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In my book, A Lao Wedding, I mention that a monk or someone who understands the horasat (Astrology) studies if the groom and bride are compatible and when is a good day to marry. A text (in French) from the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient (The French...
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When you start working on a wedding book rituals, the first thing you look for are good images that can convey or illustrate your text. My book A Lao Wedding sets the scene in the 70s. Without the photographs of that period, no much would have been left...
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Interview of a mo phone (an officiant) explaining beautifully what is the meaning of Baci commissioned by the University of Khon Kaen (part of Lao/Thai Isaan back in the late 19th century). it is in Thai/Lao. For an explanation of the baci, the most comprehensive...
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The best mo lam singers of Laos in my view are Khiengchai Sabayphone and Intaeng Keoboula. In my family, we would have mo lam (master in lam) to sing all night long for a week while we prepare for the wedding ceremony. The khene bamboo flute and their...
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A pity I have not found any video that shows how we properly prepare the laab beef (lab sinh) which is core to the food prepared for a Lao wedding. This video is a good introduction to Lao cuisine for our farang friends who may not be familiar wit our...
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A treasure trove of old images of Laos (416 photos) but also Cambodia, Vietnam and other exotic countries when France was still an empire. One can never have enough of these memories, the quiet land in South East Asia. The Archives d'Outre Mer is the...
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Learn how to tie a bun with just one hairspin like this old Tai Dam lady. Usually we would put the bun just above the neck. The Lao and Thai people share the same ethnic origin, that we are from the Tai ethnic group, who have emigrated from South China...
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Buy now Exceptional e-Book on a Lao Wedding Ceremony. 250 pages, 245 illustrations - $20. In French and Lao only - English Version in 2017 ----- Récit d'une cérémonie de mariage du Laos. Voyagez dans la culture du Laos à travers ce récit imaginaire et...
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If you ask where to find the best silk dresses for wedding, many will say "mae Nouay" Souvannavong whose workshop is in KM3, Vat Nak in Vientiane. It has been for two or three generations already, starting with Oufonh Souvannavong and all the grand families...
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In a post dated Sept 30, 2015, the Facebook page Art and Culture of Laos explains that in Luang Prabang, the phakhouan of the wedding consists of a footed bowl (ຂັນ) that you put on in a bowl (ໂອ) with the bowl representing the bride while the footed...
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Watch this neat video on the making a bangle with the old patterns of Dok Phikoun flowers which go back centuries, but have a sophisticated, classic look that plays well with contemporary fashions. This is an intensive silversmithing handcraft. This is...
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Joel Halpern is an American anthropologist who worked in Laos in 1957, 1959 and 1969, with a particular focus on the Lao elite. He initially went to Laos as a Junior Foreign Service Officer attached to USOM, the U.S. Operations Mission, in January 1957...
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I like this video for the mophone's words when welcoming the groom's family. These are codified "are you coming with good intentions, to build and prosper?" ... "we are coming to be your son, your nephew..." The flower bouquet of the phakhouan is beautifully...
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A nicely organized wedding, Luang Prabang Style. I like the sobriety of the ceremony, the quality of the silk dress "sinh" of the women. Very authentic indeed. https://youtu.be/VLg4wc1I0fs
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Film footage of the wedding of Princess Savivanh Savang Manivong (daughter of King Savang Vatthana and Queen Khamphoui, 1933-2007). The footage shows school children and others in the procession to the palace; visiting digitaries arriving; the candlelit...
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