ideas of what to do and where in Udon for marry

Post by **ruktur** » July 22, 2005, 7:56 pm

Hi There,

My Girlfriend and me, she is 24 and me 26 want to get married in Udon probably in December!

anybody have some nice ideas about what/where I can give my wedding party and ideas about the wedding itself!?

something like where I can rent a nice car/limo or an nice classic car or maybe a elephant!
a nice place for the party like a hotel!?

if you mention also the costs!

Thanks a lot!!!

Greetings,

RukTur

Post by **Paul** » July 22, 2005, 8:13 pm

Firstly, as I am sure you know - judging by your previous posts, there are 2 kinds of wedding in Thailand. One is a traditional Thai wedding where the marriage is blessed by monks/other official and can be held almost anywhere you choose - however you do not receive any kind of official document and in effect is not legally recognised.

As a foreigner to get it all legal - as you know , you need to get it registered at a provincial office - Once you have had the documents translated, and certified by the ministry of foreign affairs in Bkk.

Which kind of wedding are you hoping to have in Udon in December?

Once we know this we can target answers more specifically.

Regards
Paul

Post by **ruktur** » July 22, 2005, 8:33 pm

Normally I want to go for the "official marry" in Thailand!

I heard it is difficult to get married in Europe/Holland and it is more easy to do this in Thailand! I am a dutch guy but I am living in Belgium!

What you think is the best, the nicest and the easiest way?

Thanks for your effort!

Post by **Paul** » July 22, 2005, 8:37 pm

just checking - I assume your g/f is Thai ?

Post by **ruktur** » July 22, 2005, 8:46 pm

ok sorry for I not mentioned everything! but yes she's is Thai living in Udon! I am working now so that's why I have to type quickly!

Post by **Paul** » July 22, 2005, 9:57 pm

Hmmm - not so sure it is more difficult to marry in Europe/Holland but your biggest problem there would be getting your girl there in the first place ! (Visa issues).

Most (not all) foreigners I know have two weddings, the local one which all the relatives etc attend and can be as lavish or as quiet as your budget allows, and then the necessary official bit is done at a provincial office with the least number of formalities necessary (purely just to make things official and get a marriage certificate).

make no mistake its easy to get a local marriage and, providing your documents are in order - not that difficult to get the marriage certificate from the official marriage too

the hard part without a doubt is getting the paperwork in order beforehand which i think you are finding out now. documents/photocopies/translations/stamps/more photocopies/more stamps/ etc etc Be prepared for a lot of running around in Bkk.
they will tell u that u need this or that and then when u go back and produce it - they will then say - oh u need this too, and u so much want to say why why did u not say that last time ??????

I dont think there is a 'best' way. If you only want the certificate just go to the registry desk in the provincial office - but you (and the relatives) will miss out on a traditional ceremony and no doubt will be called a 'cheap charlie' by more than a few people. Dont forget the parents of the bride expecting a few baht/euros/guilders whatever.

the nicest way ? surely the ceremony in your girls village, you wont understand a word fore sure but it will seem like you have been 'really ' married and the village folk will not feel cheated out of a party

easiest way - there isnt one !
just do what everyone else does - take it step by step and do exactly what you are asked.

incidentally - you can have a wedding party anywhere - from your g/f's house to the Charoensi Grand Royal Hotel - up to your budget !

A limo/classic car? dont see too many of those in Udon ! (Steve has a motorised chariot type contraption for hire )
plenty of elephants though and sure u could arrange something with the lads who march these poor animals round Udon every day.

Finally - costs. can be (relatively) little or extremely expensive - depends on what you want

any further questions - ask away

Paul

Post by **Thai_1_On** » July 22, 2005, 10:31 pm

Hi Ruktur I can tell you about my marriage to my wife in Udon. We have the "wedding party" at her parents house and everyone on in the soi showed up for the party. Great fun lots of singing ,dancing and of course drinking with the locals. Pauls right you might not understand most of whats being said but thats not important what is is making big face. Your new wife well walk you right through it just sit back and enjoy the fun

Post by **BangkokButcher** » July 22, 2005, 11:09 pm

I've got my 'village' marriage on video, a great thing to keep hold of to relive the memories of the day.

To me this was far far better than the 'official' ceremony with all the formalities.

Post by **JimboPSM** » July 23, 2005, 1:13 am

We had the early morning, crack of dawn village wedding with the monks (which was great apart from having to get up at 3.00 am for the 2 hour drive to get to there

).

A wedding is a big occasion (= really big party

) in the village and is part of you being accepted into the village as one of theirs and is important for your wife

Post by **BangkokButcher** » July 23, 2005, 4:26 am

At least you got something edible for brekkie Jimbo, I got Mekhong whiskey

Post by **Prenders88** » July 23, 2005, 2:33 pm

Rik,
Most of us here on this forum would have had a village wedding, in the house, we hired a marquee and table and chairs for 250 guests. Our friends who have a resturant in Ban Dung bought their kitchen to the house and took care of all the catering, the drink from Macro. You'll need an odd number of Monks to bless the wedding, we had 9 including the Abbot from our local Wat. We hired Lukthung/Morlam singers with dancers and band, the company erected a stage in the grounds of our house. I was a great party, and a day I'll never forget. You'll have to go to the Amphur office with a declaration of marriage from your embassy to get your marriage certificate.
Enjoy the day!!
You can hire a elephant from the guys who walk the elephants in Udon, discuss the fee with them.

