Wedding Differences

This past weekend was my friend Jed's wedding in Cape May, New Jersey. The whole wedding weekend was fantastic and got me thinking about some difference between Vietnamese weddings and American weddings. Here's a few obvious differences:

1. There are no destination weddings in Vietnam. Weddings are always at the house or in the city of one of (or both) the people getting married. Nobody just chooses a spot because it's beautiful.

(PICTURE: Cape May, NJ)










2. There is no rehearsal dinner.

(PICTURE: My friend Jeremy and I at the rehearsal dinner.)






3. My Vietnamese isn't exactly that good, but I'm 99% sure there are no "roasting" style speeches at Vietnamese weddings.

(PICTURE: Jeremy, Brett and Alex doing their best Three Stooges impersonation.)

4. There is no dancing, let alone a couple's first dance.

(PICTURE: Jed and Lena's first dance.)














5. There is no cocktail hour.

6. There is no band.

7. There is no open bar. There's just all you can drink beer and vodka.

8. There is no after party at a bar after the wedding.













9. There is no brunch the next day.
(PICTURE: One guy didn't get the memo to wear a blue shirt.)








10. And finally, there's definitely no NY Times Wedding announcement.