How much does a Khmer wedding cost?

[ken svay]

At the venue opposite the Cambodiana $15 dollars a head,in the bush probably ten dollars a head.
As for the paperwork,no idea.
If I get married it will be in Australia and then the party in the bush-may well happen next year.
Spoke to the fiancée the other day telling her that she and the kids may get an Aussie holiday on February-should be hot enough by then.
But no visa because the Khmer ex husband is in the family book-no problem she said,he isn't there.
Oh well,whatever.

[OrangeDragon]

MY countryside wedding (coming up end of september) is costing me $9000 for 500ish guests. No dowry, I bought the rings (another $1k), and we're taking part of her family to ankor wat (our honeymoon) with us (another $?).


as was stated earlier, i'm pretty sure 5,000 of the 9,000 is makeup....

[gavinmac]

MY countryside wedding (coming up end of september) is costing me $9000 for 500ish guests. No dowry, I bought the rings (another $1k), and we're taking part of her family to ankor wat (our honeymoon) with us (another $?).


as was stated earlier, i'm pretty sure 5,000 of the 9,000 is makeup....

You're taking her family on your honeymoon? Way to put your foot down early in the relationship.

[cambod]

MY countryside wedding (coming up end of september) is costing me $9000 for 500ish guests. No dowry, I bought the rings (another $1k), and we're taking part of her family to ankor wat (our honeymoon) with us (another $?).


as was stated earlier, i'm pretty sure 5,000 of the 9,000 is makeup....

You're taking her family on your honeymoon? Way to put your foot down early in the relationship.

Ha! A great start!

[pdteah]

All, thanks for the helpful advice! A lot of stuff for my brain to process, so it's appreciated.
Some follow up questions;

$2,000 for the legal documentation - I'm not sure what this is, please could somebody clarify? How early does the documentation have to be done prior, and who do I contact about this (assuming a western lawyer, but I could be wrong and they sound expensive. Trying to have *some* reign on the purse strings, at least.)
MoodyMac, I'm interested to know more about how you "skipped" the documentation and had a small church wedding abroad. This might be something I consider when I take her home to meet the 'rents in England.

titeuf - I don't earn anywhere near $2,550 a month income! In fact, nobody I know earns even half of that. I'm sure there is a way around this. So you're saying we have the ceremony here, and then register the wedding in England at a church? Hmmm. I need to understand this law and how it has affected recent barang/Khmer weddings. Thanks for any more information you can give me.

Orangedragon, congratulations! And how have you overcome the "legal" problems mentioned above?

Thanks very much all. Once it's all sorted I'll owe you a beer or 2. Pretty sure I'll have some left over!

[vladimir]

Q: How much does a Khmer wedding cost?

A: Too much

[MoodyMac]

Ok.

The month we got engaged was the month that the Govt introduced to income and age based limits on foreign men marrying Cambodian women.

By all accounts, a marriage license was going to cost between $1000 and $1500, assuming that I fell within the limits set by govt. (Although I suspect that some foreigners have got their licenses cheaper, it is wiser when doing anything, to look at the maximum possible price and try to work it down. Saying to an official that a mate got it cheaper, won't work.) Anyway I didn't fall within the limits set by govt, my income was too low, so rather than try to bribe my way round it (I'm sure this is a possible option), I opted to get the official part done overseas.

The cost to go overseas probably works out more expensive than a bribe and local marriage license, but I think we got more for our buck by taking that route.

First I got a passport for my fiance. I was running on a tight schedule so we paid extra for fast processing. Once we had the passport we were able to make a visitor visa application to NZ for my fiance. This was supported by my mother who 'sponsored' the visa by guaranteeing accommodation, and return airfare. The processing of the visa took a few months. As it was a short visit, my fiance was not required to get medical tests done. Certificate of no impediment to marriage or single status, was not needed in NZ. Both couples make an oath instead. No Cambodian documentation other than the passport was required for the visit and marriage. We applied for NZ wedding license on arrival in NZ. This needs to be made one week before wedding date. It was all quite straight forward.

On returning to Cambodia, and organising the Cambodian ceremony we ran into a few problems with local police authorities. We had to pay some small bribes in order to have the ceremony without being raided. Even though it is not against the law to have a ceremony without official paperwork, authorities are concerned with, 1. Following official procedure and 2. Profiting from any sidestepping of official procedure.
Bribes will vary depending on who you are dealing with. We made payments to commune chief (gift), commune police (bribe), and provincial police (security). Provincial police in my case were a bit shady and dishonest. They told me they would share the payment I made to them with the commune police, but after we made the payment, they told me just to buy the commune police a box of beer. This left me to negotiate alone with the commune police. I made an extra payment to him to cover for police security, but I could tell he was not overly happy with the amount he was paid.

The main problem with the bribe scenario, is that although the police may not find any illegal activity, they can raid the wedding, and take participants in for questioning. After spending all the money on ceremony and other bells and whistles, family flying in from overseas etc, the last thing you want is for it to be interrupted mid ceremony by some local cops.

All of these things had to be negotiated, with the participation of my mother in law, at a point in time where I was having to work hard to earn her trust. I made some choices that I would not have if not for this. e.g. I would have liked to tell the cops to raid the wedding, and get photographed by mobs of foreigners, and that I didn't care what they did as I was officially married elsewhere already. But in the context of earning family trust and having a good start to a married life, I would have only done this if I had the support of the whole family.

