Once everyone is dressed, the party heads downstairs to begin the daylong festivities. Kuy stays in the background taking photos with her phone. She is smiling. The scene reminds her of home.
“I miss home but I’m happy when I do weddings because it is like I am still there,” she says.
Kuy, 44, grew up in Cambodia. After losing her father when she was 11, she quickly stepped up to help her mother. She was one of five children.
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As a child, Kuy started her days fishing in the wee hours of the morning with her older sister. Then before she went to school, Kuy would stop by the bus and taxi stations to sell sweets, beef and fish that her mother made. She also sold food during her breaks at school.
“I had to grow up fast and support my family,” she says. “We had no money to eat. It was very hard.”
Kuy married when she was 18, and had two children.
She moved to Washington in 2003. After arriving in White Center, Kuy started going to night school to learn English. She also worked as a janitor during the day, to earn an income.
“I wanted freedom,” she says.
Her kids joined her three years later, and her mother followed in 2012. She is still trying to get her siblings here, all of whom are still in Cambodia.
Once she learned English and earned her cosmetology license, Kuy opened her own salon: Nary's Beauty Hair Salon. She says her customers are like family, often inviting her to birthday parties or dropping by the salon just to chat.
She started styling traditional Cambodian weddings in 2014, and also works nights as a janitor in West Seattle. This is how she supports her nieces and nephews in Cambodia, sending money to help with school, clothes and food.
“That’s why I work day and night, to support myself and support over there,” she says. “This life is not easy.”
Nary Kuy arrives at her salon to start her workday on Feb. 7, 2019.
Nary Kuy dresses the bridal party before wedding festivities in Kent on July 27, 2019. Traditionally, Cambodian weddings last three days and three nights, though Kuy says in the U.S., most families stick with just one day. Either way, there are copious amounts of food and multiple outfit changes.
Nary Kuy takes a moment to prepare for a workday at her salon before customers arrive on Feb. 7, 2019.
Nary Kuy works on 5-year-old Sivatra Khim’s hair in her salon on Sept. 25, 2019. “My customers are like having more friends. They invite me to their birthday parties, too,” Kuy says.
Nary Kuy works at her night job as a janitor at Swedish Medical Center in West Seattle on Feb. 20, 2019. Her workday starts at her salon at 10 a.m. and ends at the medical center at 2:30 a.m.
Bride and groom Bory Khun, center, and Chhonly Pin, receive final adjustments from Nary Kuy for wedding festivities in Kent on July 27, 2019. Kuy says the bride and groom are considered king and queen during the wedding. “I want them happy and beautiful,” she says.
Nary Kuy prepares food for a cookout in her White Center home on July 4, 2019. Her home is filled with Cambodian art and memories from her home country.
Nary Kuy makes final adjustments for the bride, Bory Khun, before the wedding festivities in Kent on July 27, 2019. Kuy says she feels as if she is back in her Cambodian home when she works on traditional Cambodian weddings.
With her phone, Nary Kuy takes photos of the wedding procession in Kent on July 27, 2019. “I miss home but I’m happy when I do weddings because it is like I am still there," she says.
