Wedding

Thongsoune and Preston are back again, this time to celebrate their marriage in a traditional Laotian Ceremony.

The groom walks with his family and a best-friend towards the house, at the foot of the steps his feet are clean with a mixture of daisy petals and water before entering the home.

After an hour long ceremony, they start with the elders in the family and give them yellow daisy's wrapped in paper and then move on to the rest of the family members.

A tradition of taking pictures on the new marriage bed are now a part of ceremony, they start with the elders and then to the people closest to them.

Though Thongsoune (Soune) and I have been friends since middle school, I had yet to have a glimpse into such a traditional part of her life.

Her parents are directly from Laos. When her mother was pregnant with Soune, her mother swam the canal in Laos with two of her older brothers. Eventually made their way to America. But, the oldest brother was left in Laos to care for their elderly grandfather. He only came to America five years ago after the death of his wife. He now lives with his family and they are very glad to have him near.

You know you are in love when you see the world in her eyes, and her eyes everywhere in the world.......

- David Levesque -