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Hi.  I am a Cambodian bride who is not having a traditional Cambodian wedding ceremony.  My FI and I decided that we will have a traditional Catholic wedding instead because he is Catholic and that is very important to him.  We thought about doing both ceremonies, but that would be too costly and we also didn't want to make a long day of it, but I still want to do something Cambodian and nice.  So what I am thinking of doing to balance this out a bit is to hire Cambodian dancers for the reception and have the groom and myself change into traditional Cambodian wedding clothes because it would be out of our budget to have the entire wedding party change clothes as well, since we would be paying for it all.  My questions are: Has anyone hired Cambodian dancers for their wedding?  If so, who do I need to contact in regards to the Cambodian dancers and how much would it cost us to hire them for half an hour of dancing?  And also, who did you go to to rent your clothes?  Your response is much appreciated.  Thank you!

Hi!

Did you ever get any info on cambodian dancers? I too am having a catholic wedding but would love to incorporate my traditions in some way. Please let me know if you come up with anything!

Thank you!

@tovi0601:

Hey. That's a great idea. I'm thinking of incorporating dancers in my wedding too. If you have a Khmer church/temple or live near a populated Khmer area you can ask the youth groups if they are willing to do it. Also there are usually older cambodian ladies that rent the traditional outfits. Hope that helps.

That is too crazy, I was going to do the same thing.  Well I use to dance, traditional khmer dance so I know a group of dancers that are still continuing from the groups we formed.  That is too bad that you live in chicago because they are here in california.  But you can call most school that has khmer club or like sweetpia28 suggested to look at the temple.  Regarding the traditonal clothing, you can always find the khmerfolks that does khmer wedding and rent them for the clothing and dressing because that is what I will be doing also.

I'm a Cambodian-American bride as well. Although I was born here, my parents had me doing everything Cambodian-the dancing, etc., when I was younger. Now, that I'm older, I have a deeper appreciation for it, as it is beautiful and graceful. Fortunately, my family friend/fellow dancer is doing the blessing dance at my wedding. It shouldn't cost much at all; when we were younger, we were only paid $25-50. I agree with the brides above; the best way to find one is through word of mouth. Either ask/or have your parents ask Cambodian elders, as they travel their info through word-of-mouth. Since I'm doing both Cambodian and Westernized ceremonies, I've learned that the hard way of dealing with Cambodian vendors..not many websites to check ratings or whatnot, it's really all through word-of-mouth..I think an obstacle for you may be your location..Most heavily populated Cambodian areas are in Lowell, MA and Long Beach, CA..Try to find/check out any local Cambodian associations/groups..Good luck!