I was thrilled to witness this wedding as it was such a special one for me. Beverly, one of my good friends whom I’ve known since grade school, got married to Andrew (whom I fell like I’ve known now for a long time). Andrew has Vietnamese heritage and the day included two ceremonies, one to honor traditions of a Vietnamese wedding and a traditional Christian ceremony to honor their faith. What a beautiful day and just full of celebration! This might be a long post but it was so unique I want to cover it all.
The Ruoc Dao is the traditional ceremony in Vietnam. I had so much to learn about this ceremony the day of. There is a nice wiki article about the ceremony and its traditions in full. The breakdown is this: the bride hides out in her house with her family. The groom arrives in pomp bringing with him his family and friends (groomsmen) and a boat load of gifts. When the groom arrives at the door, they present the gifts to the bride’s family. The bride’s family assets the gifts to ascertain whether the groom and his family is wealthy enough to take care of their precious little daughter. The gifts are accepted and the groom and his family are invited to enter the house.
Here is the groom and a picture of the bride’s dress (Áo dài). The name of this ceremony is Ruoc Dao.
The ceremony then proceeds like this: the family and gifts are formally introduced. The catch is that the parents of the bride and groom are not allowed to speak because if mess something up the wedding would be null and void. Instead they have a representative speak for them on their behalf (like an uncle or someone) because if the representative messes up its ok because it wasn’t the parents.
The bride comes down to see her groom for the first time.
Each of the gifts symbolized something. These gifts symbolized the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. The couple then serve tea to the parents and grandparents.
Yes that is a hog roast on the right. The hog roast was the “self-control” gift. Haha!
A few pictures of the couple.
Afterwards, the day proceeded like a traditional Christian wedding. We went to Beulah Beach on Lake Erie.
When Beverly came down the aisle, there was beautiful ray of light from the Lake Erie that had shone through the window of the old barn which came to grace her down the aisle - as if was her earthly father on her left and her heavenly Father on her right giving her away that day.
And that beautiful setting sun was gracious enough to give us those golden hours all throughout the rest of the evening on the beach.
And the rest of the party…
Thank you so much Andrew and Beverly for letting me be a part of this wedding. We pray God’s very best for you and your life together.
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