‘They do,’ three times over

For most couples, the thought of hosting just one wedding is hectic enough. Yet Nhu Le and Alex Sarkisian got hitched three times — and they wouldn’t change a thing.

The trifecta of ceremonies culminated with a traditional Vietnamese wedding June 7 in Le’s hometown of Da Nang, on the south-central coast of Vietnam.

“When I was planning to propose to Nhu, I had thought about having a wedding in Vietnam because I thought she might like it,” said Sarkisian, 27, a student at Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan. “I had never been anywhere in Southeast Asia, so it was a really exciting opportunity.”

Following the couple’s spontaneous courthouse nuptials in December in Orlando, Fla. — where 30-year-old Le works as a dentist — their weddings were focused on family, including an April 4 ceremony at Marina Village in San Diego.

Sarkisian was born and raised in San Diego, and Le moved here at 17 with the help of an uncle after participating in a high school exchange program.

For Le, the Da Nang wedding was mostly for her parents, who along with Le’s oldest sister took care of all the planning and arrangements.

“I was happy that we did it,” she said. “It was Alex’s first time to see Vietnam, his first time to see everyone in my family. I was the first person in my family to get married, too.”

Sarkisian found that the structure of a Vietnamese wedding is a far different experience than a typical American wedding — much shorter than he expected. The wedding had two parts: the ceremony, which took place at home with just family members and the wedding party; and the reception at a big wedding hall.

Following their traditional Vietnamese ceremony, Nhu Le and Alex Sarkisian made a grand entrance to their reception at a wedding hall in Da Nang, Vietnam. The ceremony was held at the home of Le’s parents. The flower girls here are Le’s cousins, Hien Thi Thao Nguyen (left) and Phuong Thi Uyen Phan. — Tran Van Lai

( / Tran Van Lai)

“I thought it was great to be part of a traditional wedding and to learn about traditions and cultures, and to get to meet all her cousins and family,” Sarkisian said. “Everybody was really welcoming. It was just a really good experience for me.”

About 30 people attended the home ceremony, which requires no officiant. The two wore traditional Vietnamese wedding attire, including the ao dai dress or jacket and khan dong headdress, all of which is rented. However, Le said, her husband is broader than a typical Vietnamese man, so an ao dai had to be made for him.

After sharing tea with close family and friends following the ceremony, it was time to head to the wedding hall, where the couple made a grand entrance in their American wedding suit and gown.

About 300 guests first were treated to a performance by dancers. But the couple had to wait outside for their entrance, so they didn’t get to see the dancers — a small disappointment for Sarkisian, who enjoyed soaking up his wife’s culture.

Alex Sarkisian and Nhu Le pour champagne into a champagne tower at their wedding reception in Da Nang, Vietnam. — Tran Van Lai

( / Tran Van Lai)

Much like an American wedding reception, the Le-Sarkisian celebration included champagne, speeches, and cake. The meal was traditional, with food served family style. There were eight to 10 courses of “really, really good Vietnamese food,” Sarkisian said. “My family loved it.”

The Vietnamese dishes included goi hai san, a seafood and grapefruit salad; nem, a sausage; ca nuong, roasted fish; ga nuong, grilled chicken; and lau hai san, a seafood hot pot.

Le and Sarkisian went from table to table with both sets of parents, visiting with friends and family from throughout Vietnam and taking photos at each table.

It was a quick, efficient party focused on food. Once dessert was served, guests finished and left, and the venue prepared for the next wedding, Sarkisian said. The couple spent the rest of the day spending time with relatives and sharing the elaborate traditional food baskets they received as gifts.

The destination wedding yielded a great setting for the honeymoon, too, Sarkisian said.

“We were able to travel to some really beautiful places,” he said, including Ba Na Hills, Hanoi, Sa Pa, Ha Long Bay. Sarkisian’s family took advantage of the experience as well, with his parents, brother and uncle staying on to travel.

Le and Sarkisian met 10 years ago on their first day of biology class at Mesa College and quickly became friends and study buddies. Both earned their undergraduate degrees at UC San Diego, and stayed in touch sporadically through Facebook and texts. They reconnected when Sarkisian reached out to Le for guidance on applying to medical school, and he credits his wife with giving him the advice and encouragement that led him to his No. 1 pick, Cornell. They began dating two years ago, and Sarkisian proposed last July during a hot air balloon ride at Downtown Disney in Orlando.

Following the courthouse elopement, the two arranged a San Diego ceremony for April, when they had a few days off. Le’s parents made the trip from Vietnam, and she was also joined by her grandmother, uncles, and aunts living in California.

The couple credit Sarkisian’s parents with helping to pull off a celebration for 120 guests at Marina Village. Sarkisian’s Persian-Armenian father prepared much of the Persian food himself, including ghormeh sabzi, herb stew; baghali polo, dill and lima bean rice; khoresht-e bademjan, eggplant stew; and lamb shank stew.

Aside from the food, Le and Sarkisian see little difference in their cultural backgrounds.

“It’s not really difficult, like I had to adapt to his way or mine,” Le said. “It was very easy.”

Alex Sarkisian and Nhu Le took advantage of the Vietnam scenery for their wedding photo shoot. — Hung Quoc Nguyen

( / Hung Quoc Nguyen)

Theirs is actually a distinctly American story, Sarkisian said. His father was born and raised in Iran. His Jewish mother’s parents are Holocaust survivors from Poland and Czechoslovakia, and they immigrated to the United States through Sweden. And his wife is an immigrant from Vietnam.

“I think only in America can two people from such diverse backgrounds meet and not think twice about the cultural difference and obligations from our family members,” Sarkisian said. “I think it was both accepted. Both sides were so excited to meet each other.”

For now the couple will continue their long-distance relationship, with frequent weekend visits, with Le working in Orlando and Sarkisian applying for medical residency programs in September. Le will join Sarkisian wherever the residency match takes the couple.