Cultural weddings Angie & Phuong

ANYONE FOR TEA?

I’m Angie & I’m a Filipino. My fiancé is Vietnamese. His name’s Phuong

We got engaged in May 2010 & I’m only JUST starting to find a way to keep everyone happy

The 2 traditions I’ll be telling you about helped us avoid stepping on A LOT of toes during this whole wedding planning process

 

We get to give most of our family roles which means NOBODY has any reason to whinge about being left out AND I got to play dress-ups

 

I’ve been to a lot of Vietnamese weddings before and I still cannot get over how graceful the bride looks in her traditional wedding Ao Dai.

 

So let me give you the facts in a nut shell

 

A traditional tea ceremony generally involves 2 processions comprised of the immediate family members from both sides.

 

The key parts to these ceremonies are to;

 

• Ask for the brides hand/welcome the bride into the groom’s family
• Thank the parents for their roles in the upbringing & protecting of the bride & groom
• To ask for the ancestral blessing over the union

 

Oh and the gifts are exciting too because the bride gets jewellery from the groom’s parents (YAY more bling for me)

 

NOW we couldn’t do the tea ceremony and leave out my mum’s side. There was no way I was going to risk my mum’s WRATH by not acknowledging my own culture too

 

Enter the Unity coins/Arras, Veil & Cord ceremony, which is done after the ring exchange

 

The coins signify the grooms’ promise to provide for his bride & any future family that result from the union.

 

A veil is placed over the shoulders of the couple representing their unity.

 

The cord is then placed over the heads of the couple to represent their bond.

 

It’s cost us a bit more as I’ve had to get my Ao Dai outfit, the Veil & Cord made, as well as purchasing the Arras/Unity coins box

 

But hey, it’s all in the name of LOVE 🙂

 

Angie