Christine Chang Photography

Alex and Ashley had a very special wedding, and this is one of the most unique weddings I have been to.   A bit of explanation, though Alex and Ashley are Americans, ethnically they are Mien.  The Mien is a subgroup of China (as in the Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc.).  Mien people are also in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, and most of them dwell in rural areas such as deep in the jungle or the mountains.  They speak Mien, and it was only this century that a written language was created for them with Roman characters.

Since my in-laws were in town the previous week, I had to leave Saturday morning at 3am to drive to Merced for the wedding; special thanks to my husband who decided to take a load off of my back and drive me to and from the wedding; this gave me enough sleep and energy to shoot such an elaborate wedding.

It was a very festive celebration…just the colors and the elaborate traditional wear were enough to satisfy the documentarian in me; we were in the city of Merced and on that day it was over a hundred degrees; Ashley’s traditional gown was about 4 thick layers, plus she had enough weight in silver, I don’t think she would have gotten by security at the airport with that outfit.

She got into traditional wear for the tea ceremony; this involved the guests giving some money to wish the couple well; one man even offered a song for the couple.  Half of the wedding was western and half was Mien.  It’s always encouraging to see a young generation pay respect to their ancestry; seeing the blending of two cultures encourages a creation of the best of both worlds.

What I see in every wedding are very tangible signs of love, and this wedding was no exception.  For the banquet the groom’s side of the family got together and cooked the entire reception meal, and there was a 10 course meal that was absolutely delicious.  At the end of the wedding I was just sitting there eating and eating and eating.  

What a great job I have!