The Party
The typical Thai reception starts from the we hours of the morning and will last through the ceremony and onwards into the afternoon. Lately a separate evening reception has become more common, but it’s more usual to have guests show up around 8am and plunk themselves down at tables under the house and in the yard and begin to drink whisky and beer. To connect these guests to the ceremony, which is usually attended by family and close friends, several extra activities are performed. Speeches are usually given to the full audience post-ceremony, guests are invited to tie lucky cotton strings around the couple’s wrists or else pour water over their hands while they wai and offer them words of blessing (usually the couple’s cotton string crowns are tied together during this part to symbolize their bond), and the couple will travel from table to table to greet guests and have their photos taken together.
Lots of food and karaoke are the characteristic party closers, and guests will tend to drift off home in the mid-afternoon.
The rest of the day involves clearing up, but the married couple is allowed to sneak off to enjoy each other’s company and to pass out.