English Catholic Community in Cambodia
Wedding in Kampot
22-24 November 2012
The English-speaking Catholic community in Cambodia is a fluid, constantly changing congregation. Some members--just a very few--have been in Cambodia more than 20 years. Many have been in Cambodia less than three or four years. The latter tend to be recruited for specific jobs with NGOs or international organizations and frequently have it in mind that they will be in another country at the end of this work tenure.
Many of these expatriates are of a marriageable age but most, when they find the right person, return to their home country for a celebration of the marriage and of the Sacrament of Matrimony. But every year there are several who celebrate their marriages here in the Kingdom.
This weekend I am witnessing one of those marriages in the southern province of Kampot, on the Gulf of Thailand.
Thursday
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As we headed south from Phnom Penh toward the coast, we began to travel through rice fields in central Cambodia. Here the paddies extend as far as the eye can see. The power lines indicate that this area is part of the 17% of Cambodia that has electricity--at least along the highway. |
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Farther south, the electricity wires disappear but the "mountains" appear. The highest peak in Cambodia is just about 4,000 feet. Here the rice fields are limited by tree lines and topographical features. |
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The canonical parish in which this wedding will be celebrated is based in a church in Kampot, fifteen miles away, and I had to make a two-hour round trip to pick up their marriage registry for recording this ceremony. I was on the back of a motorcycle taxi and could see a lot of the beautiful countryside. Here the cows are being brought home for the evening. |
| The wedding party is staying at an actual resort, Knai Bang Chatt, and the couple gave me a super room with a seaview. This is probably the only time in my life I will have this resort experience! At night a central courtyard is lit with torches. The sea is in the background. |  |
Friday
The wedding couple wanted a Catholic marriage ceremony within the mass but many of the 80 or so people who were attending were not Catholic and the only chapel in the area--at the Don Bosco technical school--was quite small, so it was decided to divide the ceremony into two parts, a simple ceremony in the morning at the school and a more formal ceremony in the afternoon at Knai Bang Chatt.
On Thursday evening the family and friends gathered for supper at 5:00 PM but I had to ride a motorcycle taxi to Kampot City, fifteen miles away to get the marriage register from the parish there and completely missed supper. Then on Friday right after the wedding, I had to make the trip again to return the register.
On Saturday morning I caught the 7:30 AM bus back to Phnom Penh.
| The morning ceremony was the actual church wedding where the couple exchanged their vows. Here the bride and her father arrive at the Don Bosco school grounds by tuk-tuk. |  |
| About twenty members of both families came to the small morning ceremony which was formal but simple and easy. Here the newly married couple leave the second-floor chapel overlooking the sea. |  |
| Then the families gathered back at Knai Bang Chatt resort for a brunch. |  |
| This was my room at Knai Bang Chatt. The facilities there were quite nice and the staff was excellently trained to be of service and at the same time polite and friendly. |  |
| The afternoon ceremony at 3:30 PM was on the large lawn of Knai Bang Chatt. The staff spent much of the morning arranging chairs and tables for serving and eating supper after the ceremony. Unfortunately it rained after the ceremony and the meal had to be served under a covered veranda. |  |
| I had to take the marriage registry book back to the local parish and that took two hours, but because the rain caused everything to be moved to the veranda, I still got back in time for supper. Then the family and friends gathered on the lawn again for some fireworks before going to a clubhouse next door for Irish music and dancing. |  |
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