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Michael & Stacey Nguyen's Wedding October 4, 2003		Back to Home Page

Our friends Michael Nguyen and Stacey Waggoner were married in St. Louis on October 4th. Eric and I went up for it, and were met there by our friends PJ & Heather, and our friend Truong Nguyen. Part of the ceremony was the Vietnamese Tea Ceremony, which was held on Friday night. We felt very honored that they would allow us to attend and were very glad for the chance to learn a little more about the Vietnamese culture. The weather was picture-perfect, we had a nice mix of relaxing time with busy time, and a great visit with our old friends from Houston. We also met lots of people - fun ones, nice ones, and kind ones - most of them were all of the above. It was a great time. Thanks to Mike & Stacey for making it possible!



Here's the happy couple, ready to start the Tea Ceremony It was held at Michael's parents' house, which was a party palace!		Michael & Stacey introduced each others' family, then served tea to their immediate families and received blessings (& sometimes gifts!) from each person. It was very nice.


After the ceremony, they fed us very well and we all socialized.		The next day, Eric & I went to Saint Charles, MO - an historic town with a preserved main street now full of fun shops and restaurants. This is where Louis & Clark started their journey. They had a parade for Oktoberfest that day.

		This was a beautiful old water mill on a building that is now a brewery in Saint Charles

Later that day, we met up with PJ & Heather, then at 1pm we attended the wedding.
First, Michael's parents escorted him in and they lit a candle Michael's parents are Thuan & Phan Nguyen
		Then Stacey's parents did the same. Here she is with her Dad. Her entrance was so beautiful, I got teary!

Here she is with both of her parents - Walter & JoAnn Waggoner I'm sorry, this is not a good picture, but it's all I could get!
		Here Stacey's Aunt Jeanne read a verse from the Bible

Here's the whole wedding party
		And again, but closer


Michael & Stacey took turns saying a very nice prayer		And then they were married - yea!!

This was a window in the church. I'm sure you can tell it's Mother Teresa. It was so beautiful, it was really moving just looking at it.			Speaking of beautiful, is she a little angel or what?!!



The ceremony ended at 2 and the reception started at 6, so we entertained ourselves at various pubs until then. Poor Truong had been directionally challenged and missed the wedding! Also, these are the first pics of his new 'do.		Here we are at the reception, ready for action

	Stacey & Heather
		Stacey's Dad said something to me that I obviously thought was more entertaining than getting my picture taken

	Truong was put into service as a decorator. He did a fine job of it, too.
		Here's the cake & cake table area

		We're happy, they must be serving the food!
Here Heather wonders, "Will they notice if I take a little bit?"


These are Michael's friends from Dallas They were so fun we may have to go visit them there		This is our private hangover recipe - champagne, beer, and whiskey - taken together. Too bad we only know how to get the hangovers, not get rid of them!

Here Michael's friend Tho makes him play a game - he has a crayon tied on a string to a belt and he had to put it into a glass, blindfolded. No problem for our hero Michael. Who knew he was so talented?
		Here we started out with some innocent fun with the chicken head from dinner


Our very tolerant table-mates were enjoying the antics as well...		but then there's always someone who will take things too far. Usually this site is a family show, so I have to apologize for explaining this picture. Yes, they are choking the chicken.

Here Truong poses with the photographer, who was also very tolerant of us.
		I got a slightly bad angle for the cake cutting, not that there's anything wrong with the back of Michael, but it just wasn't the scenery I was going for at the time. Wait! That didn't sound good either. I'd better quit while I'm ahead.


The changing of outfits is supposed to bring good luck		Here Michael lives out his fantasy of being one of the guys in the Village People

You can't see it here, but Michael is busting a move.			I am rescuing our belongings as the wait staff encourage us to leave. We are not good at taking hints, we stayed until they kicked us out!



Tho, getting his groove on Strangely, for large parts of the evening we were the only ones dancing. Wonder why?

I missed getting a picture of the garter toss - where Michael pulls out giant Granny Panties instead of the garter. It was touching. Here Michael signs the panties. Kind of reminds you of Elvis, doesn't it?
		Here we start out with some innocent fun with the Granny Panties...


However, as with so many things we do, it quickly degenerated into something else altogether

		Who would have thought that a man wearing women's underwear could inspire such lust in the ladies?


	Here Tho dances for us again, only to a slow song this time. He was in the Zone that night, I'm tellin ya.	They took away our glasses, but we didn't let that slow us down!



Tho, again, unleashing his sexy moves on the helpless women (OK the girl on the left is his wife, so she's far from helpless where he's concerned!)		Now Tho gets a dose of "Hurricane Heather" She is a party force!

I just can't caption this one, I'm sorry
		This is the next morning, after Waffle House and before the Perfettas had to leave for the airport.

It was so nice being with our Houston friends again, I miss them!
		Eric and I went to Faust Park afterward. These are pictures from the Butterfly House, which was amazing.











		There are historic buildings around Faust park, this picture is proof

Here I am at an old Blacksmith shop
		I just loved how these trees have grown like this


That's it, the end of another great trip! Back to Top