Reception

[What's next 1]

So how many bars of service do you get on your cell in VN. All kidding aside, did you have your wedding/engagement reception at a resturant/formal place or in the front/back yard?

I had mine at a resturant, but if i was tight on money, I would do a front yard reception in a heart beat. It's cheaper and it just seems more fun.

Edited July 23, 2010 by What's next

[ScottThuy 140]

we had the Dam Hoi at the house to honor the relatives past and present that part was great....and then we all went to a restaurant to party it up.. it wasnt big by any means.. but we had a great time...

[lambchop4life 6]

Most Poor people do have the party in the front yard, that pretty normal over there, no sense in renting out a big restaurant, thats for rich wise assssh American wash Vietnamese over there that are showing off to other wanabe American Vietnamese.

[BinhJerome 14]

You all people are crazy!!! I have not seen any front yards to speak of in HCMC, in the countryside yes, but not in the city. I think it really depends on where the family lives as to if it is in a restaraunt or in the front yard. We had ours in a restaraunt, and this was for two reasons, I had no family here with a front yard, and her house has no front yard, however... her uncle does live in the countryside, but this was not HER house, her uncles. I think either way is more than acceptable, as we had part of our reception at her home, we did the traditional wedding thing, and it was done at her home, then we moved on to the dinner at a restaraunt. Either way is fine in the eyes of the CO just as long as you have enough people there.

[Anh map 2,098]

Front yards often include taking part of the street for the afternoon. Much less likely in HCMC proper, but the brave can do it.

[Tuanv 2]

We did the ceremony/ritual at my wife's house and at my parents' house then we had our wedding at a restaurant. If you have the dough to spend, I think it is a good idea to have a wedding at a nice restaurant. After all, it is one in a lifetime thing (hopefully).

[ScottThuy 140]

I felt like I had walked a mile approaching the house with all of those red boxes... but everything happened inside the walls of the compound once we entered the gates... I can imagine it happening outside in the street in some places..

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

My wife is not much younger than me, and has three grown kids. She owns her own home in the suburbs of Hue city. It would have been kind of pointless to have the engagement ceremony at her mom's house, which is in a coastal village 15 miles away. We had the ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Hue. There were probably three dozen people at the ceremony, including my sister and her husband representing my family. Of course, her mom was at the ceremony, along with the most senior male elder from the extended family (my wife's father died years ago). The ceremony was very early in the morning, and lasted about 1/2 hour, including an extended prayer ritual by the Su Thuc. There was a breakfast for everyone, including the monks and nuns, in the Su Phu's residence beneath the temple. I sprung for this, but I didn't get to eat anything because we had to walk from table to table toasting everyone.

The "parade" was easy. We just walked up the driveway to the Chua - about 50 yards.

We had the party at a restaurant in the city of Hue. It was actually a complex of four restaurants on the same campus, all specifically designed for weddings and engagements. We were in one of the smaller restaurants, with a little over 100 people I think. Most of them were from the village, and we bussed them in for the party. There was a really great six course meal. Again, I sprung for this, but I didn't get to eat anything because we had to walk from table to table toasting everyone. We finally finished the toasts about the time the karaoke jam started, so I figured I'd finally get some food. No dice. The photographer wanted to take advantage of the landscaping on the campus, which was specifically laid out for romantic photo ops, so head dragged us around for about an hour taking pictures and video.

I remember a lot from that day, but I mostly remember being really really hungry.

Another thing I remember - my step-daughter had tied up the bathroom in the hotel for about an hour while my wife was getting her makeup done by a wedding consultant. By the time my step-daughter got out of the bathroom I had only ten minutes to shower and jump into my tux. I didn't have time to dry my hair. Three hours later, when we were climbing in the cab to go back to the hotel, my hair was still wet.

[luckytxn 2,265]

We had our engagement party at her families house/compound. The front yard is the wide sidewalk and street but we did take over the side walk pretty much. The back yard is the shops they own and facing the local market so those were locked up. Pretty much it was maybe a hundred or more relatives that showed up on two days notice and drank and ate until no one could do so anymore. I remember tons of toasts. Have a lot of pics. Embassy bought it all too.

[michael7oanh 1]

Our engagement ceremony was done on short notice after a lawyer advised us to arrange it during my first trip. So we had it at her family's house followed by a lunch/party for the 30 guests. We used the alley in front of her house for some of the rituals and overall it went very smoothly. It rained heavily as soon as we started our lunch and I was told that it was a sign of good luck.

For the wedding, we started the rituals at her house (which mostly seemed like a replay of the engagement ceremony) and then later went to the hotel ballroom to have the formal dinner/ceremony with 100+ guests. It turned out that more guests showed up than planned so we ran out of food. Oanh and I ended up having to order room service for our dinner after a pretty exhausting day.

[decker 1]

Rooftop of her family's house in district 12. Small, simple and easy.