Railway employees marry on train where they first met

Both the groom and the bride are from the central highlands province of Lam Dong, where Da Lat is the capital. They are both working at the historic Da Lat station, also where they first met.

Thinh, 33, said the guests at his wedding to Hoa, 24, gathered at the Da Lat municipal station on the afternoon of Dec. 22 to board the train to Trai Mat, seven kilometers away. It was en-route as the train rolled down the tracks that the marriage ceremony was held.

The train carriage was decorated with flowers, and a long table running the length of the rail car sat 64 invitees for pastries and wine.

Guests sitting at a table on a train carriage, where Thinh and Hoa’s wedding ceremony took place Dec. 22, 2023. Photo courtesy of Thinh and Hoa

Thinh gave a ring to Hoa after the train departed from Da Lat station, before raising a toast with violin music in the background. When the train reached Trai Mat station, the couple and the guests disembarked to take photos at the romantic location before returning to Da Lat.

The couple came up with the idea of a train wedding in November. As employees at the Da Lat station, with Thinh working in operations and Hoa in marketing, they thought the idea would make their big day even more meaningful.

Thinh and Hoa’s love story ignited in May, 2023, when Hoa applied for a job at the Da Lat station, where she later encountered Thinh. It went naturally: they struck up a conversation, got closer to each other, and eventually fell in love.

“I wanted to have a special wedding to commemorate where our love began,” said Thinh. Both [Thinh and Hoa’s] families supported the idea as soon as they heard it, he added.

Thinh and Hoa on the train carriage where their wedding took place on Dec. 22, 2023. Photo courtesy of Thinh and Hoa

It took the couple only a month to complete the wedding-planning process, which included applying for permission from the station’s management board, then arranging the ceremony and décor.

Upon hearing their idea, the station’s management board showed their support and facilitated the process by assisting in organizing the train, as well even offering help in covering the wedding’s expenses.

Le Anh Tuan, director of the Saigon Railway Transport Branch, said the event was the first wedding in Vietnam to be held in a train carriage. The branch may being offering the service to those interested in the future, he said.

The Da Lat-Trai Mat railway is the last remaining section of the historic 84-kilometer-long Da Lat-Thap Cham line, which opened in 1932 to connect Lam Dong with the coastal Ninh Thuan province. It currently serves tourism purposes only.

 

 

Railway employees marry on train where they first met

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