Let's celebrate together in Thailand!

Before we share some love stories, we would like to thank you all for helping to make our dream come true. This year has been an abnormal one and we appreciate the desire to want to be with us on our traditional Thai Wedding Ceremony. If you have any questions or concerns about your travel plans, please do not hesitate to contact us. We won't let you down in Bangkok. Let's Party!!!

The sky was tall and the music was loud. Korn was carrying a large flag through a sea of Farangs during the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Texas. "She had a BBQ stain on her white t shirt, she was killing me in that mini skirt, we skipped rocks by the railroad tracks. She had sun tan lines n red lipstick"... that is a song Adam wants to sing to you. We met through mutual friends at ACL and Adam was star struck when he found out Korn is a golfer (don't worry, Korn beat Adam the first time they played). The entire weekend of the music festival, they spent lots of fun moments together. When the weekend ended, Adam used Instagram to contact Korn and asked if Korn wanted to visit Tampa. She said "heck yeah!". Adam showed Korn all the people and experiences he loves in Tampa including meeting his family and friends, his parent's home he grew up in, Palma Ceia, Bern's, La Segunda, the Castle, Gasparilla and On Bikes. A few trips later, Korn knew she wanted to be with Adam in Tampa, and the rest is history ;)

The Thai ceremony is full of interactions between the Bride and Groom and their family and friends. There are 3 defined portions of the ceremony: the traditional engagement, the Thai water pouring ritual, and the Chinese Tea Ceremony. The first portion of the ceremony is the processional parade in which the Groom will march with a band surrounded by his family and friends. The procession has deep rooted meaning and symbolism, and is intended to encourage joy and laughter. Each in the Parade carries meaningful objects that symbolize the couple's love and commitment to each other as well as a display of the (very significant) dowry. The Parade culminates when the Groom asks for the Bride's hand and escorts her to the Thai Water Pouring Ritual. The Thai Water Pouring Ritual represents unity and community. The Bride and Groom are then enjoined by thread. Family and friends line up to bless the couple with a special sea shell. The sea shell holds water and is poured onto the couple's cupped hands. At this moment of the ceremony, Bride and Groom are married! During the Chinese Tea Ceremony, the newlyweds serve tea to their parents, in-laws, and other family members to symbolize the union of their two families. Korakot and Adam are particularly excited to pay our respect to our families.

There is much to learn about the meaning and history of Korn (pronounce "Gone"). A complex one indeed. Korn's name was changed when she was only a few days old, but that is a story for another time... Korakot is not phonetically pronounced the same way in Thai. In fact, Korakot pronounced in Thai would sound to the American ear more like Gur-Rah-Got. So the first syllable in Korakot in Thai sounds like Gone, which is a boy's name...and no I'm notgetting off topic. d Somehow when Gone gets translated into English alphabet, Gone is spelled Korn. Go figure, all Korns in Thailand are spelled Korn...GoneNotCorn. So whether you come for Gone, or Korakot, or Gur-Rah-Got, or Kora, or Korn, know you are welcomed with open arms and love.

Through the winding roads of Northern Thailand, we stopped for a local mom 'n pop lunch. Korn's mom, Geaw, did all the ordering. Just when everyone was getting full, the owner of the restaurant brought out the specialty soup-- one that is Geaw's favorite but also one Korn and Pramoth do not care for at all-- the fish head soup. If only you could see Adam's eyes when we were being served (p.s. his favorite food is soup). The Thai expression of his eyes would be "Tha Thoo Taw Kai Haan" or "eyes as big as the goose eggs". The way Adam sucked on the fish head was impressive, as it was love at first sight for Geaw and a bond that Korn can never interfere. Adam became Mrs. Simsiriwong's favorite after that meal.

During Gone's winter break from school, we spent almost a month in Thailand. One particularly memorable weekend, Gone and I, together with her sister's family and their friends and friends' family went camping in the mountains of Chiang Mai. Gone's father, Pramoth, drove through steep, winding mountain roads with Gone's mom, Geaw, in the passenger seat. Gone and Gone's nephew, Winter, slept the entire way in the back seat while Adam caught up on the news. Along the way, the family stopped at fruit stands to sample pineapples and oranges. The mountain road leading up to the campsite was so steep that Adam became worried we would stall out. Pramoth told him not to worry. When we arrived at the top of the mountain campsite, the 30 or so family and friends began to setup camp overlooking he mountain range. Many other campers rent tents and gear and have prepared food brought down to their tent by vendors to grill meat and boil soups. Not the Simsiriwong clan! The entire group pitched in to help prepare the food, which included lots and lots of grilled skewers. After dinner, Gone's brother-in-law, Paul, bought us both hot showers, which were located under a shop house near the campsite. Adam brought out the cigars and the group told stories late into the night. At bedtime, no one told Adam that it would get very, very cold in the tent alone at night. Adam did not want to look like he couldn't handle a little cold, so he put on all of his clothes, got into his sleeping bag and zipped it up tight, and couldn't wait for the sun to rise and the weather to improve. It actually snowed that weekend not far from our campgrounds. The Chiang Mai camping was a memorable experience for Adam and we look forward to never having to sleep alone in a tent on the top of the mountain again;)