vietnam), would I be missing out on other projects? What about the financial costs of taking time off and traveling? For anyone who knows me, they know I have a very sporadic schedule and I take things moment by moment so I hardly ever lock down plans too far in advance. Though I couldn’t decide immediately, deep down I knew this was a wedding that I would be attending.
And so it was! I booked my flight and flew out right after finishing a grueling week of night shoots and no sleep. Khuong friend “MILK” picked us up from the airport and we got to catching up. I had already been to Vietnam twice so there was much less sight-seeing this trip. We focused on rehearsing for the wedding and just all hanging out, partying, and having good food.
Khuong friends & family really did his wedding right. He invited close friends and family and kept it tight knit. The decoration and venue was very beautiful. He put time and thought into his wedding while still keeping it light-hearted and fun so that it was not stuffy.
We all had a great time with Khuong friends & family and they were a great host. We then went out to celebrate at khuong club too, what a great reunion wedding in Vietnam trip. Waiting for his baby come out now, hahahaXD