How to Attend an Indian Wedding
Indian wedding is a great, fun, colorful event for every body involved. It’s an occasion of festivities which last from 2 to 5 days. The wedding consists of several small ceremonies which are either attended by the bride and her family or groom and his family or both.
The Indian culture celebrates marriage as a sacrament (Sanskara), a rite enabling two individuals to start their journey in life together. In a Hindu wedding, the multiplicity of creation becomes possible when spirit (Purush) unites with matter (Prakritti). The Hindu wedding lays emphasis on three essential values: happiness, harmony, and growth.
If you are attending an Indian wedding then that means you have already received an invitation by bride’s or groom’s family in person. It’s a custom that the close friends and families are invited in person. Parents or (in parents absence) someone close to the family will visit you with an invitation. The Indian wedding invitation generally looks like a greeting card almost always with a picture of Lord Ganesha in the front and a shanti or prosperity mantra. This card will be given to you with a box of sweets (mithai in Hindi). The invitee will welcome the parents and in return offer them something sweet to eat. All this signifies that both the invitee and parents are happy and share the happiness of the occasion with their close once.
The institution of marriage can be traced back to Vedic times. The ceremony should be held on a day in the “bright half” of the northern course of the sun. Months before the Indian wedding an engagement ceremony known as Mangni is held. This is to bless the couple, who are then given gifts of jewelry and clothing by their new family.
There are many small family ceremonies before the actual wedding. So, if you are planning to wear something Indian then now is the time to start shopping. Girls dress up in sari, salwar-kamiz or lehnga. Boys mostly in kurta-pyjama. If you don’t want to buy lot of clothes then you can ask a family member to lend you for the occasion. They’ll be happy to help you and will love for you to choose from their wardrobe. You can go for shopping with the bride’s or groom’s sister, mother, aunt or cousins. They all will know what to buy and from where to buy.
The Indian wedding ceremony is one of the oldest traditions of Indian culture. The elements of the ceremony were set more than forty centuries ago in the ancient Hindu scriptures known as the “Vedas”. The marriage (Lagna), witnessed by all guests, is not only the union of a man & woman, but also of their families.
The first thing everybody notices on the Indian wedding is the house which gets decorated with lights and flower. You will see guests arriving and there are more and more chores to be done. You can offer to help and you will be assigned a task instantaneously. The chores will include anything from buying vegetables, fruits, grocery, sweets, following up on the appointments with the henna artists, dry cleaner etc.
Other thing which every body looks forward to on the Indian wedding is the endless nights of singing and dancing. A music instrument called dholk (drums) is rented to be played my women of the families every night until the night before the ceremony. You can help the dholk player with the spoon or sing the traditional wedding songs or dance with the family. You will see only the closest of the family members around you.
A day before the on the Indian wedding, the ring engagement ceremony takes place. That night the close friends of the bride and groom stay with them. If you are the best man or the woman remember your are the star of the night too. You will find being introduced to a lot of people and everybody will know you by the end of the night. Don’t be surprised if you have a marriage proposal by the next day! The day does end here. When you get home, the henna artists are waiting for the guest and the bride to decorate their palms and feet. While the artists work magic with henna rest of the guests continue with singing and dancing.
Hindus believe in many gods (devas) but only one Supreme Being. They place their trust in the law of karma by which people merit their fate and where they resolve their conflicts and imperfections through reincarnation. They believe in the sanctity of life and practise ahimsa (non-injury) and practise tolerance towards other religions although they believe that only Hinduism offers salvation.
On the on the Indian wedding day, the brides family is expected to be at the venue before the groom’s family arrive, to welcome them. If you are from the guys side you will witness the horse riding ceremony. If you are from the bride’s side you will most likely be at the main gate welcoming all the guests. It’s a night to meet the whole family and enjoy the best meal from all the days. The feast laid out for the guests includes everything from the street-food like pani-puri, from south Indian food, from Rajasthani, Gujrati, Punjabi, Chinese, Mughlai food to desserts which you have never seen on a menu of an Indian restaurant. It’s a big day attended by over 400 family members and friends and everyone of them will appear again on the wedding album with the bride and groom.