Well, let’s start writing again, see if I’ll finish this article, it’s been a while since my last one.
Quite a few things have happened recently. I have applied for my certificate of no impediment (CNI) at the british consulate in Hanoi. This is a document I need to get married in Vietnam. It’s a certificate saying that I’m not already married etc.. It takes 3 weeks to get, so I should be getting it by October 24. It was surprisingly easy to apply for it, considering I’m not living in The Netherlands anymore, and I haven’t registered myself back in France, that I’m in Vietnam on a 3 months tourist visa, however N’s father did register me at the local police (after some bribing, because the guy was too lazy to do his job, yes, that’s how it works here), so it’s kind of a strange situation. However, all I needed to apply for the CNI was my passport with my visa, the local police registration and N’s family book. I filled in 3 forms which all asked the same questions, but it in a different format (yeah, administration …) and of course pay the fee. We were in and out in 30 mins.
N also got a similar document, which only took a day to get. Once we get mine, we’ll be able to apply for the marriage documents. Ha and almost forgot, we will also have to have a medical checkup … but not a physical exam … a mental one, see if we are not crazy (hum, yeah no comment!), and if we actually know each other. We need to show them pictures of us, and answer questions about each other’s family. We might try to do this next week, not sure yet.
For vietnamese weddings, the couple needs to get some photo albums made, that will then be available during the wedding day for the guests to see. This is something quite different from french/UK weddings, where the photos would be taken in the afternoon after the official ceremony and the signing of the papers. So, we’ve been looking into photographers, and we picked one which seems quite good. We’ve discussed quite a bit with him, and worked on ideas for the shootings and the album decoration.
We are planning to shoot the photos on October 22nd, if the weather is good. It’s the raining season here, so rains are quite frequent and quite heavy. But we are getting some very nice days too, so we are hoping it’ll be a nice one (and not too hot if possible) !
Ok, so we got someone to take pictures, but I need a costume and N needs a few dresses! So you can imagine how the last couple of weeks have been occupied with. After looking at a few suit shops, it seemed no suit would fit me here, so I’m getting a suit tailored. I went in to try it on today, so the tailor can adjust and finish it, I should have it ready a day or two before the shooting day. N however has been looking into wedding dresses, trying on quite a few, from different places. She like the top of one, the lower part of another, the trail of yet another, etc.. so a designer is making one for her too! You might have seen some of these dresses on Facebook. For the shooting she’ll have a few dresses, different styles, different colors. She’s going to look amazing!
Last weekend, we did a tour of hotels near the reception place in the center, to get an idea of the rooms and prices for my family and friends who will be making the trip here. (yes mom, the “report” is coming!). I think we visited a total of 10 hotels. Not something I want to do every day!
We’ve also been thinking of the engagement day, with the lacquered boxes, and the wedding day. Things to organize and plan.
For the engagement day, there will be a procession, lead by my father, followed by myself, and then 7 friends of mine carrying gifts for N’s family. The people carrying the gifts should be (non-married) friends of mine. However I’m not sure how many friends are going to make it yet, so not sure what to do about this yet. Any volunteers ?
The procession ends in front of N’s parent house, where the gifts are given to 7 women, friends of N. The rest of the engagement ceremony includes praying at the family altar to get the blessing from the ancients, getting our parents blessings, and exchanging rings. It will then be followed by a reception.
The wedding day will take place a few days later in the center of Hanoi, in the Government Guest House near Hoan Kiem lake. It will be a big reception. The unusual part for me here is that this reception takes place over lunch time, and during the week, so a lot of the guests will be coming during their lunch break. I find this a little strange, but well, that’s how they do it here, so I’ll go with it.
Well, I think I’m going to stop here for now!
To Be Continued …