[OrangeDragon]

All, thanks for the helpful advice! A lot of stuff for my brain to process, so it's appreciated.
Some follow up questions;

$2,000 for the legal documentation - I'm not sure what this is, please could somebody clarify? How early does the documentation have to be done prior, and who do I contact about this (assuming a western lawyer, but I could be wrong and they sound expensive. Trying to have *some* reign on the purse strings, at least.)
MoodyMac, I'm interested to know more about how you "skipped" the documentation and had a small church wedding abroad. This might be something I consider when I take her home to meet the 'rents in England.

titeuf - I don't earn anywhere near $2,550 a month income! In fact, nobody I know earns even half of that. I'm sure there is a way around this. So you're saying we have the ceremony here, and then register the wedding in England at a church? Hmmm. I need to understand this law and how it has affected recent barang/Khmer weddings. Thanks for any more information you can give me.

Orangedragon, congratulations! And how have you overcome the "legal" problems mentioned above?

Thanks very much all. Once it's all sorted I'll owe you a beer or 2. Pretty sure I'll have some left over!

ok... so what you needed from home:
1. criminal record showing you're not a slave trader or woman beater.
2. proof of single status... this screwed me, because the embassy is full of idgits. you need a document from them, costs $100. Which is all they tell you. you ALSO need a document from you home (state/town/village/castle... whatever england uses) showing you're not married there. mine was $10... AFTER i flew back to the US to get it.
3. tax return/document
4. a LETTER from your employer saying you work there, make x amount, etc... a check stub will not do. (also had to get this after i got back to the states)

from there you tell her to find a lawyer/someone in the ministry... if she doesn't know of one, a day or two of asking around and she'll find a friend who does. you will give them... money and the documents. the amounts seem to vary.... we got by with $1200. they do the rest. there will be a couple of interviews where you again say you're not a wife beater/slave trader (wear trousers... shorts are not allowed...) and then you get your license.

as for skipping all that... don't get married in cambodia. marry her in england and keep her there until she's a citizen, lol.

[OrangeDragon]

what is this "left over beer" you speak of? is that a brand? never heard of it.

[MoodyMac]

what is this "left over beer" you speak of? is that a brand? never heard of it.

Left over beer does not exist in Cambodia. It makes it's way into little old ladies handbags.

[flying chicken]

I submitted my fiancee visitor visa application last Oct -- emailed them 5 months later for update got an apology from an official at the headquarter in Wellington apologising for the Bangkok's embassy mess up. Now a new one in charge promised to re look over our documents again and said he will give confirmation within this month (July) and its already 2nd of August. Frustrating!

[MoodyMac]

I submitted my fiancee visitor visa application last Oct -- emailed them 5 months later for update got an apology from an official at the headquarter in Wellington apologising for the Bangkok's embassy mess up. Now a new one in charge promised to re look over our documents again and said he will give confirmation within this month (July) and its already 2nd of August. Frustrating!

We were on their back from day one. They processed it the week following the 3 month waiting period.

[OrangeDragon]

people i know have been laughed out of the interview in tears when trying to get a visitor visa for here... my country sucks.

[flying chicken]

Hi MM,

It was my plan all along to get marry in NZ, as far as I know NZ immigration doesnt recognise domestic marriage but it does help with paperwork. Anyway, if it is not too personal... when you got married in NZ did your wife receive nz permanent resident afterward? Does she have to return back to Cambodia after her visa expired? What if you dont have no family support back home, in other word an orphan, will this affect her getting a PR?

Thanks a bunch.

[MoodyMac]

Hi MM,

It was my plan all along to get marry in NZ, as far as I know NZ immigration doesnt recognise domestic marriage but it does help with paperwork. Anyway, if it is not too personal... when you got married in NZ did your wife receive nz permanent resident afterward? Does she have to return back to Cambodia after her visa expired? What if you dont have no family support back home, in other word an orphan, will this affect her getting a PR?

Thanks a bunch.

Do you mean NZ Immigration does not recognise Cambodian marriage? As far as I'm aware NZ Immigration recognises all sorts of marriage, civil unions, long term co habitation, de facto relationships etc, as long as there is evidence that the relationship is genuine and stable.

We got a three week visa as we had to return here for the tourist season as that is how we make our living. We have no plans to live in NZ at this stage, so have not applied for residency. However we have lived together for a year now, with plenty of photographic, family, residential and work evidence and supporting witnesses, so the permanent residency should not be to difficult. I'm unsure at the moment if I will apply through the NZ or Australian residency routes, as both are available to me. I'll probably start to file for residency next year through Australian Embassy, as I am an Australian by birth (NZ citizen by descent and long term resident), and our daughter will be able to apply for Australian citizenship by descent. As you know Aussies and Kiwis can move easily between the two countries.

In regards to having no family support back in NZ. I think we would have had to have had return tickets (or evidence of financial ability to return to Cambodia) bought at the time of application, as well as my wife having $1000 in savings for each month of her stay.

I'm not sure what your situation is, but there is a lot of information available at the NZ Immigration website. If you like you can PM your situation, but all I can do is comment on it, I won't be able to give you definitive information.