00:00Let's bring out the bride, Raquel Genova!
00:08Weddings are a celebration of love,
00:11and I think it's important to share that with your friends and family.
00:15It's only natural we also celebrate who we are, where we're from,
00:18and the cultures we identify with,
00:20Vietnamese and Filipino and American.
00:22This wedding is going to be a very interesting wedding
00:26because we are, I mean, I'm describing it like a East, Midwest, plus some more.
00:36Wedding is going to be the wedding of the century for our family only, you know.
00:48I am Vietnamese, first generation growing up in the United States,
00:53so that's pretty important for me to be able to identify with something.
00:57My parents immigrated from the Philippines in the 80s,
01:01and I was born and raised in New Jersey.
01:04For me, I absolutely identify with being Filipino but also American,
01:10and I find I live my life as a blending of my two cultures,
01:14so I'm very proud to be both.
01:17Instead of doing it in, let's say, the Philippines,
01:20and having my family wondering,
01:22well, why didn't you just do it in Vietnam?
01:24Or doing it in Vietnam and having her family,
01:26well, why didn't you just do it here?
01:28We just decided to pick some place in between
01:30to kind of make both families happy.
01:33We envisioned both cultures, Vietnamese and Filipino,
01:37in the same day.
01:38So during the daytime, we're going to incorporate the Vietnamese tradition
01:43of having the tea ceremony.
01:46We'll move on to the Western ceremony.
01:50Which typically Filipinos are Catholic,
01:52but we wanted to have a Western ceremony that was more non-denominational.
01:56I think it's so important to reflect back on where you came from,
02:01and I thought it was so important to represent that in our wedding,
02:05and even so much that we want to go to Asia to get married.
02:10It'll give an opportunity for our guests to be immersed in our culture
02:14in every sense of the way.
02:17This wedding is going to be epic, to say the least,
02:21to gather that many people and to have them travel across the world
02:25so that you can give them an experience.
02:27I mean, that just speaks volumes to who Tom and Raquel really are.
02:30So we have a lot of people coming.
02:32My mom hasn't seen her sister in almost 30 years.
02:37I haven't been back to Vietnam after I first visited
02:40when I was younger, in almost 20 years.
02:42So it was very emotional. It's just, it's a lot.
02:45The fact that you are here in Thailand
02:48show them that your love for them is a lot.
02:52So give yourself a round of applause for being here.
02:56We look to our parents for guidance on some of the traditional elements
03:00of the wedding.
03:01We spoke a lot with Tom's parents about the Vietnamese tea ceremony
03:06and how it needs to be executed.
03:08During the tea ceremony, Tam and Raquel will bow to pay respect to the altar.
03:14They will serve tea to the elders.
03:16So during the Vietnamese tea ceremony, we decided to switch cultures.
03:20So I will be wearing a traditional aoyay, which is a traditional Vietnamese wedding dress.
03:25And Tom will be wearing a barong pagalog, which is the typical formal wear for a Filipino man during celebrations.
03:33We get advice from both sides of the family.
03:36You know, and the one person for me that I wish could make it that didn't was my mother.
03:42She passed when I was young.
03:44Life will always throw you surprises.
03:46What you do is you find someone who will be there.
03:51When your mom passed away without the family support, I wouldn't know what to do.
03:59All of us collectively lost it when Tom and his dad had their moment together.
04:05Their relationship is really something that's beautiful and to see them, you know, share a really beautiful moment.
04:10It was an exceptional sight to see. It was quite emotional, quite moving.
04:14Everybody wants to be able to have that first dance with their mom when they get married.
04:20And, you know, unfortunately, I didn't get to do that.
04:21But we were able to celebrate with her family and with Raquel's family at the same time.
04:28And just seeing everybody there making the trip and just the amount of love and support and happiness that came
04:34across the world.
04:35To be able to share that made it that much more worth it.
04:45We still wanted to include some of my Filipino culture.
04:49So during the wedding ceremony, a veil is draped over the shoulder of the groom and over the head of
04:55the bride.
04:56And this is meant to symbolize the unity of the marriage.
05:00We will have a cord around our necks and the cord is in the shape of an infinity sign.
05:05It's a figure eight. And that is meant to represent the bond and unity between us.
05:12Raquel, do you want to cast your husband?
05:18It was more important to incorporate our traditions and our cultures more than religion.
05:26To kind of bring out who and where we identify from.
05:29To put the spotlight on that.
05:31To say, hey, you know, this is us.
05:32And this is who we can be.
05:34And this is what we are.
05:37And this is what it is.
05:38I think it's important to embrace your heritage and who you are.
05:43Why not do things in a grand way?
05:45Why not do things unconventionally?
05:48Why not go the extra mile to create this experience you'll never have again?
05:52I want our family and friends to remember our wedding.
05:55But more importantly, to remember how they felt, who they were with, and all the experiences they've had.
06:01Well done!
06:02¡Lo Asamble!
06:03¡Lo asamble!
06:04So, guys, I cš, I met you.
