A couple’s ethnic backgrounds often determine what type of wedding ceremony will be performed to vow their ever-lasting love for each other. And while many couples who choose to wed in Thailand may not come from a Buddhist upbringing, many embrace the tranquility of this spiritual religion and incorporate one or several elements of a Buddhist wedding into their special day.

A Buddhist wedding is ceremony is meant to symbolize the honest compromise of your companionship. It is a marriage based on spiritual faith and not centered on religion, where both couples sincerely vow to maintain a harmonious and spiritually sound relationship.

Buddhist Wedding Ceremony

Traditional Rituals Of A Buddhist Wedding

• 1. Visit a lama, or a Buddhist priest, who can help the groom determine whether your horoscopes are matched and compatible for marriage. After matching horoscopes the groom along with his family consults the lama for assistance in selecting a spiritually-sound day for proposing marriage to the bride.
• 2. Celebrate the coming wedding with Chessian, a traditional betrothal ceremony. In this ceremony, the maternal uncle of the bride sits on a platform while the lama gives a prayer and shares Madyan with the guests, a traditional religious drink. Following Chessian the lama is consulted once again to find an astrologically-sound date for the wedding day.
• 3. Decide where to hold the wedding. Traditionally, Buddhist wedding ceremonies are small events that include only close friends and family. It is most common to hold the ceremony in the bride’s home; however more often ceremonies are being celebrated in temples to accommodate more guests.
• 4. Arrive at the temple or bride’s home early on the day of the wedding in order to prepare a marital shrine honoring Lord Buddha. The groom will bring the bride’s dowry, which will accompany the image of Buddha and will create the shrine’s decoration. The dowry should include either six or nine (seven and eight are considered unlucky) trays holding incense, wine, fruit, tea, cake, meat and jewelry . One of the trays should hold two candles which each of you will light during the ceremony as a symbol of the union of your families.
• 5. Begin the ceremony by lighting the candles and incense placed in front of the shrine to Buddha and offering flowers. It is traditional that the ceremony begins with the hymns Vandana, Pancasila and Tisarana.
• 6. Recite the Buddhist wedding vows as inscribed in the Sigilovdda Sutta. The groom will say, “Towards my wife I undertake to love and respect her, be kind and considerate, be faithful, delegate domestic management and present gifts to please her.” The bride will then say, “Towards my husband I undertake to perform my household duties efficiently, be hospitable to my in-laws and friends of my husband, be faithful, protect and invest our earnings and discharge my responsibilities lovingly and fastidiously.”
• 7. Conclude the Buddhist wedding ceremony by reciting blessings for the newlyweds. The most common are the Magnal Sutta and the Jayamangala Gatha.


Buddhist Wedding In Thailand

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1. 

   elsa sauveroche says:

   May 21, 2010 at 12:45 pm

   Hello, My name is Elsa Sauveroche I live in Ireland and I am now in second year. I am making a religion project about “buddhist weddings”. I taught it will be more interesting if I added a questionnaire to my project. I was wondering if you could fill the following questionnaire for me.
   regards,
   Elsa.

   I read on different sites that There was no monks or priest present at a buddhist wedding. But on other various sites it was written that there was monks or priest present at the wedding.Which  one is true ?
   Are buddhist grooms allowed to have more than one wife ?
   Is divorce strict?An if it is/isn’t in what way.
   Is there an exchange of a ring?
   Were is the wedding celebrated?
   Is there any rituals after the wedding?

   Thank you in advance.
2. 

   Diana Prince says:

   April 2, 2011 at 12:38 pm

   THE WEDDING IS NORMALLY CELEBRATED AT THE BRIDE’S HOUSE OR AT A TEMPLE.
3. 

   Diana Prince says:

   April 2, 2011 at 12:39 pm

   i am asking a question. what are the words for the hymns sung at a Buddhist wedding?
4. 

   Rich says:

   April 10, 2011 at 7:59 pm

   บริสุทธิ์ (baw ri soot): adjective – [is] innocent; pure; uncontaminated; virgin; fine
   กันดา (gan daa): noun – virgin
   หญิงพรหมจรรย์ yingR phrohmM maH janM noun [formal term for] a virgin
   ดอกไม้ร่วง (daawk maai ruaang): noun idiom – a girl who has lost her virginity (literally fallen flower)
   พรหมจรรย์ (phrohm ma jan): noun, loanword, Pali female virginity
   สาวบริสุทธิ์ (saao baw ri soot): noun, phrase, colloquial, idiom – [sexual connotation] a virgin; a woman or girl who has never had sex
   เสียความบริสุทธิ์ (siia khwaam bawL ri soot): verb – to lose one’s virginity
   หนุ่มทั้งแท่ง (noom thang thaaeng): noun – a virgin boy