The bride in her white dress and conical hat was trying to climb up a bamboo ladder to cross into the groom’s house with the help of the groom and his relatives while many others took photos of the couple. — Photo phunuvietnam.vn

It’s wedding season in Việt Nam and stories of the special ceremonies abound.

Some people use eccentric transport on the big day, like using a buffalo rickshaw which was designed with two seats for the couple or a homemade tractor.

But one wedding photo in particular attracted much attention and thousands of online comments.

The bride in her white dress and conical hat was trying to climb up a bamboo ladder to cross into the groom’s house with the help of the groom and his relatives while many others took photos of the couple. 

Why did the bride have to do so? That was what many people asked. Some people felt bad for the girl. Some guessed that the bride was pregnant so she was climbing into the house by the back door to avoid bad luck. 

"If I were the girl in the photo, I would go back home immediately," said one commenter, adding that it was dangerous for a pregnant woman to climb so high.

All these assumptions turned out to be false as Đặng Danh, the groom, told a local newspaper that they did so for good luck.

"We are ethnic Tày people. We went to see a sorcerer before the wedding to seek advice from him," he told Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper.

The sorcerer told the bride to go into the groom’s house from a door to the west for good luck.

"My house has no door to the west so climbing the ladder was the only way," Danh said.

No escape from this marriage

A person’s wedding day is normally one of the happiest days of their life, but this was not so for Nguyễn Thành Tín, a groom from HCM City.

On Sunday night, Tin and his wife and their relatives had to stay overnight in a restaurant in Tân Phú District for not paying for the party. 

Tin said he decided not pay the VNĐ64 million (US$2,800) he had signed up for as he wasn’t satisfied with the service, adding that he had paid half of the sum.

The restaurant’s staff constantly urged guests to finish the party quickly and served the wrong food. 

Tin said he wanted to talk with the restaurant’s owner but the staff told him that the owner would arrive the next morning.

The restaurant’s security guard locked the doors, leaving the couple and their relatives stuck there all night.

Unforgettable party

Nguyễn Văn T, a 26-year-old man from Tây Ninh Province’s Gò Dầu  District, won’t ever forget a wedding party he attended recently.

After drinking a lot of beer at the party T fell asleep when he arrived home. But when he woke up he felt terrible pain in his throat and discovered that his three artificial teeth were gone. He went to Xuyên Á General Hospital for emergency treatment.

Results taken by X-rays showed the teeth were in his gullet. 

Soon after that, the doctor picked the three teeth out of his gullet. His health has stabilised and he has been discharged from hospital.

Doctors recommend that as the Lunar New Year approaches, there are often gatherings and parties so people should be more careful in eating to avoid swallowing objects such as toothpicks and artificial dentures. — VNS