Bride Sunday

Today is Sunday, and  I have been out walking in the centre of the city where many of the old and unique buildings from the French Colonial period can be found eg the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Post Office, the Saigon Hotel.  Today was a classic example of Bride Sunday.

Sunday is frequently the day an intended couple dress up in their wedding attire and go around the city having their wedding photos taken using these unique buildings as their back drops. The wedding entourage does not include wedding attendants, or family, just the bride and groom. However  the entourage does include attendants of a  different standing. Included are the  photographer, the photographers assistant, the make up artist, the props person and  the “best grip person” . The role of this person is to  hold an umbrella over the bride between shoots incase, on this a relatively hot and humid 34 degree day, the bride should break out in perspiration.

As Sunday is also a day when many Vietnamese people are out and about, including tourists and nosey expats, the photos must frequently incorporate any or all of the above in the background. Thank heavens for PhotoShop which can eliminate such nuisances. The poor bride with her intended leaning on the pole outside the Post Office had a lottery ticket seller and a lady on a motorbike in her photo.

Remarkably in true Vietnam style the photographer places the bride in the most photogenic spot, even if that spot happens to be in the middle of the road, or in the case outside the Cathedral, on a pedestrian crossing. Remarkably the tolerant traffic, slows, and drives around the happy scene. The props person has an array of extras, flowers, baskets, parasols etc all used in varying shots

The photographing of the happy couple is not actually their wedding day, that’s to come. The couple dress in their attire and spend all morning and some of the afternoon filming at the  many perfect locations around the city. Having said the happy couple dress in their wedding attire I am slightly misleading you. Outwardly the bride looks radiant in her flowing gown, make up and beautiful hair style, underneath the gown she may well be wearing her jeans, and in one case today, jandals.

A Vietnamese wedding ceremony is in 2 parts. The couple wear traditional clothing, the au dai, a long tunic worn with loose-fitting pants. Often after a service the couple then change into their Western wedding attire for the breakfast or some times the Western look is just for the photos. Thank heavens for PhotoShop.