Thai Marriage
One of the most important occasion of the person's life after birth is the marriage ceremony as it places value on that particular moment when man and women have decided to be united in a bond that will influence the rest of their lives. Therefore, the ceremony must be held in a beautiful and sacred way. Above all, astrologers will be consulted beforehand in order to find out if the stars of those to be married are compatible and if so what should be the auspicious day and time for the ceremony. But mostly the ceremony will be held in August which is considered as the most auspicious month for wedding.
Usually in the countryside, a marriage takes place at the age of 20 while in the city this may be late, up to 28 - 35. This depends on the readiness of the persons who want to enter into marriage. At the same time, nowadays most young people select their own marriage partners whiles arranged marriage is very rare.
In fact, the engagement ceremony must take place before the wedding, however, some couples may prefer to hold the engagement and wedding ceremony on the same day as a means of saving money. The engagement ceremony is usually done through the offering of an engagement ring to the girl while the wedding ceremony will be incomplete without the offering of Sin - sod which is the money to be given to the bride's parents by the groom's parents of the amount they demand.
The most interesting part of the wedding ceremony is a procession of Khan Mark ( offering items ) as relative and friends of the groom dance their way to the house of the bride with their hands full of offerings.
The wedding ceremony begins in the morning with the chanting of monks, then the couple and relative offer food to the monks who, after their meal, will chant again while the senior monk will go around to bless the couple and the whole gathering with holy water before their departure to the temple.
Later in the afternoon, arrangement are made for the couple to receive blessing. The couple then seat themselves in a crouched position with their hands in a gesture of prayer. The guest will queue up to pour lustral water from a conch shell on the bridal couple's hands or heads in order to wish them a happy marriage life. The celebration will then follow by a grand dinner reception at the groom's house or at the hotel if the ceremony in held in the city.
After the dinner reception, the last ceremony to be performed is the sending - off of the bride and groom to the room specially arranged with decoration of roses. The ceremony will usually be guided by the elder villager eventually the ceremony ends here.
By Essays on Thailand
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