Never Get Married In Cambodia

The day of our arrival at Yellow Guest House in Siem Reap, a Cambodian wedding began in the open lot next door. There were tables, colourful decorations, and the bunches of gold coconuts and silver bananas hanging at the entrance. We thought nothing of this and only started to make inquiries when they started testing the sound system. More on that later.
Over that past few days I've learned a little about how marriage works here in Cambodia; mostly from one of our guides "Toho". What I now know is that the man's family "pays for the woman" and that the man is expected to live with and give money to the wife's family after the marriage. Toho told us that a woman can cost around $5000, but I'm sure this can fluctuate. To put this amount into perspective - Toho's family makes $200/year growing rice. Although there are "Love"marriages here, Toho told us that he would follow his mother's choice if she found him a wife. The other really important factor is that the woman's family pays all the bills for the wedding ceremony. It's these pots of money that determine the marriage timeline. We were told that a woman gets married as early as 17 while a man will often be in his twenties.
The wedding next door was starting to heat up by Friday afternoon. The music pounded from a pick-up truck that was stacked with speakers. We literally had difficulty hearing one another when we stood outside of the guest house and I'd even go so far as to say that it was hurting my ears. There was no dancing at this time, just music and what looked like a few libations. Later, there were speeches and after that interview of various guests. The kicker here is that they never once turned down the sound system. We have no idea how the guests, who were all sitting next to the speakers, managed to enjoy themselves - so I asked. The answer kinda makes sense. At a Cambodia wedding it is very important to demonstrate how proud you are. Part of this is to include as many people in the music, speeches, annoucements as you can, for as long as you can.
The wedding ceremony started up again the next morning at around 3am; music and speeches included. It wasn't until Sunday afternoon that the whole thing was coming to a close when a true dance party for the younger set takes place. Just like in Canada, the older folks head home just as the "loud music" get going.

Greg