two steps behind » Wedding

March 14, 2010… Thai wedding’s detail, the memories continue

Natt — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:46:26 +0000

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

March 14, 2010. A day to remember, a journey begin for Por and Jo.

Natt — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:19:23 +0000

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

Jan 23, 2010 The wedding celebration in the PM

Natt — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:16:58 +0000

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!

Jan 23, 2010… Engagement ceremony in the AM

Natt — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 03:00:30 +0000

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!

Jan 09, 2010 my very first pre-wedding photo shoot for my lovely friends!

Natt — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:53:53 +0000

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.

turning dream come true, one at a time

Natt — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:01:07 +0000

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.

Crimson red wedding! I want one!

Natt — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:20:50 +0000

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.

Natt — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:03:16 +0000

“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…

GOOGLED “Why Get Married” and the answer is…

Natt — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:16:23 +0000

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

Question:

In today’s world, is marriage still relevant? Unlike a hundred years ago, a couple today can live together without getting married. What are they missing? (This is not a theoretical question for me…)

Answer:

Marriage is more relevant today than ever before in history. Marriage used to be a given. Now it is a choice. All the old arguments for marriage have fallen away, and we are left with only one true reason to get married. We can finally get married for the right reason.

What were once good reasons to get married are largely irrelevant today. Here are four classic reasons to get married:

So we can live together. As you pointed out in your question, this reason no longer applies to the many couples who live happily together without getting married.

So we can have children. Again, it is possible to have children and be wonderful parents without getting married.

To make a solid commitment. That’s a charming one. We are getting married to make it harder to walk away from each other. How romantic.

To make our relationship official. You could achieve that by placing an announcement in the newspaper saying, “We are now official.” You don’t need a caterer to serve gazpacho soup in a ballroom just to make it official.

So what are we left with? If not to live together, to start a family, to make a commitment or to make it official, why get married?

There’s only one reason.

Marriage makes a relationship divine. Getting married means that something bigger than both of you is bringing you together. A wedding achieves something that simply can’t happen otherwise — G-d is introduced into the relationship.

Until they are married, a couple’s commitment to each other is a human commitment, with all the limitations of being human. We can’t see the future, we can’t know what may change and what may eventuate, and we make mistakes. The chuppah elevates the commitment beyond human limitations. The blessings made under the chuppah invoke G-d’s name upon the couple, and bring G-d into the union as a partner. You are married not just because you chose to be, but because G-d has said so.

Without a chuppah you can have love, commitment and family — but it isn’t holy. Only by standing under a chuppah and marrying according to tradition does your union become sacred. Only after the wedding is your love blessed with the divine imprint of eternity.

I find it to be a very interesting perspective… to make the commitment holy and sacred. Why? So that your love blessed with the divine imprint of “ETERNITY”

But who would believe in this kind of idea anymore?

*Photo taken … yesterday while the couple were rehearsing for their ceremony that about to start in an hour! WHY DO WE NEED TO REHEARSE a WEDDING?????? I just don’t get it!

Here comes the WEDDING season! I now pronounce you husband and wife.

Natt — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:43:21 +0000

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!