That’s my host sister as she came down the aisle about 27-hours into the two-day wedding. This is only one of 14 wedding dresses she wore. Here are some snapshots of (some of) the others:
Now, for my most memorable part of the two days. It involved a moment with my Peace Corps friend Kyle who came into town for the wedding because he’s friends with my host family.
Kyle, my host mother, me:
During the wedding’s very important hair-cutting ceremony Kyle and I were called to duty. Let me explain the hair cutting process quickly:
The bride and groom sit on a very extravagantly decorated stage in front of the entire crowd. People in the audience go to the stage in pairs and stand behind the bride and groom while they act like they’re cutting the hair of both the bride and groom with gold scissors. They don’t really cut the hair. The ceremony is an ancient Khmer wedding tradition to symbolize a new beginning.
To my surprise, my host father pointed to me and Kyle to go to the stage. I think you can see the shock and nervousness on my face (and my host sister’s face).
We “cut” their hair and sprayed them with cologne while more than 50 people (my host family’s closest relatives and friends) watched.
I thought I’d made it through this ceremony with class and dignity. I thought I’d followed Khmer tradition well.
But, it was all forgotten as I stepped down from the stage, and my apparently too-tight Asian pants split open along the seam of my crotch and down one leg. My junk popped out for the entire crowd. Needless to say there were gasps and laughter.
I wish I was making this up.
As soon as I made it to my seat, my host father told me told through his snickering that I could go in the house to change pants. I didn’t live this down. Every conversation I had with every person the rest of the two-days went like this:
“Did you eat yet?”
“Did you get your pants fixed?”
So much for trying to fit into Puok pant sizes.
Some more of the best snapshots from the wedding in my house:
This Cambodian wedding stuff is not easy. This is the hired makeup crew on the first afternoon:
My bedroom became the round-the-clock dressing/makeup room:
UNREAL! And, we thought American weddings were elaborate and stressful! WOW! These pictures are just incredible, Travis! Your host sister is beautiful. AND……the story about your pants is just CRAZY!!! We can laugh, but I’m sure it was NOT funny for you! One thing about it…..you will NEVER forget it!!!
Love you!!
Your host sister and mother are very beautiful! Did she and her husband know each other long before they became engaged? Does the wedding family actually have time to enjoy the wedding? What do they do with all that “stuff” when the wedding’s over? Did you hear more gasps or laughter when your junk fell out ;0)
Hey Kim!
My host sister knew her husband about seven years before the wedding, but their relationship had to be under the radar. A couple months ago none of us were sure if the wedding was even going to happen. My host father had some issues with the situation, and there were some interesting arguments in our house. But everything got worked out.
The wedding family has very little time to enjoy the wedding. I saw my host mother dancing a little bit and my host father drank with his friends a bit. But, for the most part the family is part of the team making sure the whole operation runs smoothly and dealing with problems. Not to mention, my host mother and father also had about seven wardrobe changes, so they were always busy changing clothes too. The bride and groom were involved with every part of the set up and clean up of the wedding.
We’re still dealing with all the stuff, aka trash from the wedding. We’ve cleaned what we can and we’ll be burning the majority of the trash like we burn all other trash (a really awful practice, but that’s how it’s done everywhere here. I hope this changes more as the country continues to develop).
And, the family shares all the leftover food and booze with their relatives. Then, we eat and drink any leftovers
About my junk—definitely more laughter!
Oh Travis that is too funny! I have a feeling you’re going to be the main topic from now on when the wedding is brought up lol. The bride probably appreciated it because it all looks very serious. I bet she needed a good laugh!
She is beautiful. I just love all of the dresses. It looks like so much fun,but how do they go without sleep for that long. She must spend so much time changing clothes.
You and your pants must have been the laugh of the wedding. I know you took it well. They won’t forget you. The Barang who split his pants at their wedding. Did you have on underwear? I hope. Let’s not forget the pig head.
Dianna,
Everyone slept a couple hours between the days, but it was a very short sleep. The first morning I was woken up at 3am because the makeup team needed to get to work in the space where I was sleeping. The second morning everyone was up at 4am (and we’d only gone to bed at about 1am).
And, thankfully, yes, I was not going commando. I had on some black undies.
OMG!!!! I laughed out loud so hard!!!!!!!! Only you Travis!!! This is by far the funniest blog! I could just picture you and your RED face laughing!!!!!! I loved the detailed pictures!!! Thanks for showing us the Riiiiiippppp:) The wedding was incredible! So colorful!!! She is a very pretty bride!!! So glad Kyle was there because no one enjoyed that fall as much as him! Hope you can survive all these wedding celebrations and get back to a somewhat normal day in Cambodia! ( If there is such a thing???) love you!!!!!
Thanks Mom! Love you too.
Never a dull moment in Cambodia! The wedding pictures are beautiful! Does the bride keep all those dresses? Are they rented or handed down in the family? I can’t believe they are all so elaborate! I bet Kyle has had a really good time telling the story of your pants to all of the Peace Corps! Thanks for sharing. That will definitely be a moment you will never forget! Hope things are getting back to “normal”! Love you, Kaki
Hey Kaki!
I think a few of the dresses are owned by the family, but most are rented. There doesn’t seem to be a tradition of passing the dresses down from family member to family member, but I could be wrong. The dresses my host mother wore and the stuff my host father wore are all owned by the family.
Love you too.
Beautiful pictures, Travis. And way too funny about the pants!!
I know what it feels like, I did that at Bird and Elizabeth’s wedding. You never forget, sometimes it may slip your mind, but there will always be someone to remind you about it. Sorry about that dude, you sure you don’t need us to bring you some pants?
Just for the record, that last comment was by Robert, not Alice-Anne.
Haha. Thanks Robert! I think I’m good on pants. I just should’ve spent a little more money and bought nicer pants. There are lots of tailors around, it’s a big career in Cambodia. In fact, maybe you and Alice-Anne will want to buy some clothes while you’re in Siem Reap or Phnom Penh (that stereo type about Southeast Asians being some of the best tailors in the world seems to be true despite my pants episode). I am so freakin’ excited to see you two in three weeks!
Last time I “checked in” at your blog was with all the wedding preps going on, the house transformation, etc.! What an incredible ceremonial wedding “event’ ~ and it definitely was an event. What’s amazing to me is that their house was truly transformed, and it’s got to be even more special for a bride to remember that the house you lived in was also the one you were married in! Just spoke with Alice-Anne and Robert, and they are soooo excited about getting to be with you for some incredible time together! Love you! Aunt Becky
haha! that’s too funny! Reading your blog, I remember how nervous I was before coming to Cambodia…and now it’s been about 6 months! Still my favorite PC blog.