HCM City mass wedding realises dreams of couples with disabilities

HCM City (VNA) – A mass wedding for 50 couples, featuring people with disabilities, was held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 21 by the “Dao Phat Ngay nay” (Buddhism Today) Fund from the city’s Giac Ngo Pagoda.

Many of the couples face difficult economic conditions and were unable to afford a wedding otherwise, despite having lived together for years and some even with children.

They were gifted with free wedding rings, make-up services, wedding outfits and flowers, wedding celebrations and photos, along with 10 million VND in cash.

Most Venerable Thich Nhat Tu, head of the Giac Ngo Pagoda and founder of the Buddhism Today Fund, said that the organisation of the mass wedding hoped to convey warm wishes of a happy and harmonious marriage to the couples.

Pham Thanh Quy and his bride Tran Thi Hong Ngoc expressed how moved they were by occasion, having dreamt about the wedding that they could not afford for seven years.

“Our lives are attached to the wheelchair, we never imagined that one day we would be able to give each other a wedding ring. Therefore, today is a sweet memory that we will never forget, a significant milestone in our lives,” they stated.

Another couple, Ho Tan Dat and his bride Nguyen Thi Nhung, both 36 years old and residing in Cu Chi district, said that although they have lived together with two children for 10 years, they had never thought of organising a wedding. They said that they registered for the mass wedding with the hope that they would get the chance to realise their life-long dream of becoming a groom and a bride.

On the occasion, the Vietnam Record Association (Vietkings) recognised Giac Ngo Pagoda as having organised the largest mass wedding for the most number of couples in Vietnam.-VNA