two steps behind

As much as I would like to try to describe the details of the wedding, I don’t think that I could get into many details. However, there is another blog by Richard Barrow of Thai Cultures Blog, that has information regarding the Thai wedding. The blog provides very detailed insights into the Thai wedding ceremony.

I guess it would make more sense to read his blog then come back to check out the photos that I have taken on the wedding date.

Enjoy

A moment to remember…

A story of a girl whom had ventured to do her internship far away from home. There, she had met her soul mate… Jo! Their story is one to remember… Jo, a man whom had been waiting for the one and Por, a woman whom has found her prince charming at the least expected place.

… to see more of their story, please visit http://www.por-jo.com/ there, you will find a collection of their wedding photos and a MUST SEE video of their story.

On March 14, 2010 I got the chance to take picture of the Thai wedding ceremony of Por and Jo. It was amazing; the room, the location and the moment…. felt magical. The feeling of someone that is committing their life to another is just unexplainable. Yet, the feeling of the parents letting go of their daughter, whom they raised since day one, was just too overwhelming for simple pictures, videos or any words can describe those moments.

I, a mere photographer, can only try to capture those moments to share with us all.

Date: March 14, 2010
Location: The Rose Garden

The guests must have gotten me confused, as for some reason, all the guest will ask me again right asking for their table and direction. Oh well, funny enough… I became a host, greeting all the guests and directed them to their assigning table.

Oh yes! This is about June and Paul’s wedding celebration. As I was occupied with greeting the guests, I didn’t have much of a chance to take pictures, but please do check the pictures out as it was a really amazing wedding. Allow me to try to describe the experience from the guest’s perspective.

Each guest will be greeted with a photos gallery archway where the guest can see June and Paul’s pre-wedding photos taken by PaHn and I. It was a really good feeling to see our photos hanging in the archway and even better when the guests stop to look at each photo.

After the photo gallery archway, was a table with presented pre-wedding photo albums taken by a professional photographing service. A really nice album that I wish someday to have a chance to do one for a couple. The guests will then meet with the bridesmaids that helping out the event. The bridesmaids then direct the guests to a flower archway where they will take group photo with June and Paul before they were then lead to their table.

… a very lovely couple indeed!

The wedding day has finally arrived for June and Paul, but who would have known that the ceremony started at about 4:00 am!

The wedding tradition in Thailand involves the handover of the bride by her family to the groom and his family. The time of the handover, moving out from her house to move in to his house is really important. It is believed that there is a specific moment, the right time for this handover as when done properly will bring prosperity, good fortune and longevity for the couple.

The engagement ceremony for June and Paul is a Chinese one which involves a tea ceremony where June and Paul offer “tea” to the groom’s family members. This tradition is for the couple to show respect to the family and also for the family to show acceptance of the couple marriage.

The morning engagement ceremony lasted til about 11:00 am and then everyone was off to get ready for the evening’s wedding celebrations!

Having not written for a while… only means I am way too busy with work. No, I haven’t forgotten about twostepsbehind. As a matter of fact, I check the web’s stats everyday. Some of my friends and families are starting to wonder of what have I been doing here in Bangkok, Thailand.

January 09, 2010 was the first time that I get the opportunity to take photos of the lovely couple for their pre-wedding photo. It was really fun and I really enjoy seeing the couple’s love that they are sharing and caring for each other. It’s proof that… love exists!

And that was how my interest in portrait photographing began.

I’m sure everyone has their dream wedding…

how the cake would look, round – square – layer – cupcake ?
the arrangement of flower… the colors?
the color of the table cloth, red, green, blue, pink? or just plain white?
the location… Ballroom, island, beach, skydiving ?
the ice sculpture… oh yes, in Thailand it is very common to have an ice sculpture as part of the wedding decoration.!
the type of food that is served…
the guest of honor… dad, mom, … Mr President? ??? ??
the brides maid…?
the best man! ?
…
..
.

the list continues… on and on.

I too… have my dream… a dream to, one day, make others dreams come true.
One couple at a time.

In the end, I believe that that most important part of the wedding itself is not the wedding… but the one you love.

I’m back… just for a little bit, before I got to get down (back to work) again.

So, for most of the time that I have been gone are to “learn how to” handle wedding after wedding. FUN FUN FUN!
I love this theme very much… crimson red!

I will keep you up to date soon…

For now… enjoy the REDNESS!

“Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will”
a very inspiring quote that keep me going days after days!

Love make you blind but…
wedding will open your eyes…

It’s a saying that most, if not all, people find it to be true… absolutely not all people because, not all lovers have their wedding, not yet anyway.

The wedding day is the happiest day of the wedding couple. It is the day that the couple taking their first step together, to create and start a family. By announcing to the world that they will spend the rest of their life as husband and wife, together from this moment on.

