Buddhist Blessing and Merit Making
You don’t have to be Buddhist to partake in the ceremony and, in fact, many Western couples also elect to have a Buddhist wedding ceremony when they marry in Thailand. It is important to note that although monks may be present during part of the wedding day, a Thai wedding is essentially a non-religious affair and will usually take place in a private home belonging to a relation of either the bride or groom as opposed to a wat or temple. If monks are invited to attend the ceremony it will be to bless the couple and enable them to make merit. Performing a Buddhist ceremony does not in itself grant legal status on the marriage. For that to happen, the marriage needs to be registered at the Amphur Office.
The wedding day morning will normally begin early (approximately 6-7a.m.) with monks arriving to visit the couple who are to be married. The monks will chant and say prayers whilst a lit candle is placed in a bowl of water. This lustral water is then used later to bless the couple. A bowl of white paste may also be blessed which will be used later to anoint the foreheads of the bride and groom.
The wedding couple and their relatives offer food to the monks before leaving the room to allow the monks to eat. Nobody else is permitted to eat until the monks have finished their meal. After their meal, the monks will begin their chants again and the senior monk will bless the couple, and everybody present, with holy water. The monks then return to the temple. In some instances, the couple may go to the temple rather than have the monks visit them, but donations and food will still be offered to the monks. If monks are present (there can be 3, 5, 7 or 9 monks), trays are usually placed in front of them to receive the envelopes containing the donations. Depending on how the wedding day has been arranged, the khan maak and doors ceremony often follows next.