Wedding in Sihanoukville

Ly-O'Connor Wedding
15 February 2014

Sara-joy O'Connor and Tony Ly from Australia planned their wedding celebration at St. Michael Church in Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia. Fr. Denis Carrier was to preside at the wedding but he died suddenly before the wedding. Fr. Charlie Dittmeier was contacted and was able to come to Sihanoukville to replace Fr. Denis for the weekend.

Travel Day
13 February 2014

Charlie rode the Capitol Bus to Sihanoukville on Thursday afternoon. Their depot in Phnom Penh is a bit chaotic and their counter staff are poorly trained and not customer friendly. On top of that the bus ride took 6½ hours to travel the 150 miles. Capitol Bus depot

St. Michael's Church is the only church in Sihanoukville and one of only two Catholic church buildings in Cambodia that were not destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. From the parish grounds on a hillside there is a view of the sea and the port below. Catholic Church, Sihanoukville

Fr. Un Son (left) is the parish priest of St. Michael. Fr. John from Myanmar also lives at the parish as did Fr. Denis who was from Canada. Fr. Un Son at rectory

The parish church is part of a Catholic compound that includes a retreat center. Charlie stayed in one residence building that has simple rooms but each with a bath. Notice the dark blue bolster along the wall. Bolsters are an essential in Cambodian bedrooms. Charlie's room in Sihanoukville

The rooms only have one electrical outlet so Charlie always tries to remember to bring an extension cord to power a laptop and recharge various devices at the desk across the room.

Preparation Day
14 February 2014

The retreat center grounds has a variety of buildings for use by different groups. This is the entrance of a small chapel that can be used. Small chapel on center grounds

At 5:00 PM in the evening, the parish had a daily liturgy celebrated by Fr. John (left) and Fr. Un Son, the parish priest. About 10 or 15 people attend the service normally. Evening parish mass

Another busload of guests and members of the wedding party drove down from Phnom Penh today, and when they arrived we had a simple rehearsal to go over the outline of tomorrow's service. Here Sara-Joy O'Connor goes over plans with the Dominican Sisters who will set up the church for the ceremony. Rehearsal conference with sisters

After the rehearsal, the group talked over last minute ideas on the church steps. On church steps

Tony Ly (groom) and Sara-Joy O'Connor (bride) and her sister Beth rode in the back of an SUV that a friend of Tony's father had lent them for this weekend. Heading back to the hotel

Wedding Day
15 February 2014

The parish has a simple liturgy on Saturday mornings and Fr. Un Son was the presider this morning.

The priests and staff of the parish have a very good relationship and work together as a small community. They see each other throughout the day and eat most of their meals together, priests, sisters, lay missioners, and other lay people. Breakfast at the rectory

After breakfast four or five of us went over to the church to prepare for the afternoon Catholic wedding. A group of Dominican Sisters working in the parish took charge and really decorated the church well. The church has plastic chairs they use occasionally (the Khmer people sit on the floor) but for the wedding they put covers over the chairs to make them nicer. Preparing the church

At 10:00 AM there was a traditional Khmer wedding ceremony at the hotel where the family and guests were staying. I passed this roundabout with a statue of naga snakes in the center. Such statues mark the roundabouts throughout Cambodia and help identify roads and highways for people who cannot read. Statue as road marker

While the four parents sat in the front of the ceremonial hall, two professional ceremony leaders sang a song about the gifts arranged on the floor that were presented to the parents in a symbolic gesture. Traditional Khmer wedding ceremony

A group of traditional musicians played traditional instruments throughout the hour and a half ceremony. Traditional music group

At one point the groom was out of the room, waiting at the doorway to re-enter for the second part of the ceremony. Here he talks with his mother-in-law to be. Note his shoes!

