Sunday, 10 March 2002, was an historical day in Cambodia, probably the first time that two deaf people married each other in a formal Buddhist ceremony here in the kingdom. So Sereyvuth, the groom, and Preap Narin, the bride, are both employees of the Cambodian Disabled People's Organization. | |
At 6:30 in the morning, a procession formed at a friend's house a block away from the bride's home. About 50 family and close friends gathered to walk in procession carrying fruit, bread, meat, even beer, on special ceremonial plates to the bride's home where they would be given as gifts to her family. Here the procession is starting to form. |
The groom Vuth and two of the wedding party move to their places near the end of the procession. The groom is dressed in a traditional skirt worn by men and women alike for very formal occasions. It is a single piece of cloth folded and tied into a pants-like garment. The women with flowers in the photo on the left are wearing it also. |
Narin, the bride in the red dress, joins Vuth as the procession nears her house. Then while most of the marchers sat down to a breakfast under a street tent, the two of them went upstairs to her home where they presented gifts to her parents.
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I'm not sure why--early Sunday morning weddings would seem rather safe to me--but there were four or five policemen, one with an AK-47, who stayed with the procession as they walked around the block to Narin's home. They then remained on the edges of the crowd for the rest of the gathering there. |