Wedding is not end result of love, instead it is the beginning of their journey. It is a journey of two people that grow up from different places, had different experience in life, born from different family, believing and seeing the world from different point of views…

…two people that has absolutely nothing in common to begin with
to make a vowed that they would spend the rest of their life together because…

they… forgot about all the reasons why something may not work and found one good reason why it will,
whatever that reason may be…

So… I googled “Why Get Married?” and the very first link is to this article by Aron Moss on this website http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/361650/jewish/Why-Get-Married.htm

You may kiss the bride…
NOT!!! Not a part of the Thai Wedding Tradition.

The wedding season is officially here! However, I wonder what makes November and December the wedding season? Because of the cold weather or simply to cerebrate the years end and the start of the new year together. Thai Wedding Tradition is much more complicated than any of those I can imagine. It involves many steps and processes that the couple must go thru before they get to start their life together. Here are a rough outline of the processes.

ขันหมาก: Khan Makk
ขบวนขันหมาก: The Khan Makk Procession
พิธีกั้นประตู : Barring the Groom from Approaching the Bride
พิธีนับสินสอด : Counting the dowry
พิธีรับไหว้ : Paying respects to the Elders
พิธีหลั่งน้ำพระพุทธมนต์ : Water Pouring
สวมมงคล : Mong Kol
การเจิม : Scahet Powder
พิธีปูที่นอน – ส่งตัว : The Nuptial Bed

The picture today represent part of the Water Pouring process.

“The pouring of water is the most important part of the Thai wedding ceremony as it is during this part of the ceremony that the couple officially become husband and wife . Traditionally, this was all that was required to validate the marriage, but nowadays the couple are also required to obtain a marriage certificate from the Amphur or local registration office.

Before the water pouring can take place the couple must seat themselves at the traditional water pouring tables (Tung Rod Nam), with the bride to the left of the groom.”

info from jittima

Anyway… the “You may kiss the bride…” process is after the – “พิธีปูที่นอน – ส่งตัว : The Nuptial Bed”. An FYI, just in case you were wondering about when does the groom get to kiss the bride… ASSUMING that she is not to tired from the ceremony.

If you think, planning for a wedding is hard? Think again! Because the hardest part is for the bride and groom to actually try to survive thru the ceremony!

As far as I remember, these were the partners that attended the Conrad wedding event.

Seasons Spa,
Pro Master Creations,
Cattleya,
Ganit,
Sirena,
Laura Mercier
and Dynasty Collection….

*update 3 Nov 2009.
Apparently, I have this post drafted!! (Did not notice that… until today now)

I started to wonder, after attended a few weddings of my friends and families, whose the wedding are for… really?
The Bride? The Groom? or their Families?

Because, feedback that I get from wedding attendees (guests, guest of honors, friends and families) are that, coming to anyone wedding are full of hassles that the guests are normally stuck with the traditional wedding routine which are…

Driving to the wedding and TRY and HOPE that they will find parking,
WALK and walk and keep walking to the function room, which they have absolutely NO IDEA where it is located!
Make sure that they actually enter the correct Wedding events (believe it or not, there are those that enter the wrong wedding)
Sign the greeting / congratulation book for the couple and receive the wedding souvenir…
If the couple are not too busy, you may get to take the picture with the couple and try to SMILE your best! This is the “one minute” that is the entire reason why everyone dress up so nice! Just for this… one minute with the couple.
And then… proceed into the room and look for the familiar face so that you could join them at the table
Start your mingling… blah blah blah… and stuck there for another hours or so
“Try” to enjoy the food and the music because you will be too busy to say hello to everyone that greet you.
Need restroom? better be prepare because it always a long line at restroom.
Once the ceremony is over, do not expect that you could just walk out… straight to the parking lot and just… DRIVE OFF! Because, there are so many people you are going to meet at this moment. The common phrase would be… “hey! you came, we didn’t see you! where did you sit? when did you arrive? who did you come with…” ON AND ON. This could take up to an hour of mingling outside the door of the wedding room.
Okay… off to the parking! Problems are they don’t normally remember where they park the cars! Well, this is a good time to burn out all those food we just ate!
Found your car? Good… and good luck getting out of the parking because there are many other like you that trying to leave the parking as well, so just stay chill!
Soon enough, HOME.

*These are simply feedback that I get from my friends and families and… myself from weddings that I have attended.

However, I find these facts to be fascinating because it give raise to a question,

HOW DO I PLAN a WEDDING that doesn’t BORE our GUESTs to SLEEP!????

I believe that a wedding shouldn’t matter on the size of the guests attending the event, nor its luxuriousness…
A wedding should be memorable for the BRIDE, the GROOM… and most important of all… for friends and FAMILIES because they are the witness to the vowed that couple committed to love each other.

WELL, well, well…., after all these FRIENDS and FAMILIES are the people that bring you $$$$$$$$  ^_^  so… better be nice to them! LOL

Continued from the previous post yesterday on Conrad wedding planner’s partners.

