The wedding celebration took place in the morning in a big ballroom and many guests were invited. All in all, it lastet for about 2 to 3 hours.
When you go to a Myanmar wedding, you should of course bring a present. This is very similar to Switzerland. However, at Myanmar weddings, you usually make a gift that can later be used in the household. Or you can donate money for the couple. Flo and I also searched for a suitable present. We found a present, but we couldn't find any wrapping paper. Where to buy wrapping paper in Yangon? We still don't know. So, we felt rather ashamed when we handed over the unwrapped gift... :-)
The present-desk is very organised. Several people take your delivery, write down your name, make sure the name is also visible ON the present, organise the donations, and make everything look very neat and tidy.
At this wedding, we could already see the couple (including the bride!) before the ceremony. This is usually not the case in Switzerland. But I was told that at other weddings, the guests can also not see the couple beforehand. So, maybe this depends on the wedding.
Here, the beautiful pair was already giving photo shootings. We also had the chance to eternalising ourselves together with them.
What a beautiful couple, no?!
Some more of our working colleagues attended the wedding and we could make a picture all together.
Of course, many more people also wanted to make photos with the couple, so we already went inside the ballroom to take a seat. What a huge celebration room!! In the back, you can see...
... the stage, where they got married later,
... a big screen to the right, where all the amazing pictures from the pre-wedding shooting were shown,
... and a music stage to the very left, where famous singers performed during the celebration.
By the way, pre-wedding shootings seem to be very common and important. The couple goes to a pre-wedding studio, gets nicely dressed, makes nice hairstyles, and applies the make-up. Then the shooting is conducted in several different environments. At the wedding ceremony, all these amazing pictures are shown to the guests.
Waiting for the people to come inside and the couple to begin the ceremony.
And finally they come. While the musicians are playing a traditional song, the bridesmaids, the couple, the groomsmen, and the parents solemnly proceed to the stage. (and the photographers feel the hecticness of their job!) :-)
The ceremony master leads the main persons through the steps of the ceremony. Of course we did not understand much of what he said, unfortunately. But at some point, we understood, that the parents were about to give their blessings to the couple, and the rings were exchanged. Kissing - as we do in Switzerland - is not part of the ceremony.
And then, the couple is officially presented as married, in front of all the witnesses in the room.
Now, the bride can cut the wedding cake and try the taste. However, the cake is not eaten immediately. We don't know what happened to the cake afterwards. I should definitely ask someone. :-)
At this point, the food for the guests gets served. We received some sweets, coffee, and tea. During this time, when the guests sit at their tables and eat, the couple walks from one table to the other in order to take pictures with as many guests as possible. Busy time for the photographers!
After asking some of our friends, we found out that Myanmar weddings can of course also be held in the afternoon. And it does not need to be a ballroom; it can also be a restaurant or a monastery. However, if it takes place in a monastery, the celebration has to be finished around lunch time the latest, because the monks are not allowed to eat heavy food after midday. Apparently, dancing and drinking alcohol is not very common. But there seem to be other regions in Myanmar, where dancing and drinking until nighttime is normal for a wedding.
Thank you very much, Tun Tun Thein and Win Thiri Aung, for sharing this special moment with us! We enjoyed it very much!
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