Weddingbee Blog

Immediately following the ceremony, in lieu of a receiving line, Mr. Penguin and I opted to celebrate a little of my family heritage and participate in a Thai Water Ceremony, or Rod Nam Sang. Mr. Penguin and I both had Thai garb made down in Los Angeles, which cost us quite a bit of money, but we made my parents promise to throw us a Thai wedding in Thailand sometime in the next few years so we could break out the outfits once again! My parents were married here in California, but went back to Thailand when I was young to have a Thai wedding, so we hope to do the same very soon!

Wedding guests (typically only those older than the bride and groom, but we opted to have all our guests participate) pour holy water from a conch shell over the bride and groom’s hands, and give them their blessings. The water then pours over into the bowls full of flowers. The water must be blessed by Thai Monks.

Two conch shells in their stands (front) are used by guests to pour water over the bride and groom’s hands.

Putting on the Thai dress took quite the team of people to get done in a short period of time!

My aunt brought lots of gold jewelry from Thailand for me to wear. I’m not typically a fan of gold, and my mom suggested that I could wear silver, but when I think of Thailand, I think of gold, and I wanted to stick to tradition as much as possible. My mom wanted me to wear somewhat of a modern dress, but I kept trying to tell her I wanted us to look “as Thai as possible!” Especially because I’m half Chinese, I really needed to “Thai-it-up” to look legit!

A string is draped connecting the bride’s head to the groom’s, symbolizing their union. The draping is typically done by the most eldest and respected guest at the wedding, like a grandparent or mentor of the bride or groom. My eldest aunt from Thailand did the honors.

One of our younger guests remarked: “Mr. Penguin looks like such a DORK. But he is lucky that he has a mother-in-law that can cook him Brown Noodles (his favorite dish, Rad Na) whenever he wants, so I guess it is worth it!”

Me and my dorky new husband

Billie was SO over it. Even with all the hubbub, she managed to catch a snooze.

How will you inject your heritage into your wedding to make it unique?

Relive the day of the Penguins…
1. Morning, Sunshine! | 2. Ready, Men? | 3. Formalities | 4. We’re Hitched!

All photos by Sarah K. Chen Photography