Wedding on Elephant
Thai normally divide the proceedings into two main functions in traditional Lanna weddings. First comes the suu khaw a ceremonial visit to the bride's parents to ask for their daughter's hand. Whether at the parent's home or in another appointed place the ritual involves the presentation of engraved silver bowls containing fresh flowers meant to honor the family's ancestors, a symbolic sum of money representing a dowry and a general wish for prosperity in the form of fresh betel nuts three dozen leaves from auspicious plants plus bags of sesame seeds rice and beans.
The second stage of the Lanna wedding observance involves a procession to a place selected for the marriage ceremony itself. Here a maw phawn, local elder versed in the ways of the all-important Thai spirit world, will symbolically link the couple together by tying a length of sacred white cotton string between the left wrist of the groom and right wrist of the bride. A more literal tying of the knot — in Northern Thai the ritual is known as mat meu or wrist-binding could hardly be envisaged.
In Lampang a Northern Thai city renowned during Thailand's teak empire years for its plentiful work elephants, wealthy families amplified on the mat meu procession. Instead of approaching the venue for the wedding ceremony on foot, the bride and groom mounted a lavishly decorated tusker, Thailand's most auspicious animal. Slowly ambling down Lampang's historic streets, these elephant-back wedding processions must have been a delight to all who were fortunate enough to grab a roadside view.
The Thai Elephant Conservation Center, along with the city of Lampang, has revived the phi-thi taeng-ngan bon lang chang, or wedding ceremony on elephant-back on 14.02.2011.
Source - http://www.thailandelephant.org/eng/home.php3