The wedding couples you saw were not getting married. They take the photos at least a month prior to the wedding party (same as a wedding reception in western weddings). Pictures are taken early so the wedding album is ready for the party (along with accompanying video footage). The wedding is actually a simple signing of documents in front of a local official. Pretty uneventful.

Bisbeee - Thanks for your explanation. We thought it particularly interesting to watch how the wedding couples pose. I also found it interesting because I thought for some reason that the Asians marry in red gowns.

Thanks for sharing your pictures - they're great!

Here are my pictures from the Mekong Delta.

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June,
I'm so glad to finally see your pictures....glad they survived! I especially liked seeing the Cao Dai Temple ones since we missed this....the decor looks over the top which I love. We didn't get to see much of HCMC so I appreciated seeing Cholon, etc.

I haven't edited & posted my Mekong Delta pics yet, but I recognized that we visited some of the same local industries. That elephant fish you ate for lunch looked gross! And, the local dishwashing shot confirmed why we mostly ate at higher end restaurants! Thanks for posting!

i did know the site, but i figured the two cities would be similar in how buildings, etc looked...

weddings....in siem reap you see many wedding parties....they go and have pics taked almost all day....they rent outfits to wear and change about 7 or 8 times.... i'd like to see a cambodian 'bridezilla' during one of those days... or a 'say no to the dress' event...

more great pics.... delta is also way different than i had thought....i did not think that large towns and cities were there, but rather just waterways and tall grass, and tons of small islands and narrow waterways.... i did see some canals in your pics, but not what i expected....so again i have learned something...

some have said it is not worthwhile to visit but it certainly looks interesting to me...

Everything is interesting. Traveling is just what you make of it. That being said, the Delta was not my favorite part of the trip, nor was Saigon. My husband, though, thought that the Delta was a highlight.

Wow...can't believe they change 7 or 8 times in that kind of heat. Love your Cambodian "bridezilla" and "say no to the dress" comments!

Hanoi pictures coming soon. Hanoi and Saigon are very different cities Bob. Saigon was built up much more by the French than Hanoi, although there is a French influence there as well.

The following are my pictures from Hanoi.

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dgunbug, the wedding picture process is quite long. 3-4 different outfits, multiple outdoor locations and studio time as well (similar as Cambodia described above). Anywhere from 8-10 hours (and imagine what that's like in this heat). I actually saw a couple yesterday having their pictures taken in front of a large shopping mall in Saigon Dist. 7. First time I've seen that.

dgunbug, Just had a chance to look at one set of pictures, and they were great. Looking forward to seeing the rest when I get home from work. Thanks so much for posting. What camera did you use? I broke my camera in Costa Rica - don't ask how -and need to get a new one.

Bisbeee, thanks for your insight on the Vietnamese wedding custom. Do they wear the white gown for the actual nuptial signing or do they dress in red? Do they have large parties?

CFW, both my husband and I have cameras. My husband has a Canon Rebel XTI and mine is an Olympus Stylus 1000 (point and shoot). We both take photographs and return with about 2,000 or more pictures after each trip. Then we spend months afterward comparing the pictures and trashing bad ones or duplicates. Note that many of the pictures are almost identical as we are viewing the same thing. My Olympus camera is small and compact...easy to put in my pocket and carry along. For most situations, my camera works well, but I don't have the ability to take good night time pictures and I don't have a good telephoto lense.

How did you enjoy Costa Rica? That is on my "to do" list.

More pics from Hanoi - don't worry...these are the last of the Hanoi pictures!

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I've seen them where White if it's a Catholic wedding with ceremony. Otherwise, the Buddhist version as I mentioned before was only the signing of the wedding certificate in front of a local official. You can wear whatever you want.

Parties can be quite large. Been to several where there were over 500 people. Bride will wear up to 3 different dresses throughout the event. Groom gets to remain in a single suit or Tux. Many cases of Tiger Beer are consumed at these events!