A Vietnamese wedding

Hey all! So it seems that my blog has been on unintentional hiatus for a while, but I'm back now! I was just on vacation for a few weeks, visiting my family and friends, and taking a couple of side trips to see my favourite band, including one to Mexico! More on that in a future post....

But I'm back now!

On the very day before I left Hanoi to go home for a visit, my friend and co-worker Steve got married to a sweet and lovely Vietnamese girl named Hanh.



The happy couple!

 

He was kind enough to invite me, and despite the fact that I was leaving the next day, of course I wanted to go see my friend get married! This was the first Vietnamese wedding I've been to, so I don't know how typical it was, but there was no ceremony! They'd already signed all the papers and so it was just a big banquet at a hotel in Haiphong.

Here's a selection of photos of happy wedding guests:

...and the food!



The menu. Good luck reading it!



The first course - Eel and mushroom soup.



Prawn salad



Squid cakes



Prawns





Grilled Fish





Sam felt the need to make the fish communicate with him.




Too much food! Time to take a break for a drink!




Chicken....



...and its head.












Beef!




Rice with fancy pork floss and fried shallots.



Soup with fish cakes and sausage in it.













Yep, that table was LOADED with food!



The bride and her beautiful hairdo!





...and the dancing....



The singing....
















...and the angry Englishman!



Some of the afternoon's entertainment:

Weddings always make Kim cry.

 


Ohhhhhh, Nat.....





And then there was this sad-eyed busker outside.

 This wedding was loads of fun, and somewhat of a departure from any Western wedding I've been to. Congratulations Steve and Hanh!