As the second part of the ceremony began, the wedding leaders performed another song. Later they also did a comic routine, a back-and-forth dialogue which is common in Cambodian weddings. Wedding ceremony leaders

I didn't get many photos in the afternoon because I was preparing things and then presiding, but afterwards I caught the last of the guests as they waited for the hotel shuttle bus to return to take the group back to the hotel for an evening dinner in an outdoor area next to the sea. Guests after the church ceremony

Travel Day
16 February 2014

On the way to the terminus where I was to board the van, I passed several more statues marking roundabouts and intersections. This one sported a pair of dolphins. Statue in a roundabout

Halfway through the trip, the van stopped for fifteen minutes. The bus trip south took 6 1/2 hours. The van trip coming back took a little over four hours. Rest stop on the van trip

At the rest stop, this little spirit house had been erected to give shelter to the spirits displaced when the buildings were put up. This house isn't as fancy as some of the cement creations but at least these lucky spirits have free papayas at their door. Spirit house at the rest stop

Go to Catholic Church main page
Go to Charlie Dittmeier's home page

Charlie rode the Capitol Bus to Sihanoukville on Thursday afternoon. Their depot in Phnom Penh is a bit chaotic and their counter staff are poorly trained and not customer friendly. On top of that the bus ride took 6½ hours to travel the 150 miles.
St. Michael's Church is the only church in Sihanoukville and one of only two Catholic church buildings in Cambodia that were not destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. From the parish grounds on a hillside there is a view of the sea and the port below.
Fr. Un Son (left) is the parish priest of St. Michael. Fr. John from Myanmar also lives at the parish as did Fr. Denis who was from Canada.
The parish church is part of a Catholic compound that includes a retreat center. Charlie stayed in one residence building that has simple rooms but each with a bath. Notice the dark blue bolster along the wall. Bolsters are an essential in Cambodian bedrooms.
The rooms only have one electrical outlet so Charlie always tries to remember to bring an extension cord to power a laptop and recharge various devices at the desk across the room.

The retreat center grounds has a variety of buildings for use by different groups. This is the entrance of a small chapel that can be used.
At 5:00 PM in the evening, the parish had a daily liturgy celebrated by Fr. John (left) and Fr. Un Son, the parish priest. About 10 or 15 people attend the service normally.
Another busload of guests and members of the wedding party drove down from Phnom Penh today, and when they arrived we had a simple rehearsal to go over the outline of tomorrow's service. Here Sara-Joy O'Connor goes over plans with the Dominican Sisters who will set up the church for the ceremony.
After the rehearsal, the group talked over last minute ideas on the church steps.
Tony Ly (groom) and Sara-Joy O'Connor (bride) and her sister Beth rode in the back of an SUV that a friend of Tony's father had lent them for this weekend.

The parish has a simple liturgy on Saturday mornings and Fr. Un Son was the presider this morning.
The priests and staff of the parish have a very good relationship and work together as a small community. They see each other throughout the day and eat most of their meals together, priests, sisters, lay missioners, and other lay people.
After breakfast four or five of us went over to the church to prepare for the afternoon Catholic wedding. A group of Dominican Sisters working in the parish took charge and really decorated the church well. The church has plastic chairs they use occasionally (the Khmer people sit on the floor) but for the wedding they put covers over the chairs to make them nicer.
At 10:00 AM there was a traditional Khmer wedding ceremony at the hotel where the family and guests were staying. I passed this roundabout with a statue of naga snakes in the center. Such statues mark the roundabouts throughout Cambodia and help identify roads and highways for people who cannot read.
While the four parents sat in the front of the ceremonial hall, two professional ceremony leaders sang a song about the gifts arranged on the floor that were presented to the parents in a symbolic gesture.
A group of traditional musicians played traditional instruments throughout the hour and a half ceremony.
At one point the groom was out of the room, waiting at the doorway to re-enter for the second part of the ceremony. Here he talks with his mother-in-law to be. Note his shoes!
As the second part of the ceremony began, the wedding leaders performed another song. Later they also did a comic routine, a back-and-forth dialogue which is common in Cambodian weddings.
I didn't get many photos in the afternoon because I was preparing things and then presiding, but afterwards I caught the last of the guests as they waited for the hotel shuttle bus to return to take the group back to the hotel for an evening dinner in an outdoor area next to the sea.

On the way to the terminus where I was to board the van, I passed several more statues marking roundabouts and intersections. This one sported a pair of dolphins.
Halfway through the trip, the van stopped for fifteen minutes. The bus trip south took 6 1/2 hours. The van trip coming back took a little over four hours.
At the rest stop, this little spirit house had been erected to give shelter to the spirits displaced when the buildings were put up. This house isn't as fancy as some of the cement creations but at least these lucky spirits have free papayas at their door.