Orange Country Wedding Photographer
With guests from Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Thailand and the United States present Nad and Alex's wedding was just one of the most cosmopolitan, whom I had ever officiated. With a more traditional Jewish ceremony included, from Thai customs book ended, it was definitely one of the intercultural. Throw in the fact that I'm an elephant, the show was stolen, and you have the setting for a great story!
While one might have thought that the coupling of a Russian Jew and a Buddhist Thai would be a challenge, showed the bride and groom, that it not be so. This can only be because the bride, Nad (short for Nadusa), and the groom, Alex, living in Australia are true citizens of the world. Nad was born in Thailand but grew up mainly in Australia and Europe, because of her father's work for the Royal Thai Airways. She was trained in an international school in Paris and speaks fluent (Standard American accent), English, French, German and Thai. Alex was born in Russia, and he grew up there and (15 years) in the U.S., he trained as a radiologist at Harvard and practicing a certain kind of medication that the global village we live in. If you have ever had an x embodies-ray in the middle of the night done, you may be wondering where on earth they a radiologist to read it can find. Now, on the lower part of the earth, that is, where! It may, in fact, Alex, a "nighthawk" radiologist, who by virtue of being in a different time zone, during which day it will be stateside for a report back to your doctor. Nad and (of course) works for an international corporation.
The couple reflects a Orange Country Wedding Photographer, not only in their education to organize their work and their personal life, but also in its philosophy of living. They are both very proud of its cultural heritage, but in terms of actual religious beliefs are much more humanistic in their inclinations. They wanted their ceremony to reflect this, and their idea of how it was to have a fairly traditional, while inclusive, Jewish ceremony, with Thai customs before and after. For the location they chose Koh Samui, a small picturesque island in the southern part of Thailand.
Your exciting beach ceremony began with the sound of a gong and drums beating and men who could not yet see, we cried, in Thai, "Here we come, we are here," as they approached. The first thing we saw was four artificial and traditionally dressed young Thai women, swaying as they processed slowly. We then saw the men we had heard before, followed by the "special guest" - a baby elephant! The elephant has been decorated with ornate jewelry, and has also danced. They brought to the bridegroom, and seated him next to the bride. One of the men, then the establishment of a xylophone, and the four wives, his music is a complex synchronized dance before the bride and groom dancing. They ended by spreading before them a bed of rose petals in perfect sync.
I then served the Jewish part of the ceremony under a beautiful chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy) on the beach. They exchanged cordial vows and rings, and share a cup of wine.They signed an attractive ketubah (Jewish marriage contract ceremonies) written in Hebrew, English and Thai. (NAD-mother, a professional translator, helped in the translation.) I have then it is blessed with the priestly blessing, which have the oldest example of writing found Archaeologists in Israel. I explained how our ancestors, which, to us the Torah, my mythical ancestors introduced the first high priest Aaron, the brother of Moses, the children of Israel blessed with these words. I love reciting this blessing in a third language (besides English and Hebrew), if appropriate. In fact, I've pair in Spanish (I do live in Tejas, after all), French, Arabic, Bulgarian blessed. This time I have four languages, how blessed I Nad and Alex in the words of my great ancestors and in Hebrew, English, Russian and Thai.
According to the Jewish part of the ceremony, we watched more Thai customs. We all have to feed the baby elephants. This "baby" eating whole cluster of bananas and watermelons quarters. The elephant is dancing and anything else while playing the harmonica. (Seriously.) In Thai culture, the elephant is the symbol of the king, and used it in a broader sense, to symbolize the nation, and their happiness. Nad Alex and then planted a little "Love Tree" together, and raised a "marriage-flag" on a large staff. The final Thai custom was very interesting. The guests were invited to light small paper-covered lanterns. Once lit, by virtue of the hot air inside, they went far into the air, until they looked like stars far away. Each guest was asked to make a wish for these stars for the happiness of the bride and groom.
