A few months ago my wife told me her sister Mahn got married. “Oh, cool. Tell her thanks for inviting us,” I said. I guess it was a small ceremony but the big reception hadn’t happened yet, and we were invited to that. “Ah, okay,” I said. They already had an official photographer, but I brought my stuff along anyway. Besides, with no responsibilities I was free to shoot whatever I wanted.
The day was in three parts: tea ceremony, photos in the park, and the reception itself. We showed up at their house in Sacramento kind of early, so I got some shots of Mahn getting her makeup done. I thought I was in the wrong place at first. She looked like a totally different person!
That’s Bill the official photog. Aww yea! Behind the scenes!
Isn’t she pretty!?
Her husband Wil had a lot of help with his boutonniere. It took two of Mahn’s sisters and three iPhones to figure out how to do it.
Before the actual tea ceremony, they had to walk down the street to Wil’s parents’ house to bow to a photo of his grandparents. Mahn wore her Chinese dress for this.
It’s a Chinese tradition to pay respect to ancestors.
Back at the house, it was time for the tea ceremony. Mahn and Wil served tea to several prominent members of Wil’s family, and those family members gave them red envelopes with money.
The Chinese tea ceremony is very different from the Japanese variant, with which I’m more familiar.
And it just wouldn’t be complete without a group photo. Non-relatives had to sit this one out.
Once that was wrapped up, everyone went with Bill to the park for more group photos. I skipped that part and went to meet up with my parents, who had come down from Washington. We hung out for a while, then all went to the reception together, where we were greeted by my brother-in-law Andrew and his new son Carter.
Carter loves clicking cameras. Can’t you tell?
There’s my father-in-law Chiem. He got chased out of Laos into Thailand by the Vietcong before bringing his whole family to California. The same story is told by thousands of other Mien families too.
Even though the reception was primarily Mien themed, it was at a Chinese restaurant and there were still some Chinese elements like these wedding dolls.
Will and Mahn and the bridesmaids wore traditional Mien clothing as guests arrived.
Guests gave them red envelopes of money and received their choice of a shot of tea or a shot of Smirnoff. Can’t argue with that!
My brother-in-law Weun brought his daughter Jynda out wearing her traditional clothes. I think Jynda really really really didn’t want me to take this photo. Haha!
We sat at a table with some friends. There’s my wife’s best friend Latsamy and her husband Craig…
Our personal bottle of Hennessy…
And Latsamy’s sister Oudary and her boyfriend Dino.
I put my camera away during dinner. That’s another one of the perks of not being the official photog! After dinner I didn’t want to get up, but luckily I had my 300 with me so I could shoot the dancefloor from my seat. #lazy
They danced so long that I had a chance to recover my strength and walk over there.
Before long it was time for the bouquet toss. The little girls up front didn’t have a chance.
Mahn’s friend was pretty excited that she won.
The end.
.:Bohan
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