Two weddings

The bride and groom are tied together with the magic string used on all ceremonial occasions. He is from Bangkok and there are many cars outside which is unusual for an Issan village where most of the vehicles are motorcyles, farm vehicles or trucks (mostly Isuzu). She is from a local family and is only 18 years old. She was obviously very tense and shy, so one of the highlights for me was when taking photos I caught her eye and automatically smiled at her and she responded with a beautiful smile, the first I had seen.

The ceremony included chanting with responses from the audience and lighting of candles most of which was a mystery to me.