Tying the knot is a brig day in any culture and a wedding in Cambodia is no exception. A Khmer wedding-feast is a grand affair sometimes held over several days. Khmer tradition and myth are blended, illustrating in the formalities of the ceremony, the idealized relationship between man and woman in Cambodia.

While not always the case many marriages are arranged. After a possible partner is found, the groom’s family will bring offerings of fruit and Khmer cakes for the initial meeting with the bride to be. If things go well and the couple decides they like each other then the engagement party is set. 

Perhaps a Khmer groom would sympathize with this sentiment since an engagement party can be huge event with hundreds of guests and it’s the groom’s family’s responsibility to arrange and pay for everything. Often though, the engagement party is smaller than the groom would like since he has to save his money for the big event, the wedding.  

The first thing that must be done of course is the choosing of the day.  

A monk is asked to find an auspicious day based on the birthdays of both bride and groom after which the other arrangements can be started since weddings are often huge, face-saving affairs

In many ways the wedding ceremony symbolizes the ancient myth of the marriage of prince Preah Thong with Neang Neak, daughter of King Naga. The prince was heir to the throne but had been exiled to Kok Thlok Island. One night prince preah Thongs was walking along the beach where he met Neang Neak and they fell in love. In order to return to the underwater kingdom of Haga with Neang Neak, prince preah Thong let her hold onto his s’bai, or scarf, when she returned to the sea. King Naga approved of the groom and as a wedding present to the couple he first sent soldiers to preah Thong’s island. Afterwards he enlarged the territory of the island by swallowing the water’s around it. The land was then known as “Kambujaâ€