East Meets West

Normal Indian weddings do not have bridal parties, but this bride wanted to Westernize it and include a bridal party. Nina Gookli and Adam Bramer had the traditional Indian ceremony but put a little Western spin on it by having the bridal party walk down the aisle as well. Pandit performed the beautiful ceremony with both Nina and Adam dressed in Indian formal wedding attire. In going with the theme of fusion, they opted for an outdoor ceremony with an indoor reception at the Sheraton Harbor’s ballroom.

The bride then changed from the red sari to the white dress, which normally is not worn in Indian weddings but the bride as I mentioned was Westernized

Nina chose tropical flowers like Birds of Paradise that were vibrant in color that complimented her theme: East meets West.

The couple had a sitar player during the cocktail reception where Indian food was served. Their grand entrance  was more traditional in terms of Western weddings with the bridal party and then the couple entering.

Venue:  Sheraton Hotel & Marina

Photographer: Betwixt Studio (formerly known as Theorie)

Cake: St. Tropez Bakery & Bistro

Mandap and Flowers: Krushna Mandap

Catering: Indian Princess

Indian Weddings- Bridal Puja

Indian weddings are stunning productions, but they’re also known for being very spiritual. One of the religious rituals performed before the wedding day is a puja by both the bride and groom. Each is done separately with only the bride’s family present, and the groom with his family. We’ll discuss the bridal puja traditions here.

Puja is a religious offering to a deity, spirit, or divine presence and can be facilitated for many occasions, before beginning a new venture in life. The bride can perform the puja in a temple or at a home, as long as she has a shrine set up with elements that represent the deity, i.e. prints, sculptures, portraits, elements of nature.  Size or grandeur are not deciding factors in the importance of the shrine. You can offer fruit, food, flowers to honor the gods; incense is lighted and a lit lamp, aarti, is waved in front of the deity. Before you invoke the spirits, one must be in a mental and emotional state of joy and serenity, as you would want to receive the spiritual blessing in a pleasant environment.

Photos provided by various sources. Thank you to Gsravya Blogspot, Logukrishnan.net, 14gaaam

5 Star Venue: Pelican Hill Resort

A five star wedding indeed! That pretty much explains it all. Pelican Hill Resort, in Newport Beach is the perfect ocean view venue.  As soon as you arrive at this resort, a feeling of glamour and paradise fill the air. The staff are overly gracious, and resort employees immediately greet you and make you feel welcomed.  The views are delightful, peaceful, and absolutely breathe taking.  Since this venue only allows one wedding per day, all of focus will be on making you and your guests happy.

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The Sangeet Party

Indian Weddings are not solely about serious rituals and customs, they are also full of several fun filled rituals and designed to contain a scope of entertainment. Among all the pre-wedding celebrations, the Sangeet party is the most enjoyable one. The Sangeet ceremony known as, ‘Gaun’, is celebrated on an elaborate scale making it a very grand affair.

 The Sangeet party is an Indian tradition during which the family and friends shower the bride and groom with dance, music, and laughs. The sangeet party usually takes place in a large hall elaborately decorated and involves traditional dance, known as Garba, and dandia raas, dancing with sticks.

  

  

The decoration choices for a Sangeet celebration can vary. A traditional Sangeet decoration includes long beautiful drapes in rich embroidery with mirror work adding a special touch. You can make the decoration ethnic using colors like red, orange, maroon, and purple drapes with some gold glittering touches. Flowers like roses, marigolds, orchids, gerberas, give a special touch to the decorations and roses tend to be favored.

A western take on the Sangeet decoration can include, netted drapes and the use of silver in place of gold. Flowers like baby roses, orchid, lily or carnations tend to be used in western Sangeet decorations and these days, even things like heart shaped balloons with nets are added.

Traditionally only the women celebrated this ceremony but nowadays it is a co-ed affair making it all the more fun and interesting!

pictures courtesy of dariabishop.com

Indian Weddings – The ‘Baraat’

 

Indian Weddings are more of a religious ritual than a social or legal affair like that in West. Indian weddings are a perfect blend of traditions, values and celebrations. The ‘Barat’ for instance, is the Grooms ceremony. It is an elaborate event where the groom enters the wedding venue with his family after participating in a convoy wherein the Groom, or Barat, sits on an embellished white horse, elephant or for the more contemporary groom, by boat or car.

 

  

 

The groom is adorned with a saafa (turban, normally a shade of pink) and a sehara (floral veil), tied around his forehead by his mother. In some regions, a sword is also provided to the groom and how many men do you know who wouldn’t love that!

The Barat and his party are accompanied by a Dohl player or music band in front of them who play the special drums and entertain them on the way to the venue and sometimes fireworks are sparked to contribute to the festivities. Reaching the venue, dancing and celebrating, the group is greeted by the family of the bride. The bride’s mother performs a tradition called Aarti before the groom and after this ritual the baratis are allowed to enter the venue.

The ‘Barat’ is just another example of how Indian weddings grandly portray the rich culture, heritage and ethnicity of the country. Indian marriages have many different kinds of rituals and traditions but one thing remains constant, the beautiful display of love, concern, commitment, and emotion.

 

 

Pictures courtesy of: Andrena Photo, Megan Finley Photography, Sean M. Haffey Photography, and www.sacramentoweddingplanner.com