About these Sanford Civic Center Wedding Photos...

Nicole and John had a multi-day wedding. The second day was the Laotian wedding and it was at the Sanford Civic Center in Sanford, Florida. Sanford is about 45 minutes north of downtown Orlando. John and Nicole were seated for the ceremony and it was so much fun to watch the ceremony while taking photos! This was the first time I had seen a Laotian ceremony and I was a little nervous that I might miss something! But Nicole and John had someone that translated and explained most of the ceremony so that helped. Family and friends made all of the food and it was incredible - there was sushi being rolled on site and tray after tray of amazing Laotian food. Everything looked awesome! I did try a few things at the end of the night and it was all so delicious!

I did look up a few of Nicoles Laotian wedding traditions - on the wedding day the bride wears a traditional Lao silk sinh (Lao skirt), and silk blouse, and has her hair tied up in a special way with gold decoration. This ensemble is finished off with a gold necklace, bracelets and earrings.

And John also wore a traditional Laotian wedding outfit - the groom usually wears something with white or cream coloured silk for a shirt and then a traditional silk salong (a pair of baggy pants).

Nicole and John then walked out to the floor of the Sanford Civic Center where they had a few rugs placed around a pha kwan (the centerpiece) and then the baci (also known as sou khuan) ceremony began.

The Laotian wedding ceremony involves the chanting by the master of ceremony (mor phon), the egg feeding (the bride and the groom feed each other an egg) and the tying of white strings on wrists to unite the couple.

The main item required is the the pha kwan (centerpiece) and it is a bowl that looks like a shrine piled high with food - fruit, bananas, etc. and it has flowers, white strings and candles.

All around the base was a variety of food and drink - rice, sweets, fruit, liquor, hard boiled eggs and rice. Eggs and rice are the most symbolic of these, representing fertility and prosperity. The wedding guests gather in a circle around the pha kwan which sits on the ground and those closest have one hand touching this table. Those farther away who cannot touch the center table, touch the person in front of them - to capture the flow of good energy and show a state of togetherness. It was really awesome just to watch everyone touching one another in this large circle around the pha kwan!

Then at one point in the wedding ceremony all of the guests tied the white strings on John and Nicole's wrists and gave them their blessings. Lots of tears were shed and it was making me cry as I watched! It really was so intimate even though they had a fairly big crowd there (and the larger crowd hadn't even arrived yet!). The strings must remain on John and Nicole's wrists for at least three days and after that, if one wants to remove them, they must not be cut, but somehow slipped off. Many people wear them until, frayed and worn, they fall off on their own.

After this, all the participants, who have been sitting round the pa kwan, are allowed to tie more strings around his or her wrists, while expressing their own specific good wishes; and are also permitted to tie strings around each other's wrists, helping each other bind their souls, and wishing each other well.

At one point after the ceremony I noticed that the large ballroom at the Sanford Civic Center was nowhere near full. I asked Nicole if more people were coming and she told me that hardly anyone comes for the Laotian ceremony - they all come for dinner! And sure enough around 7pm it was like the floodgates opened! I knew they were expecting around 400 guests and they started to arrive! They had a good reason to come for the dinner - the food was just spectacular! Lots of Nicole's family had made the food and then John had his favorite sushi chef rolling sushi.