Learning Vietnam

Our Dam Hoi engagement ceremony and celebrations last weekend were a resounding success. It’s taken me a week to recover. What I thought was a slight hangover turned in to actual sickness – severe allergies apparently – but I am happily medicated and on the mend. We laughed, we cried, we danced. Our families came together around tradition, stories from our childhoods and, of course, alcohol.

Preparations continued until the day before, but we pulled it all together and I was able to get out to my parent’s house for an early bedtime. It seems like we’ve been waiting for ages to get to the dam hoi. We were engaged in July 2012, so it was just over a year getting to this point. Now we’re only three weeks away from the wedding.

The day started bright and early with a dear friend who agreed to beautify me at 6 AM. There was much coffee, indeed. My ao dai fit beautifully and – bonus – was almost as comfy as my pj’s. Unfortunately the khan dong (or circular hat – like a halo) didn’t fit. Either the fabric retracted and tightened or my head shrunk massively. Either way, I couldn’t get it to sit properly on my head and there was no pinning it in place. At least I got to have a fuller up-do as a result.

See? We tried. There’s tons of daylight on both sides of the hat.

The weather was overcast and drizzly throughout the morning, which makes for gorgeous photos and even, muted lighting. I hope to get our professional photos back this week, which I will of course share with you here.

In the interim, here’s one of my favorites thus far spending a little quality time with my nephew who was a trooper and spent the entire day with us.

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Tags: Ao Dai, Banh Pate So, Cakes by Long, Catering, Dam Hoi, Engagement Ceremony, family, Pate Chaud, Sampan Cafe