Al & Inthira's Adventure Abroad for their Traditional Wedding Attire

Tres Fabu Event Planning and Design is excited to be a part of the Inthira and Al's multi-cultural wedding day tomorrow.

We will start early with a home based Laos Traditional wedding ceremony with their appointed Monk ~ then be whisked off thereafter for their Traditional Catholic ceremony. It will be a day of bringing two families and two cultures together in wonderful harmony. They are expecting over 350 guests at their wedding reception! We kindly asked Inthira and Al share their adventures of finding the traditional heritage dress on their six-week trip to Laos last fall:

From our couple:

It was quite an adventure trying to find the right outfit to wear and all the jewels that enhance the colorful traditional wedding outfits. We went shopping almost everyday for the first two weeks looking for the right garment. But every morning before we head into the City of Laos to shop, Al and I would wake up at 6:00 a.m. to go to the local open air market to get rice porridge, coffee and rice on a stick. The market was right across the street from my grandmother's house so it was very convenient for us. Although it was interesting to know that on days when we woke up at 7:00 a.m., all the rice porridge was sold out.

Somedays my uncle would take us into the city to shop and other days we would take the local taxi which is called the "tuk tuk". From my grandmother's house to the shopping mall, it would take about 30 mins. But we did not mind the drive at all because we love passing by the rich green rice fields and the fresh breeze of the morning and the relaxing and stress free atmosphere.

My younger cousin and her mother-in-law went with us the first couple times to help bargain. Almost everything in Laos could be bargained for....if you really wanted it that particular item. Also, since my younger cousin had recently bought her outfit for her wedding, it was easier for us to get a nice price for our red traditional outfit. Although, the shirt we got originally for Al was later exchanged and upgraded to a gold trim on the collar, buttons and sleeves. Al was pretty funny because he was very particular about his overall traditional Loas wedding look as well. The second outfit for me was a little bit of a challenge because we had to not only find the pink color but also the type of design that was sewn onto the fabric. And it was not an easy pick because there were so many stores and things just started to look the same. Also we did not have too much time at the store because all the merchants closes at 5pm. Which usually leaves us at about 3-4 hrs of shopping.

But once the outfits were found and purchased, we ended up getting the outfit late Friday night, just before our departure on Saturday morning back to the USA. Glad to say though that towards the end everything just fell into place and we were able to get the garment items we wanted in Laos for our American based ceremonies.

We are really looking forward to everything coming together tomorrow!