Hmong weddings are about uniting the two families. Traditionally, the wedding is 2 days long. The bride leaves her family and stays with the groom without seeing her kin for at least 3 days. On the wedding day, the newlyweds leave the groom's residence and journey to the bride's family home. The Thompson family and the Vu family will each have two negotiators to represent them. The newlyweds will also have a best man and a bridesmaid from the groom's side. When the groom’s side of the family arrives at the bride’s parents' house, a wedding song is sung before entering the home. There, the negotiators negotiate the gifts for the bride’s parents, and how to prepare the feast for her family and relatives as an acknowledgment of their matrimony. The bride and groom are blessed, lectured, and preached to as they begin their new life as a husband and wife together. The family, relatives, and friends from both sides come to get acquainted with each other at the wedding feast. A dowry of gifts is given to the bride and her groom from the bride’s parents, her relatives, and friends.