Tony

Post by **Garnet** » July 24, 2005, 4:58 am

Some very elaborate occasions being described here! Not in my case, though. It was strictly the paperwork route. And once that was done, lunch followed in Udon with just the immediate family. There was also an evening repast with many drinks out where Jack and I were staying beside Nong Lek. This event involved Jack's brother and sister-in-law, and a few friends of theirs.

We were lucky with the paperwork. The Canadian Embassy in Bangkok had listed the officially-recognized translators that they wanted us to deal with. I was anticipating that Jack and I would be having to be going from the Embassy to the translator, then to the Thai administrator's offices, then to the translator, back to the Embassy, and maybe a few more such rounds as that. But the translator offered to Jack (in Thai) that we could take our leave of all of the running around right there, and they would undertake all of the steps in our stead. In fact, the woman managing the place told us that we could leave Bangkok and go on to Udon, and they would forward the finished preliminary marriage paperwork package to her home. We could then go to the registrar's office and get married in Udon at our leisure.

So this we did!

Post by **Paul** » July 24, 2005, 8:31 am

Yes - many of the agencies in Bkk have people who are simply paid to que.
There is lots and lots of queing to be done, and also these people usually know what is and what is not required - possibly saving time.

However everything costs - and I guess it depends on your time schedule.

Post by **thethailife** » July 24, 2005, 10:05 am

My wife and I had a trditional wedding, 7 monks, lots of food and drink and more family members and "friends" than you could shake a handfull of Baht at. Incredibly easy, I just paid and kept my mouth shut. The wife was the only person in 10sq. miles that spoke english anyway.

Post by **Dakoda** » July 24, 2005, 3:22 pm

Garnet,

By any chance do you have the name and location of the officially-recognized translator that you used? Cost would also be nice?

Post by **Garnet** » July 24, 2005, 5:28 pm

Hi, Dakoda!

At this very moment, I don't have the cost details--Jack was the one who was generally conversing with the translator, and often just by phone while we were in Udon. However, the woman spoke English better than Jack--it's just that the two of them were always speaking directly, even in person. The translator only spoke directly to me when she was curious about something or wanted my viewpoint on a personal matter relating to myself and Thailand or Jack, or if she wanted to crack a joke, or else if she wished to tell me something specific that she thought that I needed to know. Anyway, I'll query Jack about pricing in a couple of hours when I make my morning call to her, though.

The service that we used was as follows, according to their official stationery that everything is printed on:

BANGKOK BUSINESS AND SECRETARIAL OFFICE LIMITED
5/6 Saladaeng Road, Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel: 0-2266-5531, 0-2233-4768, 0-2233-3572
FAX: 0-2235-7321

Apparently a fairly hard place to find by taxi! We had to finally pass Jack's phone to the cabbie on our second visit to the office because Jack wasn't getting enough clear details for the guy!

Post by **Garnet** » July 24, 2005, 9:37 pm

Dakoda, I'll be having to suspend answer on this for the rest of today. I waited until I got to work this Sunday morning before calling Jack--for me, it was just after 8:00 a.m., but for her it was just after 10:00 p.m. Sunday evening. She'd already gone to bed. My girl is exceptional in that when she is into sleepy-time mode, she's practically witless in a comical way. I've even had her fall asleep within a couple of minutes of answering my call! So extracting any kind of detail from her is hopeless. I'll have to await my call to her this evening after I'm home from work, and she's up and about on her Monday morning

Post by **Dakoda** » July 24, 2005, 10:24 pm

Thanks Garnet. By internet map shows the street not far from American embassy, and therefore not far from British embassy. Have British friend going to get this done this coming Wednesday, so I will pass on the info. Thanks again.

Post by **Paul** » July 25, 2005, 8:48 am

From the British embassy, take a right turn out of the exit, walk down the road and cross over the crossroads. On the opposite side of the road two or three shops down is a small translation agency - I used this one, they stamped it and I had no problems. They were very knowlegeable too of the process at the embassy/ministry and advised what you can or cannot get away with.

However this was a few years ago so I cannot guarantee they are still there. but there were lots of translation shops in the vicinity.

Siam Translation
57/4 Wireless Road (same road as UK embassy)
Bangkok
10330
Tel. 0-2250-1656
0-2254-5582
0-22451775
Fax. 02254-5582

Incidentally - I wrote my own affirmation (and typed it up), and my wife translated it and typed it in Thai (exactly)
The embassy verify the details were correct (show passport documents etc) and stamp it which you then take to the ministry of foreign affairs to certify it is a correct translation (and they stamp it too).
Again as said, lots of waiting around, lots of journeys too and from, and lots of frustration.

hope this helps.

Its a well trodden path which many have trodden before and once you get into the swing of things its just a case of completing each stage as and when it comes. however my missus had a few emotional moments once or twice - just down to sheer frustration and the 'can't believe they said that' attitude.

Paul

Post by **Dakoda** » July 25, 2005, 9:19 am

Thanks Paul, so he now has two places near Embassy. He is going to Bangkok and his wife and son are staying in her village, I think, or maybe here. I kind of wonder if he can do this on his own, so when I see him I will ask. Although a wife of an American, did it herself, and offered TG to get it done for 9k baht. She must know somebody, being a ex school teacher must help, for whenever I have a problem at the house here, I call my teacher landlord, and she get it taken care of in no time!

ideas of what to do and where in Udon for marry

ideas of what to do and where in Udon for marry

Official Way

sorry for that, yes!

Marriage Doin's

Certified Correct Translation

Translation Costs