Traditional weddings in Cambodia truly test endurance

The couple engaged in numerous rituals, this one directly in front of their parents.

The bride, bridegroom and their families arose around 3 a.m. on the day of the wedding to prepare for formalities starting approximately 7 a.m.  Preparations included the professional application of layers of makeup and the creation of elegant hairdos.

The key figures didn’t sleep again until sometime before midnight the same day following an elaborate dinner attended by a throng of 640 in a catering hall.

They also were up late the previous night, when 260 of their closest friends and extended family members joined them for a night of celebrating the upcoming union at tables set up under a tent on the street in front of the bride’s home in the Phnom Penh district of Stung Meanchey.

Little did I, who had to leave home for the wedding at 6 a.m., appreciate

Weddings in Cambodia usually grounded in tradition

Since this is nothing more than a photo that I have plucked from the Internet, I have no idea who these wedding participants are.  But the bridegroom’s family certainly looks happy.

One of my Cambodian “nephews” — I am merely close to the family of five — has been talking for several months about marrying a young women with whom he works.

Like many prospective bridegrooms, “Socheat” is full of anxiety about spending the rest of his life with someone.  But he is going ahead with the planning because, he says, the bond will make his parents, her parents and her happy.

Whether he is truly in love with “Sophea”

Two wedding celebrations reveal strength of tradition

Happy Chinese New Year!

Some weddings are richer than others, as the photo below makes clear.

Although it was only last month that I wrote about the prevalence of streets closed to accommodate weddings and other special events, I couldn’t resist demonstrating again the gap between the wealthy and the wanting.

On an hour’s walk between two Phnom Penh neighborhoods, I was struck by

Let’s close a block to party, pray or pay respects

A wedding celebration takes over a block not far from Toul Sleng, the infamous converted school in which hundreds faced torture and death during the Khmer Rouge years of horror.

Most residents of Cambodia live in spare housing that lack space for numerous guests.  When the occasion demands many invitees, what to do?

Such an occasion might be a funeral, an engagement party, a wedding or a Buddhist ceremony showing respect and support for the elderly.  I have yet to