Congrats, Soucki and Rob
I hope that talented Jacksonville wedding photographer Corinna Hoffman doesn’t mind my sharing a couple of images with you from a wedding she shot recently. She’s one of my Facebook peeps, and I look forward to her posts, which usually contain a selection of her wedding photography. At the end of last month, Corinna posted photographs of a wedding that followed Lao traditions, and I was captivated by all the colors and the gorgeous fabrics. Have a look:
Just beautiful! And it inspired me to find out more about Lao wedding ceremonies. Traditionally, they are held sometime around 4 p.m. at the bride’s residence — the timing is key so the service of the evening meal follows the one-hour ceremony. The groom and his loved ones march to the wedding venue or park a bit away and march the rest of the way. It’s a joyful procession, with people banging drums, chanting, playing instruments, and cheering all the while.
When the party arrives, they are confronted by the bride’s relatives, who ask questions like “What is your name?” and “What did you bring with you?” The groom doesn’t do any of the answering, however. It’s the elderly relatives who wheel and deal, and it’s the groom’s job to hand over some money (it needn’t be much, apparently, and it is prepared by the groom’s family) to the bride’s family. If they accept it — and they usually do — the groom washes his feet and everyone enters the wedding venue.
Following that, the “soo kuan” starts. During this ceremony, in which the bride and groom sit alongside each other with their parents nearby, gifts are handed to the bride’s parents, the couple prays for their parents, white strings are tied to the couple’s wrist to unite them, and the master of ceremonies speaks about the meaning of marriage. Like I said, the whole thing lasts about an hour, after which the party (which may take place at the bride’s home or a function space) begins.
This is a gorgeous wedding! I love all of the traditional attire.
Jacksonville is also where I live, and when I clicked the link, the main image (the couple in front of the blue wall) was taken at a friend’s wedding that I also attended. Holy Colliding Worlds, Batman!
Yes, those are some lovely and colorful images.
i love colour at weddings
Just saw this! Thanks for featuring Soucki and Rob’s beautiful, colorful and cultural wedding
hi guys! thanks for all of the wonderful comments. Corinna informed me (through Facebook) that our pictures wound up here, and i have to tell you, i blushed.
you cant tell from the pictures, but that day in July was HOT in Jax, FL. Corinna did an AWESOME job for all of our photo shoots including our engagement shoot in St Augustine, the Laos ceremony, and of course the traditional American ceremony at the Morocco temple here in Jacksonville. Corinna has also done a few of our friend’s weddings here in Jacksonville, and we have to admit, we are blessed to have met and know such a talented artist.
Soucki and I can’t thank Corinna enough for capturing our most endearing moments to be frozen in time and splendor forever. Many thanks to Corinna and Bobby once again from our family who are just awed by way you’ve captured our special day(s).
God bless, and see you when we get back from Cali next month!!
Rob
PS.
everyone should check out the slideshow that Corinna made of this photo shoot on her blog site. the kung fu part of the session was so much fun!!
Rob