I recently happened to read about a Laos wedding and found them fascinatingly similar to Indian weddings. When I read about the groom’s party stopped at the front gate of the bride’s house and asked questions and demanded money for entrance, I was instantly transported to my cousin’s wedding in march, where I had a lot of fun holding up my then would be Brother-in-law at the gate, asking him all sorts of silly questions. That got me hooked into writing about the Laos Bridal look for this month’s Bridal series.
It is said that these days, more and more couples have both the traditional Lao marriage ceremony and an informal wedding party for friends. This post is about the traditional ceremony attire.
Laos Bridal Clothing:
The bride, or naang saow, wears a traditional Laotian wedding outfit consisting of sinh- a Laotian silk skirt, and paa bien, a scarf, both made from raw silk. A sinh consists of 3 parts, the houa sinh (waistband), pheun sinh (body, main part) and the tdin sinh (hem) and the Sinh fabric is first made (bought) and custom sewn into a skirt.
Sinhs have different designs –sinh mii ( ikat), sinh muk (supplementary warp technique), sinh chok (discontinuous supplementary weft technique, sinh mai kom (twisted multiple silk yarn technique), sinh khan (vertical striped design) and sinh kaan (horizontal striped design). The Shirt or the blouse, has a mandarin collar, that is embroidered and embellished with metallic thread, sequins and normal beads. It looks similar to the Indian Zardosi work.
The same embroidery is often repeated at the bottom hem of the blouse and that of the sleeves. The scarf and the skirt are usually made from bright colored patterned jacquards. However some brides also pick a simple off white self jacquard and get it embroidered to match the blouse and jewellery.
Traditionally, the Groom gets dressed up usually with white or cream coloured silk shirt and a traditional silk salong (baggy pants) in red, blue or offwhite along with a matching sash. Even if the groom wears a regular suit, he still wears the ceremonial sash (Blue and white checked) for a bit of traditional touch.
Laos Bridal Jewellery:
In Lao tradition, the bride wears gold jewelry to enhance her appearance and to indicate her status.This is said to bring significance to the bride. These pieces are either handed down in the family as heirloom items at the time of marriage or rented just for the day. The jewelry is typical – the bride wears a necklace (with a pendant), earrings and bangles. She wears a waist belt to hold up her skirt and a brooch to keep her scarf in place.
The jewellery is not plain but rather ornate, often crafted with traditional motifs or decorated with beads and stones. I found flowers and leaves to be the most common motifs and almost all pieces have beautiful mesh like patterns.
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| *creative visualisation |
The groom wears one or two gold chains (with or without a pendant), a waist belt and shoulder chains (long sash like chains running from one shoulder to the opposite waist – similar to Atkan or Vaikaksha of ancient India).
Brides of certain communities also wear a beaded shoulder chain instead of the groom
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| Laos Bride |
Hairdress: The hairstyle and its ornamentation varies depending on the family’s wealth and the region of Laos they are from. Some brides wear their hair as simple buns adorned with golden flower pins but the Laotian brides are well known for their traditional bun hairdo embellished with ornate gold tiaras or mesh like bands. Brides who do not have traditional ornaments wind ornate beaded gold chains around the bun and embellish it with beaded tassles, pins and head pieces.
In the process of the wedding the Baci (Basi) ceremony takes place.White cotton strings are tied around the bride and groom’s wrists invoking the spirits to bless the couple, the ceremony and the people attending it. These add charm and sentiment to the the bridal ensemble.
Click here to read a vivid account of the Laotian wedding ceremonies
Image Credits:
NyeNoona
kristin Greenlee Photography
That brings us to the end of this month’s feature
I hope you find it interesting
Cheers
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