At long last, here is the San Francisco set of photos with a bit of explanation for all the friends and family who have been dying to see the day. I felt like a queen... relatives came from all over the world and all helped put on this amazing event: from Australia, Washington, Toronto, Virginia, Chicago... we appreciated all of it! Naturally, there are so many more photos, but here are some of the highlights.




My post "su kwan" smile of relief. {read on for what that is exactly}



These are a bit out of order, but here's a little dance practice to get ready. {Note the horribly swollen ankles from the overnight flight from Honolulu!}



Had the ballet studio to get ready in. John sneaked in for a minute to say hi before the rapid-fire Lao-speaking women helped me into my getup. Quite the altercation about my corset. Long story. Not consequential enough for the blog.



Here is the "su kwan." Brother Boonthong Karnsouvong, the high priest group leader for the Lao ward gave us a blessing on our families. One tree represented my family, the other, John's. We all held separate strings from each tree while the blessing was going symbolizing the unifying of both families together. I love being a part of this great new Lao family! It is such a beautiful extension of the family I have.



Receiving the blessing strings from relatives. I loved this symbolic ceremony and how unifying the Lao culture is to the entire families and not just the couple. The egg, rice and cracker that I have in my hand was given as a sign of prosperity and good luck. He tied string to my wrist to secure his verbal well wishes to my soul. {Correct me if I'm wrong Brent... I'm new at this & John didn't know either. :)}


Awww. Dad looking on at his blissfully happy daughter. I know... cheese. Great photo though Gavin. I'm thinking of getting this one enlarged! Ever thought of photography as a profession?



I told a lot of you that we were going to have my big fat Lao luau... here's the proof! Presenting the swine. Tous les deux.


Me and my big mouth at the feast of feasts. Such great food. Spring rolls, sticky rice, eggrolls, sticky rice, pad thai... love the sticky rice! I made my first successful solo batch a couple of weeks ago. John was so proud.


Here's my attempt at the Lao "lahm vhomg" wedding dance. One of our cousins, Nicki, was so good to give me, my mom and my sister a personal Lao dance lesson a couple of weeks before the wedding. Thank goodness! I don't know what I would have done without the extra help. Thanks again Nicki! And thanks Brooklyn (her daughter) for not laughing at me... well, not too much anyway. :) Notice my dad (the tall one with white hair) and John's dad (the short one with black hair) dancing in the background. We have some video of my dad's attempt at the dance for us and the parents. We're still trying to figure out whether it is a wax-on wax-off rendition or just the straight up twist. Bonus points for getting out there Dad! We loved it!


Out extensions!


It might not look like much, but all this stuff was in my hair... pins, elastics, netting and the beadery made for quite the heavy headdress. I have a new respect for the those who wear the tightly-wound beehive on a more regular basis.



Vicki {another cousin} was absolutely amazing with my hair. She got me out of the Lao hairstyle and into this gorgeous updo in a matter of minutes!


Rushing in again after the quick change for presentation to the family #2.


Here's our "no-mess" feeding of the cake. You should have seen the mess we made in SLC!



The last dance.