Sara and Eric had a beautiful, colorful, traditional Cambodian wedding. The celebration began at the Hong Family home.
There is a blessing by the monks and then the hair cutting ceremony meant to prepare the bride and groom for their life as a married couple, their hair is symbolically cut, representing a fresh start to their new relationship together as husband and wife.
Next is the chinese tea ceremony. Traditionally, after the wedding ceremony, the newlyweds serve tea and invite the groom’s elders to drink tea by addressing them by formal title. In return, the newlyweds receive lucky red envelopes (“lai see,” which means “lucky”) stuffed with money or jewelry.
In the final and most memorable stage of the wedding, family members and friends tie the bride and groom’s left and right wrists with red blessing strings. The praises and well-wishes of happiness, good health, success, prosperity, and long-lasting love are acknowledged and witnessed by the loud sound of the gong and joyful cheer. The ceremony concludes with a shower of palm flowers thrown over the new couple.
Wedding portraits were taken in Central Park at Cop Cot in Sara’s beautiful Chinese tea dress.
Sara and Eric met in the Peace Corps. She shares, “Eric was in the volunteer group leading a discussion about Special Education in Jordan and I was sleepily listening. After the discussion, he sat next to me and we chatted. We started texting each other and he told me that he thought my eyes were pretty when they were open, since I was falling asleep during his session.” Although they lived in different villages they stayed in touch and shared their first date at an internet cafe in Irbid, the only place they could find open during Ramadan. They took trips together throughout Jordan, then eventually to Jerusalem, Turkey, Thailand, and Cambodia. When they returned to the US, it was only 9 months before Sara moved to NY and they no longer had any distance between them.
Eric shares the proposal story, “A week before I was set to propose to Sara, I realized that I would be doing it on Friday the 13th. The night before, in all my subtlety, I asked: “Are we superstitious?” After getting a chuckle, a no, and a “Why do you ask?”, I proceeded to change the topic and plan for the day.
We spent the day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then enjoyed a picnic in Central Park. We found a nice spot, I took out a blanket and pretended to not know how to unfold it. After Sara graciously offered to do the unfolding, it gave me the chance to take out the ring. The joke is that whenever anyone asked how long we’ve dated, I would joke and always say 6 months–even after four years. I started my proposal with, “We’ve been dating for 4 years, 8 months and 18 days.” She knew right away what I was doing. She teared up, I opened the ring box, popped the question, and without any hesitation, she said yes!”
The reception took place at the Dae Dong Manor in Flushing.
Congratulations Sara and Eric!
For more photos, check out the slideshow:
Thanks to the team:
Venue: The Hong Family House & Dae Dong Manor
Monks: Khmer Buddhist Society
DJ: Denet Samreth
Invitations: VistaPrint
Hair and Makeup: The Bride
Bride’s Dress: Fine Chinese Clothing, David’s Bridal
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