Vietnamese Wedding

Celine and I were invited to our first Vietnamese wedding on Sunday. This was in the Grand Ballroom of the Melia Hotel and was a five star affair. The bride was the sister of my students and the family, and I quote, was "honoured" to have us attend. I am not particularly sure why our presence deserved "honoured" status but we were only to happy to oblige.

The wedding was luxurious and by far the largest I have been to and with approximately 500 guests the huge Grand Ballroom was full. Vietnamese weddings work a bit differently to the ones I am used to. Here, the bride and groom walk into the ballroom and onto the stage where a short ceremony takes place. The MC says a few words to various applause from the guests. The families of both the bride and groom go onto the stage and go through a short wine ceremony. Before the ceremony is finished the food starts coming to the tables and everyone starts to dig in. The food was to die for and topped the radar as the finest food I have had in Hanoi.

Our glasses were constantly filled with delicious red wine as each course was brought out. Before we knew it the food was finished and people started to file out. With their tummies full it was time to depart which is not abnormal at all. We waited around a little while as not everyone was rushing for the door but after about 10 minutes made our way for the exit. The bride and groom and their families were at the exit thanking everyone for coming. The whole event took less than two hours and it really just felt like we went out to dinner (a very good one!)

We both really enjoyed ourselves at what can be described as an express yet lavish event.