Wedding and other things

This weekend we went to a wedding. A Burmese Buddhist style wedding reception really as the civil ceremony and gifts to the monks happened at some other time prior to the party.

On arrival we gave our gifts to the gift desk and signed a form (a handy accountability system set up to ensure no gifts go missing I presume). I caused some confusion as I had written the name of the bride and groom on the envelop, when in fact it seemed I should have written my name on the envelop in order to aid gift registration!

We were allocated a table and sat around chatting whilst others arrived. When it says 1pm on the invite, that just means start showing up from 1pm… the actual wedding doesn’t start until 30-60min later.

The bride and groom arrived and processed down an aisle between the 300 odd people attending, who were seated around tables. There were lots of bright lights and cameras flashing from the photography team… and somehow a group of tourists had also found their way into the venue and so joined in the photo taking fun. Apparently the walking down an “aisle” is not really traditional – it is borrowed from western style weddings.

There followed a small amount of talking by the announcer – who was hired – I understand he does/ used to read the news on one of the TV channels. Wedding announcing being a sideline. I don’t really know what was said, but the qualifications and occupations of the bride and groom were read out – these were also printed on the wedding invitations (standard in Myanmar). Guess it shows the importance of education.

Finally some wise elderly people gave them jasmine garlands and then we all ate dim sum and then went home. Much shorter than an English wedding… in fact I think I went to a wedding at lunch time last year.

The bride and groom looked amazing amazing and very sparkly.

  

I also saw a couple of things that amused me. The helpful reminder in a toilet. Indeed. Probably best not to forget ones valuables in the toilet. And one of my favourite shops in Yangon. T.art High Fashion. What a name!