Ahh to clarify… why would my wedding in 2052 (AD) ? I don’t know? apparently, perhaps, maybe, it was foretold by a fortuneteller, palm-reader or a psychic. Or maybe it was just a number that was made up so I can look forward to… it’s only 43 years from now… I should be 70 and have EVERYTHING planed and ready for my PERFECT wedding! I wonder who made that number up… hum???… Oh wait or perhaps she meant 2552 (Buddhist Era or BE) which is actually equal to 2009 AD… which is THIS YEAR!!! Wooo! that’s quick!

Anyway, let’s get back to the review on Conrad wedding planner’s partners. As far as I remember, these were the partners that attended the event. Seasons Spa, Pro Master Creations, Cattleya, Ganit, Sirena, Laura Mercier and Dynasty Collection.

Um… may I continue this tomorrow kindna wanna sleep already. There is just so much to talk about that I wouldn’t want to rush into finishing it. Okay… Tomorrow it is

*The photo: Invitation cards and wedding souvenirs by Cattleya. Aren’t they amazing!

I am always on the planning side (the do this and that for the couple) of weddings, but not yet am I on the Bride and Groom’s side (the we want this, we want that, we think this is better than this, or actually that is better) to really understand what it takes have a wedding and create that perfect moment for the wedding day.

As a groom without a bride (physically here with me at the event)… I decided to become an interested customer. With my curiosity, I must have asked everything I could of what do you think a bride would want and I would say that 99% of all the wedding items and activities were made for the bride. The groom is just something to complete the image of the wedding.

Let’s get to the review of the Wedding at Conrad…. starting from the moment I drove into the parking lot and the time that I left.

Getting from the road to the parking was very easy, however, walking to the Conrad ballroom was a bit complicated for me (this is something that we must consider if we were to plan a wedding; how convenient is access to the event for the guests) .I was lost in the All Season Place mall for a bit and must have asked a few people, “where is Conrad’s event” If you say that it could be just me that doesn’t know how to get there while the rest of the attendee know somehow? Well, assume yourself to be the guest of a wedding, most of the guest would be coming to Conrad’s for the first time. Parking… is really something that we have to consider and be included in venue decision making process.

I started it off with the 2 smaller rooms on the 2nd floor. The setting is really interesting, a bit glamorous, a tad of relaxing and a touch of luxury. These 2 rooms are great for a cozy wedding ceremony as the setting, the lighting and the size of the room really create the coziness. However, my only comment would be (not relate to the setting), the use of the products that Conrad used to display at the wedding event, I know it wasn’t mean for real event but at least please use FRESH flowers… etc. I find everything to be amazing until I start walk up closer to flower and rose petals on tables only to find out that they are about to wither and die. Sure that the event were only meant as “examples” but the impression I got was that… but the example should really be “EXAMPLE” of how it would be at to have a wedding at the Conrad.

Let’s not focus on the cost saving side too much. Later on I was greeted with a PR (Khun Mu), she was great at assisting me and showing me around (Oh, I didn’t know that the main event was on the 4th floor, until she told me!) Khun Mu wasn’t directly dealing with the wedding planing but she has help me as best to her knowledge and tell me about the schedule of events to later introduce me to Khun Phee, a sales agent (room – not for the wedding). Okay okay,  I see… I guess that because I was flying SOLO without a bride at the wedding huh? So I guess they don’t take me seriously LOL. Anyway, I don’t blame them because the wedding planners are quite busy with other couples that they could really CONFIRM regarding their weddings. However, I’m not complaining… ^_^ Khun Phee was great… we discuss the pros – cons of wedding at different locations and how “PARKING + TRAFFIC” is really my big concern. *By the way we are not in the Grand Ballroom area… the ballroom can be equally partitioned into 3 rooms and that the stage would be set at the back of the 2nd room – creating a stage and the catwalk area. No No, I didn’t like that because I prefer a longer walk way. Can they do it? Of course they can! How many would be attending, he asked… approximately, umm roughly 500. (this number is nothing comparing to a wedding I am attending next week… the total number of guests is about 10,000!! WOOO!!) 500 is a great number, it seems to be the average number of guests that attend a wedding.

The different menus and setups were available such as, Buffets, Chinese tables, and Cocktails. Different types of set ups would result into the different size of capacity for the room. For Chinese table,s the maximum would be 500 guests because the setup would required spaces for tables and chair and to make sure that everyone have seats. For buffets… very similar to Chinese table but (I assume) the number of guests would have to be lower than 500 because they are going to need space to setup food stalls for guests to get their own food. (Except for the VIPs table that the food will be served to them right at the table) Cocktails allow for about 800-900 guests (if I remember correctly) because all it would need were a few tables for the Family while for the FRIENDS we could just let them wonder around the cocktail area. Cocktail and buffets are great for setups that involve more Friends than Family because it’s allow these friends to walk around and meet and greet with each other. While the Chinese table setup is kind of forcing you to not wonder around… SIT! So it’s all depend how would you like the setup to be. I went the “SIT” kind of setup… the Chinese table.

Um… let’s take a break for now. I will continue tomorrow on Conrad wedding planner’s partners.