While my personal observations, I talked about what a wonderful lessonBride and groom has taught us to bring us all together on this magical island. They showed us that people from different countries, cultures and religions can come together to enjoy each other's company and cultures, and make it seem effortless. Hopefully, I said, the whole world will learn to NAD and Alex's lesson. And if they need to help an elephant to make this happen, you should do it ...
While one might have thought that the coupling of a Russian Jew and a Buddhist Thai would be a challenge, showed the bride and groom, that it not be so. This can only be because the bride, Nad (short for Nadusa), and the groom, Alex, living in Australia are true citizens of the world. Nad was born in Thailand but grew up mainly in Australia and Europe, because of her father's work for the Royal Thai Airways. She was trained in an international school in Paris and speaks fluent (Standard American accent), English, French, German and Thai. Alex was born in Russia, and he grew up there and (15 years) in the U.S., he trained as a radiologist at Harvard and practicing a certain kind of medication that the global village we live in. If you have ever had an x embodies-ray in the middle of the night done, you may be wondering where on earth they a radiologist to read it can find. Now, on the lower part of the earth, that is, where! It may, in fact, Alex, a "nighthawk" radiologist, who by virtue of being in a different time zone, during which day it will be stateside for a report back to your doctor. Nad and (of course) works for an international corporation.
The couple reflects a Orange Country Wedding Photographer, not only in their education to organize their work and their personal life, but also in its philosophy of living. They are both very proud of its cultural heritage, but in terms of actual religious beliefs are much more humanistic in their inclinations. They wanted their ceremony to reflect this, and their idea of how it was to have a fairly traditional, while inclusive, Jewish ceremony, with Thai customs before and after. For the location they chose Koh Samui, a small picturesque island in the southern part of Thailand.
Your exciting beach ceremony began with the sound of a gong and drums beating and men who could not yet see, we cried, in Thai, "Here we come, we are here," as they approached. The first thing we saw was four artificial and traditionally dressed young Thai women, swaying as they processed slowly. We then saw the men we had heard before, followed by the "special guest" - a baby elephant! The elephant has been decorated with ornate jewelry, and has also danced. They brought to the bridegroom, and seated him next to the bride. One of the men, then the establishment of a xylophone, and the four wives, his music is a complex synchronized dance before the bride and groom dancing. They ended by spreading before them a bed of rose petals in perfect sync.
I then served the Jewish part of the ceremony under a beautiful chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy) on the beach. They exchanged cordial vows and rings, and share a cup of wine.They signed an attractive ketubah (Jewish marriage contract ceremonies) written in Hebrew, English and Thai. (NAD-mother, a professional translator, helped in the translation.) I have then it is blessed with the priestly blessing, which have the oldest example of writing found Archaeologists in Israel. I explained how our ancestors, which, to us the Torah, my mythical ancestors introduced the first high priest Aaron, the brother of Moses, the children of Israel blessed with these words. I love reciting this blessing in a third language (besides English and Hebrew), if appropriate. In fact, I've pair in Spanish (I do live in Tejas, after all), French, Arabic, Bulgarian blessed. This time I have four languages, how blessed I Nad and Alex in the words of my great ancestors and in Hebrew, English, Russian and Thai.
According to the Jewish part of the ceremony, we watched more Thai customs. We all have to feed the baby elephants. This "baby" eating whole cluster of bananas and watermelons quarters. The elephant is dancing and anything else while playing the harmonica. (Seriously.) In Thai culture, the elephant is the symbol of the king, and used it in a broader sense, to symbolize the nation, and their happiness. Nad Alex and then planted a little "Love Tree" together, and raised a "marriage-flag" on a large staff. The final Thai custom was very interesting. The guests were invited to light small paper-covered lanterns. Once lit, by virtue of the hot air inside, they went far into the air, until they looked like stars far away. Each guest was asked to make a wish for these stars for the happiness of the bride and groom.
While my personal observations, I talked about what a wonderful lessonBride and groom has taught us to bring us all together on this magical island. They showed us that people from different countries, cultures and religions can come together to enjoy each other's company and cultures, and make it seem effortless. Hopefully, I said, the whole world will learn to NAD and Alex's lesson. And if they need to help an elephant to make this happen, you should do it ...