Weddings

These 2 lovely ladies are going to a wedding. Weddings are huge here in Cambodia especially at this time of year before it starts to rain and is known as the wedding season. Wedding invitations are given out a few days before the wedding to lots of people and are very glossy. It is not unusual for people to have invitations to 2 or 3 wedding parties on 1 day!On the evening before the wedding a large truck turns up absolutely laden down with everything that is needed for the wedding including tables, chairs, stoves, the food ie live chickens, a marquee and an array of enormous speakers!Within minutes everything is set up. At about 6 00 the next morning the music starts VERY loudly . The entire village knows there is a wedding going on. Often there are several weddings going on in a small area. It is extremely noisy. The cooking has started on coal fires and guests start to arrive for the breakfast. There will have been ceremonies at the families houses preceding the party but now it's time for fun.Everyone dresses up beatifully for weddings. The bride changes her outfit about 12 times over the 2 days that wedding parties go on for The groom gets away with just changing hs jacket to co ordinate with the brides dress every time. The womens outfits are beautiful. They consist of a long skirt known as a sampot and an intricately decorated top. Most are hand made. There are usually lots of sequins and spakly bits sewn on.The ladies, especially the bride wear very heavy make up which must be horrible in this heat and have very glamourous hairstyles There are about 8 courses to the wedding meal with soft drinks for the ladies and beer and whisky for the men.After the food there is some dancing then everyone leaves but before you leave you have to put some money into an envelope with your name on. This way an account is kept as to who gave how much and is used to help pay for the wedding costs.You only get invited to 1 part of the wedding but for the bride and groom it must be exhausting.We used to love the weddings and still enjoy going to them but if we see 1 being set up near our house our hearts sink as we know there will be very little sleep for the next couple of days